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He is my boy forever, I could Never abandon him. I am blessed to have yet another exceptional feline to share my life with.
I now have a pretty good idea why my sweet, beautiful, 6 year old rescue kitty (8/7/2011) wasn't even being shown to potential adopters.
He has symptoms of FHS (I just became aware of FHS 2 days ago).
His tail was amputated when he was 3 months old. I know this because there was a letter on his cage (in the "back" of the shelter) from his family telling how he violently attacked his tail twice before their vet recommended, then did, amputate it. There was NO mention of any further symptoms or behavioral problems. It seems the vet wasn't familiar with FHS, I'm finding that many vets are not familiar with FHS.
Also stated in the letter was how much is family (really?) Loved him, but a sick relative was allergic to cats.
"Please take care of him and love him as much as we do". I can assure them I'll love him enough not to abandon him, EVER.
Having had my fill of no-kill shelters "attitudes", (I was planning to adopt a senior cat that did not need treatments, yet, that required needles, guess that pegged me as not a good candidate for Any cat regardless of age, instead of responsible and aware of my current limitations/phobias), I called my sister and we went to the nearest kill shelter.
After visiting with the cats I had picked out on Pet Finder and the ones who seemed interested (initially) in me, I had not found my cat.
As we were getting ready to leave for the day and try again tomorrow, I asked the young volunteer if there were any cats that were going to be PTS that he thought I should see.
He let out a huge sigh and led us into the back room without a word.
There, with his back to the door and no inclination to see who had come in, was my cat.
Meeko.
The first few days I had him, I was actually embarrassed that my rescue kitty was SO beautiful.
For me, a cats looks were the last thing I would consider when making my final determination, I was looking for a chance to have a special bond once again.
I read the letter on his cage, and then my sister and I joined Meeko in one of the empty rooms to get acquainted.
I already knew I could not leave him there.
As I'm sure you all know, it's very traumatic at these shelters because you know you can't save them all but that knowledge doesn't ease your conscience or alleviate your sadness.
It took Meeko almost 10 minutes to come out of the carrier, his deep emerald green eyes, surrounded by long, dark, grey fur, never left me as he sniffed around the room.
After he investigated the room he came over to me, crawled into my lap, and stared up at me before closing his eyes and snuggling into me.
Saber only allowed me to hold him once, when he chose to die in my arms.
Never heard of it until now, I looked it up. Thanks for the education. I'm glad you found your new fury buddy. Both my cats were rescued strays, and my dog, is adopted from a friend and so are my guinea pig and rat.
There is some treatments for this .. I hope you will look into them asap .. not cure-able but is control-able and very treatable
Effective anti-obsessional drugs include clomipramine (clomicalm) and fluoxetine (Prozac). Be aware that it might take 3 or 4 weeks for an initial response to the drug. By 16 weeks, the full effect of the drug should be known. When anti-obsessional therapy is ineffective or only marginally effective, try anti-convulsants. The first drug to try in cats is usually Phenobarbital. With appropriate environmental and pharmacologic treatment, affected cats often can be rehabilitated and lead normal lives.
good info here Cat Channel
\As I'm sure you all know, it's very traumatic at these shelters because you know you can't save them all but that knowledge doesn't ease your conscience or alleviate your sadness.
I completely agree. I cannot even look at websites of animals waiting to be adopted. I look at their little innocent faces, staring directly into the camera, and imagine they are thinking, "please, someone, love me, give me a home" - I can start crying just thinking about it.
I get angry when I think about all the people who do not spay/neuter their animals. I have known several people personally who do not think its a big deal to not spay/neuter. They think the kittens are so cute. All I can do is think about the thousands of animals put down every day because the humans in their lives are too _______ (fill in the blank) to spay/neuter and/or make a lifetime commitment to them.
It could have started in the shelter too, due to the stress of being dumped and being in such an unnatural environment. Cats are often more stressed by the shelter than dogs are (and of course it affects them too). Maybe, with time in a loving home he'll start to get better. I sure hope so. Sending positive thoughts your way!
Thank You for your reply. I got so caught up in the emotion I didn't get into the details so far.
When I brought him home he hid under the bed. When I woke up in the middle of the night I found he had slipped between my arms as I slept on my side.
The second day he developed sniffles and sneezing, diarrhea.
He hadn't been eating well at the shelter, and didn't want to eat now either. He was dehydrated and I feared some damage may have been done to his liver.
I noticed the ripping out of his fur that first morning. I thought it was just a reaction to the stress of a new home.
When he would get that look in his eyes, right before the noshing started, I gently but tightly wrapped a soft blanket around and held him and sang to him. He calmed right down and forgot for awhile about hurting himself.
All his other problems, sneezing, diarrhea etc. have resolved and there appears to be no damage to his liver or kidneys.
He will be getting a more thorough work-up, including thyroid and anything else my research indicates.
I will also be sure to find a vet that is very knowledgeable about FHS and is also holistic. One of the theories about what contributes/causes FHS is vaccines, which has me looking into autism and FHS similarities, and there are more than a few.
It seems I'm kind of a science geek! Who knew?
Acupuncture is mentioned as helpful, I have not researched it for myself yet.
Luckily for Meeko and I, I'm not finding this a problem, his symptoms are not particularly difficult to deal with. He doesn't vocalize loudly or excessively, and he is not destructive to the anything or one but himself.
I realize this is usually not the case, and his condition may worsen. We'll take things as they come, but the cat stays with me!
I got the apartment to be able to have a cat in a peaceful environment, so I made it entirely cat friendly, he cannot do anything wrong and will not be scolded for being a cat. A true luxury, but thankfully his disposition is well-mannered and not destructive.
He is not drawing blood or leaving bald areas, and I can usually preempt an attack by saying re-direct and/or engaging him with a toy tossed to him. (He's Really smart, and it only took him two days to figure out what I meant by re-direct) I have started wearing an apron with pockets full of toys so I have access to them ASAP.
Movement (his tail nub, a shadow, a curtain blowing in the open window etc., though not the t.v.) seems to trigger an attack if there are also external stressors like loud noises outside.
I've been keeping the window fan on a lot for white noise.
Thankfully we don't need to rush into a possibly dangerous treatment.
I read recently about shelters refusing to take animals on Prozac, once on the drug is almost impossible to successfully and humanely rehab them off the drug.
In humans, the idea that a serotonin or other brain imbalance is the cause of most mental illness (depression, OCD etc.) is just a guess, and the idea that Prozac et al is efficacious and not harmful is being increasingly questioned by many of the scientist that once espoused their use. Google ...
Although a serious medicine as well, phenobarbital, seems the most helpful.
Thank You for your concern and the info, I'm obviously going to look into this and if either of us come across new or promising information I hope we can discuss it here.
I had a cat once who may have has a form of this. She would lick herself raw and create "hot spots". Usually after some upset or other, a new animal or even if my son's friends would spend the night. Eventually she calmed down
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