I'm considering getting some Feliway diffusers now for the move after seeing Monkey's response upon coming home from boarding. He's been no more than a few feet away from us at a time all day (we even went with him to his food bowl so he could eat, if we walked away he starts yelling and runs to find us). We tried taking a nap and he meowed the whole time, very anxious! He definitely didn't enjoy the boarding, poor guy
I was pretty upset when the vet told me that he didn't eat at all for the first three days (very unusual for him, he's a pig normally) and didn't have a bowel movement for almost 6 days!! This seems like a "we should call the owners" kind of situation to me, but we didn't hear from them except after Koa's neuter to let us know the surgery went alright. I honestly thought the boarding would bother Koa more, but Monkey apparently had an awful time of it
Poor little guy. And in another three weeks he's going to have to get back in a carrier and fly on a plane! Is there anything we can do to make his trip a little less distressful for him??? It'll be about a 5-6 hour flight plus a 3 hour drive after, and this isn't counting the time just sitting at the airport waiting to go, etc.
Poor little Monkey!
He must have missed you so much! Its good that Koa's surgery went well tho. Hopefully he will settle soon. Is he healthy otherwise? They should have called you when he wasn't eating.
He will settle down I am sure, this was his first time having you guys away for so long. Whenever Kevin and I leave Solo alone for even one night, he is a total meower and crazy for about a day or two afterwords. Our vet gave us amitryptaline for Solo's anxiety attacks, and it works very, very well. When he gets overly meowy and paces a lot and acts confused, just a half or even quarter of a regular dose brings him back to his normal laid back, confident and playful self. We have feliway diffusers plugged in and I am not sure if those are actually working. I have just kind of always had them since he has been home. I have read recently on here that the spray seems to be better than the diffusers. I have also read recently on here about something called "rescue remedy" that you can add to the drinking water.
Point here is, talk to your vet and discuss options for how to help Monkey cope for the long flight, you will be happy you did, I sure was happy I discussed anxiety with my vet
Poor Monkey, I'm sure he'll be back to normal soon but it must still be disstressful for you all. When you fly will he be in a carrier with you or will he be in the hold? I'm sure this will make a lot of difference to him and it's probably an easy answer but over here you don't get many animals travel except by car. Either way the Felliway spray in his carrier should help.
Good news that Koa's surgery went well though
You can try the Feliway spray... It worked well for me... I used it during the first few days when I got my Sky/Evo, and then Star/Twinkle... I could see that they are less stressful, at least to me...
Good luck in your trip...
Maybe he will do ok on the flight because you are there with him. I would put his favorite toy in with him. Poor baby, it's so hard on them when we have to leave them.
Sorry Jenny. I dont really have any advice on this either.
I havent really found feliway to be much help, but my breeder really thinks that rescue remedy does. She said she just squirts it into their mouths.
We have moved around alot in the past year or so and it's been pretty stressful on us, as well as the cats. Edward seems to get a bit of axiety like I do. I worried and worried about how the cats would deal with the moves and this probably made the cats more stressed because they were picking it up from me.
I just kept telling myself that it is all for the best in the end. And it seemed to calm my anxiety.
Just keep reminding yourself that you are doing whats best for your boys. I think we underestimate how resilient they are. After a couple of days of moving around, they will settle in your beautiful new home and be back to their happy selves
Trust me. I've done it 4 times in the past 1 - 2 years.
I've heard that Feliway is hit or miss.....it seems to affect some cats and totally not affect others. Usually that is enough to be a dealbreaker for most since it is a pretty big expense if it doesn't work.
I have some Rescue Remedy and have used it on Ruby a couple times as she is a very nervey girl. I can't say for sure whether or not it helped truly or I just imagined that it did seem to take some of the edge off. It's also much less expensive so maybe a good option to test out.
I'm so sorry to hear that Monkey had a rough time. I too am shocked that they didn't contact you after he went almost a week without having a bowel movement (I suppose if he wasn't eating then there wasn't much to eliminate). Poor fella...he loves you guys so much