Our boy kitty has been in a state for the last three days. And, this state has involved a periodic piddle where he shouldn't. When it comes to boy kitties and piddlin', we've learned over the years that it's important to get these things checked out ASAP. So, today we did.
This morning, we made an afternoon appointment at Tomichi Pet Center here in Gunnison. We loaded up the offending cat and headed off to the unknown (to us, anyway) vet. We received a warm greeting, and after a short wait were escorted to an exam room. The friendly tech and wonderful vet were both Kansas natives. So, we knew we were in good hands.
With just about all of the possible physical maladies ruled out, the vet suggested that the problem might be behavioral. Actually, she surmised, it sounded like the issue might be territorial. It seems our alpha kitty might just be marking his territory at the threat of passing deer, dogs, cats and whatever other wildlife might pass our way.
And what does one do with such a territorial kitty? The lovely vet suggested Feliway. I had read about it over the years, and was a bit skeptical. But, as the doc explained the science of it all, it suddenly made sense.
Feliway mimics feline pheromones, which are the things all kitties spread around a place by scratching, rubbing their faces (and occasionally piddlin') here and there. These pheromones make a kitty's place "theirs". Once everything is appropriately marked, a kitty can kick back and relax, knowing that they have fended off an intrusion by any passing animals. A few sprays of Feliway are supposed to get the job done for any resident kitties, which makes, scratching, rubbing (and occasional piddlin') unnecessary. With their territory artificially marked, resident kitties can get straight to the business of kickin' back and relaxing.
We gave it a shot.
Thirty bucks and five strategically placed sprays later, we were absolutely dumbstruck. Our kitties were calm, cool and collected. They were definitely kickin' back and relaxing.
Actually, our newfound vet has a great word for it. They were "chillaxin'".
Truth be told, we all were.
We know it's early. But, so far so good.
Three cheers for Feliway!
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6 comments:
and here I thought at first maybe he had crystals in his urine?..never heard of Feliway?..interesting..I know you will keep us all posted as to whether or not it rids you of the problem 'dribble'!
I never tire of learning new things. It's not that I don't appreciate this unexpected elucidation concerning feline psychology; it is perhaps the role cat urine plays that has my brain's cognitive router searching for just the right niche in my long term memory for its placement. It is not yet clear if it will reside in an area with recall privileges or if it will mercifully fade into a nether world where it can be resurrected only by electrical shock. In any case, I was highly entertained by your brilliantly documented observations.
As long as all other problems were negative, this is an interesting product.
Blogger is being a problem so this might be a duplicate comment. We tried the Feliway plug in several years ago when Patches was having behavioral problems with the litter box. It did seem to help. Nice knowing the direct spray seems to be an even better idea if the problem should reoccur.
Glad the kitties are calmer and life is back to normal for you.
Glad to hear it worked for you - we tried it several years ago trying to chill our posse of cats and it didn't do much. There is nothing more frustrating than our little darlings marking!
we'd heard about Feliway but was totally scepticle. Will be interested in seeing how this works out for you. Alex tends to mark occassionally. He has had urinary tract infection problems and we are now using vitamins with cranberry extract in them. That seems to be helping, but we still have to send him to his katt box - yes, he know's the command, "Go Potty" and responds. But, you have to catch him before he sprays.
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