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Thank you, I will. I may also
try put catnip out more often also, as it seems to at least distract
them from each other.
Sandy
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, January 11, 2006 8:38
PM
Subject: Re: FeLV transmission by
bite
Try the spray too. It works so much
better for me. Just spray it all over regularly. A number of
people I know have not had good experiences with the plug in while I
understand others have. Everyone I know loves the
spray.
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: Wednesday, January 11, 2006 8:11
PM
Subject: Re: FeLV transmission by
bite
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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