OT: Cats and psychological trauma

[lsdesign]

My sister and I both have cats as pets. She has always been a bit extreme, in my opinion, about what can affect cats and their behaviors. The latest is is that she is insisting that our elderly cat is still traumatized by our move nearly nine months ago! Our kitty would sometimes have problems with holding food down but she has recently gone through a spate of thowing up about a half dozen times in the last month. I have a real problem with people wanting to place the human brain and the brain of a cat on the same level. Please let me hear from any of you who may have a more scientific view point on cats and what makes them upset. Oh, and if you know why kitty is throwing up please add that too.
No changes in food for the 5 years we've had her. Science Diet for mature kitties.

[SusanT]

Have you taken your cat to the vet to get her checked out? Vomiting can be a symptom of many problems in elderly cats including kidney disease.

I would rule out physical problems before I would suspect behavioral problems.

[Jeanne G]

lsdesign,
I too have a cat. I am unfamiliar with traumatized cats, and can't imagine that a move so long ago would do that, but I don't know. One thing I can say, is that they do have food for hair ball problems, and I've tried it(although it doesn't work for my cat). She does throw up occassionaly, but one thing I found is that it helps to give her ORGANIC cat nip! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/wink.gif Seriously, one time after changing her to that, she stopped throwing up quite a bit! So maybe try changing her diet, one food just might upset her tummy!
Good luck!!

[Peggy]

Just a quick thought...Does your cat have problems with "fur balls"? Sometimes if they have a fur in their stomach/digestive track they will throw up a lot trying to get rid of it. There are those lubricants you can buy that they lick up (because they taste so good!) which will help them pass it. Running out the door to work, but that was my first thought.

Peggy

[LGBurns]

If she is an "elderly" cat, I would suggest checking with your vet. Our vet told us that in young cats vomiting usually isn't serious but in older cats it could be. BTW, there is a wonderful book on cats called "How to Think Like a Cat" that has info on everything from problem behaviors to health questions. Despite the title, it isn't a kooky "cats are people, too" kind of book. In fact, it emphasizes the ways in which cats are not like people and helps you understand their behavior based on their instincts, etc. I seriously doubt your cat is still traumatized from a move 9 months ago, and if the vomiting hasn't been going on the whole 9 months, I would think that would particularly rule out the move as an explanation. I hope your kitty is feeling better soon--please keep us updated.

[donleyk]

Mine threw up twice this morning. He is 13. He is on Science Diet Senior with hairball control. I could tell (without being graphic) that the hairball was the problem and he has yet to cough it up. I feel bad for all three of us (DH had to clean up the second time).

[Beth H]

Cats do not like to be uprooted from their environments, as they very strongly associate with environment (much more so than dogs). I know the first night after we moved, our cat wailed all night and clearly was frightened, upset, etc. However, it only took about 2 weeks for her to get adjusted.

I think the throwing up must be related to something else. Cats who are upset sometimes refuse to use their litterbox or change their eating habits, but I don't think they would throw up to get attention. Hair balls definitely can cause a lot of digestive problems. You might try to grow some grass in a pot -- cats like to eat grass and supposedly it helps their digestion.

As for cats having feelings/emotions like humans -- I do think cats have "feelings" but I am not sure it is the same as humans -- I think we try to place our own emotions on our pets sometimes. But, at the same time, I think on some level our cat "loves" her humans and feels jealous/upset/etc. Of course, I could be reading way too much into her behavior! http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

[cchhbb]

I've had several older cats and I would suggest that you consider a visit to the vet. I've found that hairball prevention foods and pastes just don't seem to work as well on an older cat as my younger ones.

I don't believe that cats can be affected by things like a move 9 months ago. I think some people just overreact. When we moved last summer, our cat was not trilled with the process. He was a big scarey cat all of the time. After the first two weeks he went back to his normal self.

[Beth]

I would have to agree that cats tend to like to stay put in their territoty, but I think most cats will readily adapt if they are with familiar things and with their people. Mine alwayas have, and have always found things to enjoy in their new homes.

How and what your cat throws up will provide clues too. I think the cat I lost to liver trouble was throwing up a lot. I also had a cat with a food allergy that came on after they had been on the same food for sometime (don't know if the allergy developed then or if the manufacturere changed something, but we also had skin rashes and hair loss to help us figure that out). Hairballs would certainly be common this time of year, when they are shedding heavy winter coats and could swallow more fur. Hairballs are pretty obvious since you will see mats of fur in at least some of what comes up. Do check with your vet if it is more than occassional, especially if it does not appear to be hairballs.

[GayeC]

My recent experience suggests that cats are pretty resilient! Our cat was recently trapped in an abandoned car for 3 weeks! We had no idea where she was -- thought she had been hit by a car, killed by another animal (we live in the country), or something. She was discovered by accident and, of course, was very thin and traumatized. We were horrified, to say the least. However, she bounced back and was acting completely normal within 2 days. Unbelievable.

[JJ40]

Oh, GayeC, I'm so glad your kitty was okay! Poor baby. What an ordeal (for both you and her)!

I am in total denial that anything bad will ever happen to my cats, because I can't bear the thought of life without them!

Julie

[tobykitty]

I agree that you should take your kitty to the vet. But on the subject of being upset about the move, I think it depends on your cat. Mine was very upset after our move. He lost a lot of weight and was just plain pi**y for about a year. But he did have additional behavior problems (wouldn't use his litter box some days). And I did take him to the vet and they said there was nothing wrong with him physically. We had been renting until finding a place to buy. After we purchased our condo and moved in he was much happier. He's back to his old self now. So, I think it really depends on your pet. They all have their own personalities and can be affected different ways.

[Anne]

Good luck with your cat. I tend to think of cats being pretty hard-wired for instinct as opposed to thoughtfull decision making. Ours still suprises me at times though and makes me wonder what is going on in that little flat skull.

[kwormann]

SOrry if this was mentioned....I didnt look thru the posts, but our cat starts this every year at this time.....more shedding = more furballs. Scoop some vaseline on your finger in the evening and the cat will eat it off (strange but true). It will help the hair not ball and keep them from sickness (if that is the problem!)

[BlueMoose]

You can also mix the vaseline with molasses. I think that's basically what the hairball remedy in the stores consists of.

[lsdesign]

Thank you to all who weighed in on this problem. It lets me know that there are catlovers out there that don't think of their pets as human beings. I guess it's time to take kitty to the vet.

[Karen M]

For all of you Science Diet buyers out there, I was horrified to find out that the main ingredient in many of their dry varieties is: Poultry by-product meal
which is basically ground up chicken heads, feet, and intestines.

Just look at the ingredient list for the Feline Senior variety:
Poultry by-product meal, brewers rice, ground corn, corn gluten meal, animal fat (preserved with BHA, propyl gallate and citric acid), soybean mill run, chicken liver digest, powdered cellulose, potassium chloride, calcium sulfate, choline chloride, DL-methionine, natural flavor, iodized salt, potassium citrate, taurine, ferrous sulfate, zinc oxide, copper sulfate, manganous oxide, sodium selenite, calcium iodate, vitamin A supplement, D-activated animal sterol, niacin, vitamin E supplement, thiamine, preserved with BHT and BHA, calcium pantothenate, riboflavin, pyridoxine hydrochloride, folic acid, biotin, vitamin B12 supplement.

There's no real chicken "meat" in this! I can't believe how many vets recommend this brand.

Look for chicken (muscle) and chicken meal in the ingredient list. These are much better and easier to digest than by-product meal.

After I switched Gracie off the Science Diet Hairball food, we had a lot less problems and she is a much spunkier kitty now too. We use Royal Canine brand from petopia.com.

[This message has been edited by Karen M (edited 05-24-2001).]

[This message has been edited by Karen M (edited 05-24-2001).]

[Julie O]

Never had a cat myself, but a friend of mine had a cat that was vomitting alot. (also an older cat). She took it to the vet & found out it had cancer. It was really sad too because she lost both of her cats which she had for 18 years within 2 weeks of each other. So, I would definitely suggest taking it to a vet.