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We took Firefly to the vet last week because we suspected she had another bladder infection (she also had one in January). Matt took her and told the vet how aggressive she's become in the last year. She immediately said she thought Firefly should go on "kitty prozac" because of the sudden change in personality! She then asked if there's been any stress in her life. Matt told her we have a 9 month old son. He told her more details and she's pretty certain that Firefly just isn't adjusting to Evan and probably won't without some help -- in the form of "kitty prozac" that costs $20 a month (figures). It's also "convenient" that it comes in the form of a capsule pill that we have to give her EVERY DAY. The first 3 nights we gave it to her we spent about 30 minutes each night trying to force it down her throat (last night was the 4th and it only took 5 very painful stressful minutes). She then spends the entire night and most of the next day hiding under the bed pouting. One of Matt's co-workers summed it up nicely - "so you are forcing pills down her throat every day to make her like you more?" lol
It should take effect in about 3 weeks. The vet said we should notice a huge difference in her personality. She will have to be on the meds about 4 months before going to every other day, then another few months before weaning off them altogether. The vet said that if she reverts back to her aggressive behavior after that we should definitely find a new home for her for her health and Evan's safety. The stress of having Evan in the house is causing her aggression, causing her to stop grooming herself, and causing the recurring bladder infections. The doctor did a complete physical exam and a urine test just to make sure there wasn't bacteria or some other pain causing the problems and sure enough, it was all clear, meaning that it is stress causing these problems. The vet said she wouldn't be surprised if she lost some of the excess weight after being on the meds too. I'm not even going to say what all of this cost us (not including the monthly payments for the meds). Well...I'll just say it was over $300. Over $350. Over....nah, it wasn't over $400 thankfully!!!
So for her we're wondering should we keep her and hope that the meds work? For all we know in 7-8 months we might be back at square one. Plus if she can't handle Evan how is she going to handle a second baby addition and possibly a third in the future? How is she going to handle it when Evan is older and has friends over on a regular basis? How is she going to handle moving to a new house someday? I just feel like it would really be best for her to live with an older person/people who are established and not going to go through any big changes. I'm wondering how I'm going to continue her medicine when Matt is out of town. It's hard enough giving it to her with both of us working at it. And what are we going to do when we both go out of town next month?? It's way too hard to ask my sister or a friend to do that for us. But we'll see, we still haven't made any decisions.
Serenity....*sigh* She has become even worse with Evan. He has scratches all up and down his arms. One was especially nasty (bleeding) and he cried after she did it (he rarely cries when she scratches him). I've taken to locking her up the entire time he's awake. He knows that she'll hurt him now and ignores her until she continually positions herself to be right in front of him. She'll even go up and rub her head all over him until he grabs her fur (then she immediately hisses and scratches him). I have been especially vigilant with watching him lately. The other day she was in the room with us and I had to run to the next room to grab my brush. I started out and looked to see where Serenity was. She was following me. Great! I don't have to lock her up just to go grab something. I grab it and return to the room about 10 seconds later. She's laying next to him. Huh? She must have turned around and ran back in after I saw her following me. Oh well. Look at Evan's arm. New scratch. Wow. I can't even leave him alone for 10 seconds if she's on the loose.
Every time I see Evan's arms I make the decision to find a new home for her. But then at night or during nap time I think, "nooo, I can't get rid of her. She's my favorite." At this point I'm still undecided. We ordered Soft Paws for her and will try them out again. We tried them when she was a kitten and within 2 days half of them had fallen off. Another 2 days and they had all fallen off. But maybe now that she isn't as active they will stay on and will work.
To be honest, part of me wants to get rid of them just because of the messes they make. The hair, the cat food all over the living room, the pieces of cat litter all over the house. So with all of the real problems added to that, it makes me want to get rid of them. *sigh* Oh well....I just don't know what to do. Last night I had made the firm decision to go ahead and try to find a home for them (we'd probably have to separate them which I doubt will bother them at this point since they rarely hang out together). We don't have to give them up if we aren't comfortable with the home they would be going to. But now I'm not so sure... ahhhH!!!!!
It sounds like you've already made up your mind about what you want to do. As I said in my comment on your last post about the cats is if a pet becomes violent is the only reason to find them a new home. Do you know any families (older, no kids) that would love taking in some cats?
ReplyDeleteIt does sound like they're stressed and just not kid-friendly kitties. They'd probably thrive and live out their days much happier in a home without children.
Not every pet fits with every family. I agree with LaceFace, as I said before, but not every pet is going to work in a family and children come first.