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Hi Deb, very good to know you. I haven't
been on the list long either, and I'm mostly lurking these days. Thanks for
the head's up on neutering. I do keep a spray bottle handy for Cotton
when he stalks Cricket. Now when he sees the spray bottle come
out, he narrows his eyes and recoils, so he is learning and
doesn't want to be sprayed. But I feel like it's not enough, judging from
the missing fur and scabs on Cricket. I feel like I have failed to keep
her safe.
Cricket was already rather unsure of
herself, as she has been bullied in the past by the my big male tuxedo cat,
Myca. Once he cornered her when she was much younger, and she was so
afraid, she lost control of her bladder right on the spot, poor little
girl. And she has had to assert herself with my other
female Miss. When she was tiny, Miss was a wonderful surrogate mom to her, and
they were very cozy. But when Cricket reached social maturity, they
fought. As some might remember, I shared about how my Miss was so
angry after a bad fight in which she got a nasty bite from Cricket, Miss
refused to come out of the bedroom for almost 6 months!
Before Cotton came, everyone was at last at
peace. Had I any choice about
Cotton's presence, I would not have added a 4th cat. But after
we learned how poorly he was being cared for, and found out he was
FeLV+, finding him another home was out of the question.
I am using the Feliway spray, and it
has helped, but I can't help feeling anxious when Cricket and Cotton
are in the same room together. And I have to look around first before
I give any love to Cotton, because I don't want Cricket to see me. I feel
guilty. And Cotton really needs all the handling we can give him,
because he was neglected and was not used to being touched,
talked to, or even fed regularly. He's so much better, but he's still not
that comfortable with being handled. He does seek affection now,
but we have to keep it short and follow with treats or he
bites.
I will keep trying different things, the plug-in
diffuser, and hopefully we can work all of this out, and perhaps everyone
will get what they need. Thanks for
taking the time to answer.
Sandy
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, January 11, 2006 11:22
AM
Subject: Re: FeLV transmission by
bite
Hi there,I am new here, my name is Deb. I have 10
inside cats and I also have a sweet cat that is at the bottom of the pecking
order. My 2yr old male is the aggressor and neutering him has not
changed him. I have special shelves that I made for her. She
eats and uses a litter pan on her shelf. She is too timid to fight back
with him so, she runs. He loves it when she runs. I will
spray him with water when he goes after her. I must make sure she does
not get wet. I spray water immediately so that he knows what behavior I
want him to stop. Now, when he sees the water sprayer he knows that he
will get wet if, he misbehaves. This seems to be helping. Good
Luck! Marylyn <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Try Rescue Remedy. Are they all spayed/neutered? If not,
that might help.
If you have men who will exclude any of God's
creatures
from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who
will deal likewise with their fellow
man.
St. Francis
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Monday, January 09, 2006 10:16
PM
Subject: FeLV transmission by
bite
Hi Everyone!
I haven't been on list in a while,
but I have some real worries I need to share.
In case anyone needs
reminding, we have Cotton, who is a young orange boy, under a
year old FeLV+ who we adopted around 5 months ago or so, and 3
established older cats in our family, Cricket, Miss and Myca.
Initially when Cotton first came he
was stalked and terrorized by Cricket, who would slap at him and hiss and
basically do a lot of posturing and chasing, but there was very little
contact between them. Now that Cotton is older and a little
bigger, he has turned into the aggressor, and he is the one who
stalks Cricket and when he catches her by suprise, he bites her.
Cotton and Cricket are both small cats, but he is much
stronger than she is, and she is a little bit overwt, and much softer
than he is.
I'm so worried about her
because I know he hurts her, and he's been relentless the
last few days for some reason, and she has been hiding, and she
seems a bit depressed. At night I try and massage her
while she lays on my chest kneading my chin. It's our bonding time. But
last night she seemed restless, and I think some of the places I
touched were sore. She has scabs on her where he's bitten her, but
she has also put a few scratches on Cotton. He's got an ugly
but clean one on his shoulder.
Usually we break up the fights
before they get too nasty by getting the squirt bottle, but I fear that
not only will one of them inflict a nasty wound that might get infected, I
worry that Cricket's stress level and her constant exposure to his saliva
might lead to the transmission of the FeLV. She was
weakly positive on her last ELISA, but the vet said possibly due
to exposure, and i am to take her back in for another test this
weekend. If she tests positive again, I will have them draw an IFA
to confirm.
The other two older cats were
both negative, and received a booster. I check everyone over very
carefully for new wounds, because I have dealt with an abscessed
wound before, and know they can become a real problem in a short
time.
Needless to say Cotton is doing
quite well, he is a little devil (in the most affectionate sense of the
word). His energy level is great, he eats well, poops
well, plays long and hard and bites and scratches his way through
everyone in his way. I believe he has lacked the proper
socialization, as he has been slow to trust and is slow learning his
limits in the household. He's constantly testing his limits.
We have tried to teach him manners, but he is stubborn and
wily. It's been so long since we have had a kitten, I have a
rather relaxed, very polite bunch (they sit in line waiting
for another to finish at the food bowl or water), who have worked out
their differences long ago.
I try to make sure Cricket has a
safe place where she can go, which is my bedroom. Cotton is not
allowed in there. We shoo him out whenever he goes in
there. Same for Cotton, when he goes to my son's room for
quiet, the other cats are discouraged from bothering him. At
night he is not allowed free roam, and is confined in there to sleep with
my son. I have also used some Feliway spray, which did help. I
am continuing to use it.
Any suggestions or thoughts on how
I can deal with this? It's hard to be mad at Cotton, since he
is so well, and he's still very much a kitten, but I wonder if
neutering might help if he's well enough? I feel so bad for my
poor little sweetpea, Cricket. I don't want her to live in
fear, and not safe in her own home. She is already the littlest, and
has had to work hard to earn her current status in the
household. Cotton has upset the pecking
order.
Please advise.
Sandy
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