Remember when I posted here about our new carpet upstairs? We knew it would only be a matter of time before we were faced with this problem again from Elle.
Well about 3 weeks ago, it happened. We came home from a trip out of town and unfortunately the second I walked in our room I knew she had peed. Kyle rigged up a black light and we saw 2 different spots on the carpet... on our brand new carpet!! (Thankfully we bought the padding with a moisture seal so with our carpet cleaner it did come out). We were both so upset, but Kyle was furious. Not being a cat lover already, he had had enough. He said it was time to find Elle a new home, and in all honesty I was on board because with Emery it's just too much to keep up with all the animal problems as well. But before we went down that route I felt like we had to try one last option that I had been putting off for years... medication.
I took Elle to the vet, checked her for a urinary track infection (which of course she did not have... this is strictly behavioral) and then talked to the vet about what my options were. He suggested trying Xanax, an anti-anxiety medication, and promised me that she would not act drugged or loopy. So we tried and IT. IS. AMAZING.
Elle is a completely different cat. Instead of hiding under our bed all day, she is downstairs trying to lay on your lap at all times. Instead of being skittish around guests she's jumping on them and trying to rub her cheek against theirs. She is lovey and purring 24 hours a day now. And did I mention that she loves Kyle too? It is INSANE. AND AWESOME.
So yes Elle is on xanax, and probably will be the rest of her life. But the good news is that she'll be staying in our house and on top of that, our house that will have CLEAN carpets from here on out!
p.s. Did I mention that the vet assistant said to me that if the xanax didn't work on Elle that I could just take it? hahaha guess she could tell that I was a little stressed about it not working.
10 comments:
Wow, I have never heard of using that before but I'm glad it worked and that you were able to keep the cat! :)
I'm so glad that worked! I know how difficult cats can sometimes be and I'm so glad you guys found a solution! Elle sounds like a sweet kitty now!
What a pretty kitty! So glad that it is working! Never would have thought she was just skiddish and nervous.
Hi Leah, this is Jen's brother Chris. I noticed your subject line on the side of Jen's blog today and I had a feeling it was animal related for some reason. I'm glad I stopped by, because we have this problem with one of our 4 cats whenever we go away and HAD new carpet about a year ago also. He's good most of the time for us and has been good when we have visitors, but when our pet sitter comes we always have 'presents' when we return. He hates her, not sure if it's all the animal smells or what, but we have the carpet steamer, tile steamer, etc. We're super frustrated after being away for Thanksgiving and I think we will ask the vet about this for him! Thanks for posting that info.
Awesome! I'm happy to hear that it worked!
i won't tell anyone if you borrow her pills every now and then. :)
Soooooo happy it worked and what a beautiful picture you captured of your pretty tortie! I'm in need of some sweet kitty loving and purring...
Wow, that's great! Maybe I'll have to look into this for one of my cats. You basically described her behaviors to a T. Thanks for the update!
Leah, what a great picture of Elle and what a change in behavior. Glad that the meds worked so well.
I always wondered if that really worked, good to know there is hope out there! SO glad it is helping Elle!
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