Later I was in the process of trying to get Izzy to put on her pajamas and Marshmallow decided to sneak into her room and hide under Izzy's bed. I told Izzy that we would leave Marshmallow alone so Izzy was loud as she got dressed, but we let Marshmallow have her space. Despite that, as we were leaving the room to go brush teeth in the bathroom, Marshmallow ran out of the room at the same time we did, scratching me yet again on my ankle before running down the stairs.
Unfortunately, she has done this a few other times...mainly right after we have had to spray Cocoa with a water bottle for being up on a kitchen counter. It doesn't happen very often, but twice in one night is unusual and worrisome. She certainly is much more skittish than Cocoa and doesn't love it when the kids are jumping around near her. I don't want to have to worry about what she might do to one of the kids though. CP has never had an aggressive cat so he is also unsure of what to do. Later than evening after the kids went to bed she jumped up on my lap like nothing ever happened.
Any tips or insight? I would feel terrible to split up a mother/son cat duo and other than this, Marshmallow is a great cat. I'm planning on reaching out to our vet to see if he has any ideas as well.
4 comments:
Couple of thoughts. I think it’s clear she’s stressed, so something to help her calm down may help. We invested in Feliway when we flew both cats across the country, but I would also ask about Valium or a sedative of some sort.
When Daisy first came home, she aggressively attacked Jaxson for an entire week. Literally found the poor guy shaking on the countertops one day with a bloody nose. The Valium allowed her to calm down and allowed Jaxson to be by her without her trying to kill him (he would literally lay on her while she zoned out on the Valium). Worth considering
In addition, she needs to start seeing the kids are sources of treats. I would advocate for buying some Greenies and toys that they can give both cats. Anything to win trust.
1. Take her to the vet. It sounds to me like she’s going into mama bear mode. Lots of vets can refer you to an animal behaviorist who can give you tips on how to handle the behavior. I’ve actually been through something similar so here’s what I’ve learned from our behaviorist:
2. I’d definitely stress to Izzy (I think Wes is too little to fully comprehend still) that it’s super important to be calm around the kitties. If Marshmallow has felt threatened it may take a while of positive reinforcement for her to learn she’s safe.
3. Is there a room where the kitties can go together when it’s going to be loud? It’s unrealistic to expect he house to always be calm since, kids, but there should be a safe place for the cats during high stress times.
4. When she’s spazzing out like this, try to keep Cocoa with her. I’m willing to bet if they’re separated she’s freaking out because she doesn’t know if he’s safe.
5. If you have to rehome them, keep them together. They are clearly very bonded and to split them up would only make Marshmallow more stressed and likely to be returned again. Bonded cats need to stay together - that’s why you’ll often see bonded cats at a shelter longer. They are a package deal.
Feel free to email me if you need more advice. I’ve volunteered with cat shelters quite a bit and like I said, I’ve worked with a behaviorist for one of my problem cats. Good luck!
I agree with Cristy to try the Feliway... the "wallflower" looking pheromone thingies are a miracle worker. Also, we have a cat who is on Prozac because he is incredibly aggressive when he's not on it (between biting my head and peeing on things he's literally pissed at, it saved his life). It made a HUGE difference. It's super cheap at Walmart Pharmacy. I hope this passes, it's stressful when pets go off the rails.
We had issues with our cat when we moved...the whole thing stressed her out. Even though we kept her set-up in the same place as our old house and she had more space, she wasn’t happy with us and acted out. Went from being loving to lashing out at people, and peeing on things. I was ready to get rid of her because I was taking care of a newborn and didn’t have time to clean up cat pee multiple times a day, but we got some advice from a rescue we contacted. Apparently when there are behavior issues they become non-adoptable so most places that are rescues won’t take them, and the places that will are likely kill-shelters. (The rescue we got her from would take her back but they were not located near us as we adopted from a traveling adoption event) Anyway, the advice that worked for us was to separate her for a while from the rest of the house and give her own space to feel safe. So we moved her into our garage that we climate controlled. Within a day she was happy when people would come in, but didn’t want to be back in the house with everyone. It’s been over 2 years, and she lives there. She is frequently visited (it’s a storage area with shelves and food and our extra fridge and freezer) and will come into the house for short periods if we leave the door open but if the door is shut she gets upset wanting to go back to her space. She hasn’t peed in anything since we moved her. They suggested Prozac was another option as well, but since this worked we never tried.
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