And we're back!

It has been a looooong time since I've updated this blog.  Why is that good news?  Because there have been little to no behavior problems at Casa Marro!  Hooray!
So, today I just want to share a story about INKY.  He had a medical emergency last month.  You can read about it HERE: http://hollywoodanimalhospital.blogspot.com/2015/11/november-patient-of-month-inky.html

Why My 19 Year Old Cat Runs Around Like a Kitten

When people see my Spike they are always shocked to discover that he is 19 years old.  His fur looks and feels great, his weight is good, eyes clear and he runs around like a kitten!

How does he do it?

"Good clean living" I always say. 

First of all, Spike has always been an indoor only cat.  He remains safe from other critters, cars, viruses, bacteria, children, meanies and other evils of the outdoor world. One friend used to always comment on how clean and pink his paw pads are.  

Spike eats a very high quality species appropriate diet which includes organic and human grade ingredients.  I won't get into much detail or endorse specific products here.  If you are interested in feeding the best foods to your cat and providing the healthiest holistic environment and care, do what I did and consult Holistic Healthy Pets by Jodi Z.  She taught us how to make and feed nutritious meals for all our cats which include raw foods plus she taught us a ton about environmental toxins and what options we have for our clowder (including where to find what we need).

But what else keeps Spike running around like a crazy kitten (especially in the early AM when I'm trying to sleep of course)?  Subcutaneous fluids, for one.  Many cats of Spikes general age benefit from the extra hydration of Sodium Chloride or Lactated Ringers fluids.  Like many cats who have been fed dry food for so long (Spike used to eat this garbage before I became enlightened), Spike is starting to show the beginnings of kidney issues in his bloodwork.  Rather than wait until he has full-blown kidney problems, our wonderful holistic vet Dr. Larry Bernstein showed me how to administer the fluids, via IV at home a couple times a week.  This helps him pee healthily, keep food down and generally feel like the crazy kitten he once was.  I highly suggest people look into this for cats over a certain age (no I wont give a number!  You know if your cat is acting "OLD").  Talk to your vet. 

Some other things I do for Spike to keep him full of life: include probiotics and enzymes in his meals, provide lots of fresh filtered or spring water and add a couple of other natural supplements to his diet to help balance blood levels and keep his joints feeling good.  Again, I don't want to name exact products here but encourage you to do some thorough sleuthing to find the right combo for your critter.

And by the way, 19 isn't OLD!

I Saw Scooter!

And so did Amy, Emily, Simon and Lindsay!!!  

We all arrived late to her condo for the Bowl party (kitten, puppy and super). When we came in she remained IN CLEAR VIEW on the landing of the stairs.  I couldn't believe it. She stayed there for a long time. I petted her and she head butted me a bunch then I fed her on the landing. She let people watch her eat. Who is this cat?  When she lived at Casa Marro my husband (one of only 2 humans living in the house) barely ever saw her. Visitors - even week long company - never had a sighting. 

Even more amazing was that after us yelling and making all sortsof ruckus    watching the tv and eating and drinking all evening she actually CAME DOWNSTAIRS!  IN FRONT OF PEOPLE. ON THE SAME FLOOR IN THE SAME ROOM AS her two moms and visitors. Omg!  I was so proud of her. Life in Stuart with her new mommy seems to be agreeing with her highness. 

Thank Buddha!

Lack of Prozac!

After meeting holistic pet-god Dr. Larry Bernstein earlier this year, we took JP off his Prozac. That went pretty well, but we weren't ready to take Inky off his Prozac. Finally this month I felt lucky. We started weening him off slowly like we had done with JP. Apparently the timing was not right. Inky started getting rambunctious. He wanted to play all the time. I obliged as much as I could but the other boys weren't interested in his games or his shenanigans. There were a few scary attacks on Spike (cat). Poor kitty was hiding under the bed even!

And then there was pee. Again. Sigh. Been there done that. Strange thing is, I think JP was doing the peeing, not Inky. After several days of cat-hell I called dr b to let him know we needed to put the monster back on the drugs. 

I'm happy to say that things have returned to normal. Well, normal for us. There's no more fighting or peeing or general insanity. I don't love the thought of my cat being on drugs but if he's not we all will need to be!

Renewed hope!

This is Dr. Radosta.  She's THE ONLY feline behaviorist in South Florida.  Luckily, she is also a DVM!!  She has given us hope.  (that's not Inky in her arms, by the way)
Dr. Radosta and her crew (three other kind and gentle women) came to Casa Marro on January 21st for a consultation with JP and INKY.  I was impressed with her knowledge and compassion.  They spent two hours gathering information about our cats, feeding rituals, how we ALL interact with eachother, litterboxes, medical history etc.  She examined JP and INKY for any apparent medical issues. 
One of the first changes she recommended was BIGGER LITTERBOXES!  OMG!  I already have giant sterilite storage boxes (on advice from Mieshelle Nagelschneider years ago), but she pointed out that I have giant cats and we all observed Spike perched on the edge of the box - indicating he could use more room.  OK, no prob - I can DO that.  I can get bigger boxes!  (we already had one ready from IKEA, but hadn't filled it yet.  I was waiting to show it to her)
She determined that JP was a confident cat and that INKY was insecure.  Most people don't believe this, but I do and so did Mieshelle Nagelschneider when we consulted her before.  Both cats seem to be acting out out of stress.  Overcrowding seems to be an issue, even though we have taken advantage of vertical space and really tried to enrich their environment.  My husband has built many structures for them to climb on, scratch, sleep on etc.  And we have toys galore!  But one thing we are going to do now is rotate the toys on a regular basis so the kitties don't get bored.  Also, we went out and bought some new ones to add to the mix.
We had a little training session too while they were here.  We learned how to teach JP and INKY to turn their head away and go to their "safe spot" so that if we see some intimidation happening or staring or the beginnings of a fight we can ask them to look away or walk away before it escalates.  Cool!  Smart.
Another recommendation was to use puzzle feeders.  Well, so far INKY is the only one who has figured that out.  We bought a few different ones.  Perhaps in time...
The last thing I want to write about today is Dr. Radosta's recommendation that we contact University of Tennessee's department of Veterinary Nutrition and have some food formulated (get a recipe perhaps) for JP because he has special needs due to his calcium oxalate stones in his bladder.  
I'm very impressed that Dr. Radosta wants to work as a team with my vets Dr. Yao and Dr. Herrington (who highly recommended her) and with my holistic pet wonderwoman Holistic Jodi!  I'm hopeful that together we can make all our kitties happy and healthy.
HAPPY HEALTHY KITTIES.  HAPPY HEALTHY KITTIES! HAPPY HEALTHY KITTIES!

On the Road Again

JP and I ventured down to Kendall again today to see Dr. Colker. They were every bit as nice today as they were on Tuesday. It wasn't a fluke! JP didn't cry too much in the car this time (though he was hiding behind the bed when he heard the carrier in the other room initially). They promptly escorted us in to what I now realized is a more dog-a-ly-decorated exam room and took a tiny bit of blood from his back leg. He was being such a good boy! His glucose level had dropped from 209 to 107!! Yay! So, Dr. Colker decided not to give him an insulin shot today. I will keep an eye on him over the weekend to see if he is still peeing out of the box and/or drinking a lot of water, etc. Then I will bring him back Tuesday for another blood test. JP was quiet on the way home and settled in pretty quickly. He did not pee on himself, even though I did a classic Cathi move and spaced out on the Turnpike, missing my exit causing me to drive all the way up to Broward County before turning and fighting a bunch of traffic home on Red Road and on 441. There was no problem assimilating back into the clowder. I did a little allogrooming then took a nap with INKY. Dr. Colker doesn't want to call JP's diagnosis DIABETES because really he is not a sick cat. He has healthy skin, eyes, ears, BLADDER!(I won't get into that now) etc. I'm gonna leave it brief today so I can go research WALKING PNEUMONIA...just cuz my lungs are hurting lately.

Bowl Bullying

What I've noticed is that CC comes down from her spiral staircase in the AM to eat breakfast with me. Then INKY comes over to the feeding station and CC cries and walks away. Then INKY "needs" to eat. When he finishes, CC goes back to eating and drinking. Then INKY "needs" to go right back and eat AGAIN! This goes on and on...as if they are each trying to claim the feeding station. Sometimes they do eat together (we have 2 bowls near each other) but I still can't help but think this is some kind of food intimidation game. There is another feeding station located elsewhere in the house where they all eat from time to time. But I'm thinking we could use ANOTHER separate feeding station. Problem is, in South Florida we have so many bugs it is difficult to monitor so many bowls for ants etc. The only other convenient place I can think to set up another station is not far from the front door (where I often see ants coming in!). I know that food should not be placed near litter boxes. When I feed them their wet food (once a day) I make sure to spread the bowls out all over the house so there is no competition. CC usually doesn't even come down for that and JP doesn't like to eat until much later when he can try to lick the crusted on crumbs from the bottom of the bowls. Our house is already under the control of the cats: litterboxes everywhere (from previous SPRAYING incidents a few years back) and cat trees, toys, structures ETC! allover the place! This is more strange feline behavior!

JP

Here's a pic of JP hitting the Ouzo I brought back from my concert tour of Greece!
JP joined my clowder (look it up!) in 1999. I must have just broken up with a boyfriend and decided he could easily be replaced with a kitten (I shall refrain from any further commentary on this subject at this time). I contacted the Cat Network http://www.thecatnetwork.org/ (still don't know how to link to a word!! Der!) and went to a home in Miami Shores to pick myself a lovely kitty. At the time I had Spike (shorthair white with dark gray splotches (one shaped like a hidden mickey!!), Jazz (Spike's brother...long grey fur) and Zebe (foster child, dark longhaired... uhhh.. tabby kinda thing? I'm not too good with breed ID's. I'm not into breeding at all!). Anyhow...I wanted a different looking cat...like, an orange kitty or siamese or something I didn't already have. I've always wanted a black cat, but I actually had a black haired Mufasa a few years earlier.
Well, at this home of a cat network person (I believe it was 2 women that lived there as well as the cats and dogs)...there were many cages filled with many kittens. Any one of them would have been wonderful...but most of them looked like the cats I already had at home. I was harboring a pretty good cross section of cat breeds. Then I met little JP. He was mostly white with grey and black. He looks a lot like Spike...so I kept passing by him. But he wasnt having it! He kept crying and crying for me. He wanted out of the cage full of black monkey-kittens (they were the most insane kittens I had ever met. They frightened me a little). Well, I finally picked him up and instantly fell in love. I really didnt want a repeat of the white with grey theme....but everytime I put him down he cried hysterically until I picked him back up. Then the woman let her wolf dog in the house (yes, the dog was part wolf). He was beautiful. And HUGE. The dog went up to little JP and sniffed him. I though JP was a gonner...but NO! That randy little kitten smacked the wolf in the face and scared him away. That sealed the deal. I signed the adoption paperwork.
The next few days were TORTURE waiting for the women to get JP neutered and physically checked out. I wanted that little kitten in my home so bad. The day I was supposed to adopt him, I went real early to the Luna Star Cafe in North Miami (I figured out the link thing!!) to wait for the call.
They called, I chugged my beer (maybe it was actually coffee?) and bolted over to pick up my little angel. I made my friend drive so I could pet kitten all the way home.
Why JP? Well, being a single private-school teacher (read...poor old maid)living in the big city with no family around...my mom was constantly telling me I shouldnt have cats. I can't afford them etc. So...I wanted to name the kitten after my mom. But it was a boy. My mom's middle name is Jean. That sounds like Jean to me. (this loses something in the translation...Jean could be like GEEEEEN for a girl or John for a haitian/french boy) and my dad's name is Paul. Well, dad is Italian so I don't know why his momma didn't name him Paolo in the first place...thus...my kitty got the continental name of Jean-Paolo or JP or...well, we have many variations around here.
AND HE IS STILL CRYING TODAY! He never shuts up! I love him. He's cute. He's sweet and loyal. In a future post I will tell you about baby JP coming home to see his new big brother Spike. I have a great picture of the 2 of them! But I'll have to scan it...that was in the before times when I didn't know nothin' about no digital cameras. I didn't even have a computer then!! Whaaaat

Solitary Confinement

picture of CC on my bed during the initial reintroduction days when she had to get locked alone in the bedroom often. Ain't she pretty?? I love her!!!

This morning I was watching Barking Mad in my bedroom and I wasn't sure if all the angry cat sounds were coming from the TV (where behaviorists were trying to condition a cat to be comfortable (ie. do not attack and otherwise freakout) around dogs. I paused the show (love DVR's!!! I highly recommend this device!) and ventured out into the house at large (not that it's a large house) to find INKY sitting, flat-eared, on a piece of furniture, for lack of better term, and CC cornered under the computer desk AGAIN!

Soon enough there was crying from CC and howling from INKY. CC started to attempt to walk by INKY (pretty confident move! but not smart). INKY was getting really riled up, so I picked up CC to transport her again (maybe that's not smart either. I wish an expert would read this blog and HELP ME!!!) but INKY was not moving and I couldn't walk past him with CC in my arms. I tried distracting him by tossing crunchy balls and shaking containers filled with coins (we have these strategically placed around the house) and I tried pushing the office chair into the "furniture" (OK...it's another tupperward tub filled with some kind of collectibles) to frighten him away, but when INKY gets in this aggitated state therer seems to be nothing to bring him back. CC and I were trapped in the corner. It was pathetic. I reached for a fly swatter and tried gently nudging INKY's behind off the...ok...classy tupperware tub. We're not rich here! And I guess we're not so classy either. We'd get rid of the tubs in the TV room if the kitties didn't love sitting on them so much!

I digress.

So...I put CC back on the floor under the desk and managed to sneak by INKY myself without incident. I realize I probably made things worse by coming at INKY with CC...and the chair and the noise. Man...I feel like I'm trying so hard here and might not be making the right choices. I need professional help. No...I mean a feline behaviorist. My time with Mieshelle Nagelschneider has long expired...even though she hasn't completely abandoned me. She's the best. I don't know how to hyperlink her name so click this: http://www.thecatbehaviorclinic.com/

At any rate...who is actually still reading this? God bless you.

I coaxed CC out with some cat milk (gave it to INKY too once he appeared to calm down. Gotta stack those positive interaction experiences. THIS I know!). Bottom line: I put CC in solitary confinement in the guest bedroom suite. She has food, water, litter, cable TV...everything a cat could want. Oh yeah, futon and compfy places to sleep - since that's all she ever seems to do now (STRESSED KITTY). I just went back in there to play with her but she must have been hiding under something...or maybe she finally busted out and hitched a ride back to southbeach to reclaim her sobe party-girl lifestyle! She hates the 'burbs.

Cat Wrangling

Last night CC was up on her perch atop the spiral staircase (built for kitties only) and INKY was below STARING at her for hours. She began to descend and INKY was getting chatty. Since CC would have to walk (or run) past INKY to get food, water or bathroom) I made an executive decision to transport her via my arms past the dreaded INKY and to her food bowl. Dunno if that was smart or not. I ended up with a couple scratches. But I think CC is too scared to go near him sometimes. Saw a video yesterday that talked about, among other things, signs of a stressed cat and I think CC is stressed: compulsive drinking, sleeping A LOT!!! and hiding and she may even be losing fur. Spike(husband) and I even talked about rehoming CC (easier to do than the obvious rehoming INKY).

This AM CC was still up on the perch and INKY still stalking her below. I managed to entice INKY with a toy into the guest bedroom and play with him and hang out for a long time so CC could come down and eat etc. INKY enjoyed his "Mommy-INKY time" today.

So...I have heard no screaming, hissing or fighting since .... ooooh, 11 AM...what day was that? Yesterday? Yeah! New record...but, I was away from home most of today. Doing some work for the Miami Shores Flute Ensemble. When I stopped by the house to feed them at 4:30, INKY and CC were sitting suspiciously close together. I checked INKY's claws and he didn't have any CC fur stuck in them!

I hope you enjoy this closeup picture of CC hiding in INKY's tent. Inky likes to go crazy camping! She's really pretty. Don't you think? I got my Cat Wrangling book yesterday. I'll let y'all know if it is any good. Pettiquette by Amy Shojai is awesome!

Had fun swimming with Tab and her kids today. Came home starving waiting for Spike to come home. Guess it's just me and my quality television programming this evening.

Bell

So...I gave INKY a new collar with a bell on it. Now CC can hear him sneaking up on her. I know it is irritating for him to have that ringing in his ears all the time (he already started chasing his tail!!) but it's a little safer for CC and the others now. Eventually, the bell will be removed. It's dinnertime. Wish us luck.

Today's update

so...last night INKY had an "interaction" with CC. What I think happened (I didn't witness the whole thing) was that CC was on her way up the spiral cat staircase in the livingroom (my husband has built several kitty structures. This one goes way up to the little windows high up near the ceiling....a quite high ceiling...and has a place for CC to sleep at the top) and INKY took a swat/chased her part way up. He was apparently really riled up about it. Several minutes later I went to pick him up and he jumped in the air and SCREAMED!
Which brings us to today...
He was evidently still aggitated by this. This AM he was sitting on the couch still staring up at CC who had probably been up on that perch all night. CC came down to eat or something and INKY had a go at her and ended up chasing her screaming into another room while I sprayed him repeatedly with water. Granted, my running after him, possibly yelling (can't really remember to be honest) may not have helped my cause.
So...I decided CC needed to be quarantined (oh no! That's what got us into this mess in the first place!) in the guest bedroom. And Spike insisted on going with her. She's still there now - about 3 hours later. I just removed Spike so she can feel totally safe and relaxed until INKY can calm down out here.
And it is thundering and lightenining to add to the fun!
I'm trying to ignore INKY so he doesn't get attention for his bad behavior. I had a question though....and I'm having trouble remembering it...oh well. There's a couple obvious questions:
1) should I have quarantined her again?
2) should I be totally ignoring INKY? He was scratching at CC's door even.
3) should I not have let Spike in there with CC?
4) should I let CC out for dinner and serve her and INKY yummy stinky canned food together (10-15 feet apart of course)?

Long story short...
My husband and I have 5 cats and 1 house (no dogs, children or other animals). As of January 2008, 4 cats stay inside (Spike, JP, Scooter and INKY) and CC goes in and out as she pleases.
Everything was fine and dandy until the youngest kitty, INKY started to come into maturity (around 18 months of age) and became very territorial. He would spray around the house and attack the other kitties (especially the oldest, Spike, who often can be seen with scratches around his ears). Combine that with JP's urinary problems - stones in his bladder - and we had ourselves an all out pissing war! The vet prescribed amitriptyline and even had to "up" the dosage of that, probably because INKY is a hugantic cat. Well, the meds made INKY gain weight, act lethargic, and made him hate us because we were the pill givers. Let me tell you!!! I have pilled many a cat and I know all the tricks: treats (yeah, right...INKY now will not go near any treat that we tried to hide pills in), devices to shove pills down throats (not having it), holding heads in the right angle, always being quick and confident etc. yeah....INKY is just not into pills. My husband claims he has the neck of Arnold Schwartzenegger - he can avoid any attempt to get pill in mouth and will spit it back up no matter how far down you think you shoved that pill. Don't you love the foamy half digested pills all around the house? EEEEWWW! Oh... and did I mention INKY was still spraying/peeing and attacking the other cats?
But before I forget to mention...INKY is GORGEOUS all black and shiny like a panther. He is super smart. He will do tricks (high five etc) and is very snuggly and affectionate. I adore this cat. OK...so...after several return trips to the vet and being told to put the cat outside (to beat the crap out of neighborhood cats I suppose)...the vet begrudgingly prescribed hormones to make my "bully" (his words, not mine) cat more feminine. So...instead of destroying my cats health with hormones I decided, against the advice of my vet, to find a cat behaviorist to help. I just knew this problem could be solved some other way!
I will skip the details righ now...but, I FINALLY managed to find the most wonderful woman in the cat world: Mieshelle Nagelschneider http://www.thecatbehaviorclinic.com/. She is in Oregon and I am in Miami, but lets just say she is brilliant and dedicated and almost like magic she solved that problem. I will write more about THAT and her in other posts I'm sure. But I tell you right here and right now...if you have a cat behavior problem anywhere in the US or Canada...contact her immediately!!
Skip to January 2008. CC had an abscess on her back and had to go to the hospital overnight. I could put a lot of blame on a lot of things (and people..including myself)...but....basically what happened is...after being quarantined in the bathroom then the guest bedroom (had to kick my houseguest out even), INKY would not accept CC back into the pride. Perhaps she smelled too much like the dreaded vet...and INKY had a totally flip out on CC. Not just growling and hissing. We're talking crazy moaning, screaming, spitting, howling.....it reminded me of the time a year ago when taking him back to the vet - probably to get his hormone prescription (which I never filled, thank you very much) and he was making such crazy noises it sounded to me like a 3 year old human being bludgeoned to death. Or at least...I immagine that's what THAT would sound like. Havent tried it or witnessed it myself. I digress.
So....we are almost up to date here. I'll try to spare you more details again...but...I've read several cat behavior books and seen videos and done a lot of research online about this. I know I have to do a slow reintroduction as though CC is a new cat. All the obvious tricks werent working as quickly and well as I had read they would...so...what did I do? I hired Mieshelle again. SHE ROCKS! She basically said the same thing: slow reintroduction. I dont feel like putting all the details down here since I already have written WAY too much...but I fear posters will start posting advice with obvious garbage like, you have to share the scents of the cat. DUH! yeah.
I tried to make every meeting between the 2 of them positive (yummy stinky wet food) and did some allogrooming. Go look that up. Most vets dont even know what that means. After several months I had to resort to adding medication to the routine. INKY is just so high strung and nervous etc. My vet really didnt want to medicate him again and knew nothing about compounding meds so I dont have to risk losing a finger (HELLO! I'm a musician...I kinda need all the digits intact!). I thought I was doing him a favour educating him about the compounding. I dont think he saw it that way. To this day we dont seem to be on the same page with INKY. But at least he did give in and get me my amitriptyline gel for INKY's ears. Of course, once again the meds didn't do anything except make him gain weight. Now we are on Buspar (no, just INKY, I'm on other meds. I have different problems). It seems to be taking the edge off...but I am not totally satisfied and I think I need to stop begging this vet to give me different drugs.
Where are we today? Well, INKY is on 7.5 mg of Buspar 2 times a day transdermally (in the ear). All 5 cats have free roam of the house (I have ommitted a big story of how we got THERE). INKY spends a good amount of his day stalking CC who has become more frightened than ever. She hides up high and in places where INKY can't reach her. She can spend 12 hours straight in one place with no food, water or litterbox. At least once a day INKY has an interaction with her which I usually don't see, I only hear a scream. Noone has gotten hurt yet. CC tends to come out to eat when I am around because she knows I will try my best to keep INKY at bay.
I am fascinated by feline behavior. Please stay tuned to hear more about the antics in our home. I would love to hear what you have to say...especially if you happen to be in the biz. I wish I could find a reputable cat behaviorist in the area to come to my house (on the cheap would be best as I AM a musician)...anyhow...more to come.