Ragdoll Cat Forums

Okay, for all the experienced cat breeders and cat owners on here. I have a pickle. Not my ragdoll, but still a much-loved member of the family.

Cleo is our pretty DLH calico kitty.

She's got an anxiety problem and we are at our wit's end at what to do about it!! She's been with Jeff since she was 6 weeks old, and has never ever been abused. Jeff's too big of a softie to be any sort of animal abuser.. he cant even kill insects, he catches them and lets them go outside.

Cleo acts like we've been beating her for years. If for whatever reason she was in an animal shelter, they'd think she was abused because of how she acts. She hides from everything, refuses to eat with the other cats around, if someone so much as sneezes she takes off and hides. She screams bloody murder if we pick her up, she acts like she's dying if the other cats come near her. She once hid for nearly 2 months straight and we had no choice but to take food, water and a litter box to the area she was hiding in. After we finally got fed up with it, we locked her out of her sanctuary (my son's bedroom) and at first she sat on the top level of the cat tree for 3 weeks straight without coming down.

At first we thought it was the other cats bullying her, so we respected her need to be alone from the others. But that's not it. She's the one that makes the other cats nuts about her!! The more crazy she acts (hissing, spitting, screaming/acting like she's dying), the more curious the other cats get and the closer they come. The other cats dont beat her up, but she acts like they do. They come within a foot of her, and she screams like she's being killed, which scares the other cats and causes them to run after her to try to hide with her... which just causes her to run and hide and cry more.

In other words, she's a complete basket case. Now that she's in the rest of the house, she refuses to eat, drink or do anything else for herself. If she's to eat, we have to bring the food to her... forget about bringing her to the food. If she wants to drink, we have to bring the water to her. Using the litter box is the only thing that she'll do by herself (thank god for that too). The vet cant even find anything medically wrong with her!!! There is NOTHING wrong with her physically. He said that she's just got high anxiety. I am seriously angry with this cat for acting like a complete lunatic. Well.. angry is the wrong word.. its more like... frustrated.

*sigh*
sorry about the long post.. I'm venting. I'm venting because after what looked like a breakthrough in her behavior (she came out of the basement on her own today) she started with the "being killed" thing again. Personally I just want to end her misery and put her to sleep... but I'm torn because I love her and I dont think that its fair to just put her down because she's scared of everything.. I mean... we dont kill humans who act like she does... why would I do that to a cat?

What are your suggestions? Thanks.

Although I am not in favor of the quick use of behavioral medications, this may be a case extreme enough to try it. Prozac has been determined to be the effective one for cats.

Killing her is not appropriate. First place her in a one cat home. You can even create that yourself by giving her private space in a bedroom, bathroom, basement, etc.

The problem with giving her a one-cat home is that nobody else has the patience for her. Even my mother who is an animal lover wouldnt be able to deal with her. When she was hiding in my son's room, she found smaller and smaller places to hide in.. at first she was happy with just hanging out in the bedroom.. then she wouldnt come off of the bed. Then she wouldnt come out from under the bed... then after that, she refused to come out of an empty box that was under the bed. Her anxiety is getting worse and worse. She's always been around other cats, and the only cat that makes her relax even a little bit is White Kitty (who is nuts in her own way, but at least its managable), and the only reason that WK is the cat to relax her is because WK's been there with her as her "surrogate" mommy since Cleo was just a baby herself.

I was thinking of the kitty-prozac but I dont know if it'll help her or not. I'll have to bring it up at the vet's the next time we go.

My girl friend has a cat the suffers from anxiety her vet has put her cat on Valium . It seems like it has help her cat alot.

oh my what a difficult situation. I agree that I would try the prozac or valium. I would talk to the vet about both. Hopefully that will be all it would take. I know how frustrating our cats can be some times as much as we love them. I have a dog who is a fear biter and pees when you pet her. (cocker spaniel) I also have a son who is allergic to dogs ;/ However I can not find her a new home because I fear someone might hurt her....and I wouldnt have the heart to put her to sleep cause she is a good dog. (she cant control those things ) So I understand the position of not being able to rehome her and it being difficult to keep her. Again tho, I would try medicine approach. Hopefully you have a vet who will be good working with you and the kitty till you find the right approach.

I think rehoming her with a family without children or other pets explaining completely the situation to the new family, once in the new home they could administer the Prozac. Putting her to sleep in my opinion should not be considered.

I cant do that either.... she'd likely die from the stress of the move alone.. I didnt mean it when I said that I wanted to end her misery. I am just extremely frustrated with this bizarre behavior that cannot be explained by anything and I'm also hormonal and this thing with Cleo is just bugging me more than it ever did before. Not only that but I dont want to give up on her. I remember when she was semi-sane and was actually somewhat friendly. She used to only run and hide when someone new came into the room. She was fine when we lived in the apartment, before we moved into our current home.

Also, I dont really want to give her up because she's anxious.. its not fair to toss her nuttyness onto someone else, and even more unfair to her to rip her from the only home she knows.

Separating her from the other cats while treating her with Valium or Prozac sounds much better than just giving up on her.

My doctor just put Shylo on Valium a week or so ago. She was wetting on the carpet,we had her since summer and she is an older ragdoll coming from a home that didn`t want her, she wasn`t getting along with Princess and they can be in the same room now and pass without hissing. The first day on pill I was like oh no I can`t have her all drugged up. It lasted one day and then she does well on pill. No wetting and peace in the house. I love her so much. Doctor said I sure have stuck with her when he would of gave up, how sad.She is a mommies girl.

The reason why Cassie Blue came to live with us is that the breeder's home, where Cassie grew up, was causing her a lot of anxiety. She was literally pulling her hair out and had to be isolated from all of the cats in the house, with the exception of Cassie's mom. Originally Cassie was going to be kept for breeding purposes, but the breeder loved her enough to see that the environment was not good for her and made the difficult decision to re-home her. Originally she wanted to re-home Cassie someplace where she would be the only cat, but was willing to let us try having her here with our gentile Nicky. I'm happy to say that Cassie Blue is now thriving! No more hair pulling issues.

Just curious, but have you added more cats to your household since your move from the apartment? You mention that she was 'semi-sane' when you lived there.

I think you have something far more severe going on than what my Cassie Blue was dealing with, and I hope that you will love that kitty enough to find her a new home. She might initially be stressed about the move, but it couldn't be any worse than what she is feeling in your home right now. If you are her 'person', her stress level, and yours, is only going to get worse when your baby arrives.

Update on Cleo

We have not re-homed her, but we got her on a perscription of Prozac (my parents think I'm nuts for doing this for a cat). Since being on meds, she's gotten much much better!!! Her anxiety levels have come down so much that she will even come up to us for pets and loves again!!! She's gotten more confidence in eating by herself too, and will join the others to eat. Hopefully we can eventually wean her off of the drugs.

When the baby comes, we're going to have to cross that bridge when the time comes lol.

Since being on bed rest, I've noticed that Stella has been bullying her.. not to the point where she couldnt let the others near her, but just enough to keep her worried about something. HOWEVER, we had a MAJOR break through the other day!!! Cleo actually stood up for herself and fought back!! She didnt scrap, she just growled, hissed and swatted back. It seemed to satisfy Stella, and they've been giving each other their space ever since.

We're making progress!!! Hopefully she can calm down enough to be back to her "normal" skittish, but not basket-case self!!