Gandalf: Help! As of about 3:00 this morning, I have been locked up in Mom's office and I am Not Allowed out into the rest of the house. That means right now I am mostly is doing this, or I am on the window sill looking out the window or I am caterwauling "Let me out!".
Mom Barb here. Gandalf's marking has gotten worse since we moved to the Swamp so I have no other choice than to confine him to one room until he stops spraying. From all I've read, this could takes months. Or forever.
The surfaces in the office are mostly hard - no carpet or upholstered furniture. If he does spray, it will be much easier to clean. I will be taking the books out of the bookcase, just in case. I don't know quite how to protect my computer, so right now I am hoping he leaves it alone.
He's already done stuff out of boredom and frustration that I could never have imagined... for instance, he hit the switch on my iPhone which was sitting on my desk and turned off the ringer. I actually saw him do it and heard it buzz. He's a handful right now and walking on my last nerve, let me tell ya!
He took the Prozac for me in Pill Pockets for exactly 4 days and then quit. Last night I finally decided I was going to get that pill into him even if he scratched my arms off. Surprisingly, it went pretty well and no scratches. Yet.
What concerns me now is that I may be on the phone with a customer when he decides to whine about getting out of the office. Gandalf has always been very vocal. That won't help me look very professional with my customers, now will it? I will have a spray water bottle at the ready! Actually, an air freshener spray is much more effective on my cats. They hate the noise and flee like flies when they hear it, so I have that, too!
This had better work, because I really don't know what else I can do. All your purrs and prayers will be appreciated!
We are purring hard! We are hoping that once his bladder/crystal issues clear up that will help a lot, poor baby!
ReplyDeleteoh i am so sorry about this honey...
ReplyDeletesmiles, auntie bee
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo
Good luck. That is frustrating. We had a cat who refused litter box stuff and he was also vocal--that's hard.
ReplyDeleteWe're sorry you are going through this. We are sending our best purrs to you! We hope it clears up soon. Have you tried a feliway diffuser in the office? Maybe it would help calm him down a little. It worked for our Rambler, in combination with rescue remedy.
ReplyDeleteDoes Gandalf like cheese? Whenever I give my cats medication, I get some very soft and sticky cheese and hide the pills, or pill bits, inside. It works well over here.
ReplyDeletePaws crossed...
uh-oh! sorry, galdalf. this sounds like a very big mess. i know that sometimes it is not fun to be shut in one room. my mommy had to do that to me during some of my toilet training. at first i was really mad at her, but then i realized she was doing it for everyone's good. i got myself on a schedule and very soon i was fine with it. hopefully your problem will clear up soon. please let me know how you are doing!
ReplyDeletePurring for you and Gandalf. Could he perhaps have some screened in porch time to help with the boredom. Scylla is very destructive, thankfully no spraying in the house although she does spray outside. ~AFSS
ReplyDeleteOuch. We think he will get better once his medical condition improves. We'll purr and pray for all of you though.
ReplyDeleteOh Gandalf....we know lots has been going on, and you are probably a bit stressed. And you illness doesn't help. But please try to not spray buddy, it just ins't a good thing to do. We will be purring and purring for you!
ReplyDeleteMeowm gave up on trying to get my pills down me (Orion) in pill pockets too. She has resorted to using Fancy Feast Appetizers and smashing up the pill in that. But luckily I don't have to take the pill daily, just a couple of times a week. We hope you find something that works for Gandalf soon. Can he have it in tuna?
Oh well this doesnt sound fun for you Gandalf or for your Mom. Hopefully everything gets better soon I'm purring for you
ReplyDeleteWe just recently confirmed that Snafu is a peer...our term for that. So now we have two. Moseley was a peer too, but he had other issues and was already in his own room. I'm sure you've got a Feliway diffuser.
ReplyDeleteProzac has not worked for us, but Amitriptyline has. The pills are pretty small too so using a pill gun (we'd never be without a pill gun) is easy. Treats to follow up too. When all else fails...we used a diaper/thong. I can tell you more about that if and when you need it. I'll be praying for you. Drugs gud! ~Lisa Co9T
Its a pritty drastik rezort but mai frend had a cat that wuz gettin rilly angry an she let him owtside. He iz an inside/owtside kitteh now, an hez rilly happy an no more problemz. But its not so safe for kitteh, iz a trade-off. Good lucks Gandolf.
ReplyDeletePandafur: That is about when the inappropriate marking began... not long after Mom stopped letting us go Outside. Our neighborhood got some big dogs that the new neighbors allowed to roam free and there were a few Tom Cats that kept coming into our yard. Mom says it was no longer safe to let us be Outside, even though we were always supervised. That was also about the time we got Whitey.
ReplyDeleteWe just moved to the Swamp. Even though we are in a very quiet, very low traffic area (only 3 houses), there are about 8 stray/feral cats, a few of them big tom cats that roam around, so Mom does not feel safe in letting us Outside here, either.
Sorry you are banned to the office. Hope this is not a health issue. Good luck with this.
ReplyDeleteWe are sorry you are banned to the office Gandalf, but spraying indoors is not good. We hope you will stop doing it when your crystals are cleared up again.
ReplyDeletehmmmm.
ReplyDeleteI know precisely what the problem is.
It is the one girl in the house.
Boys get along together as long as there are no girls. Once you have a female in the house, you can not stop the spraying. Usually the one cat that wants to be the boss is the one that sprays, but not always.
I wish you great luck with this. Once they start it usually does not stop.
It is not immediate that one kitty starts this, it usually takes a few weeks/months to get the tension going.
Pierro: bonks to all of you
Oh we do hope Gandalf will be on best behaviour again soon.
ReplyDeleteWe're so sorry Gandalf is spraying. He has been through a lot of changes recently (Whitey, Gracie, moving to a new house, not getting to go outdoors). Change can be very difficult for some kitties. It sounds like you are doing all the right things to help get through this. Hopefully it will just take a little time and patience for him to get back to being his sweet old non-spraying self.
ReplyDeleteOh, Gandalf! I'm feeling for you and your Mom-it'll get better! I know it will.
ReplyDeletePrayers and purrs!
Noir
Have you tried "Feliway" for this problem? It worked for my son's female cat who was peeing all over the place.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely sounds like a territorial issue to me. Gandalf must be the alpha male.
So sorry to hear about this and hope it's rectified shortly.