Does medication really work for cat agression?

[Shortbread]

Hi all,
I'm back after a wee break. We adpoted Rory 7 weeks ago, and already have an old cat Louis of 14 years. Long story short, Rory has become more and more aggressive towards Louis just to the point that we can no longer continue. We have tried every we can think of, including making sure there are plenty of rescources and nothing to fight about.

Basically, Rory is jealous of Louis, as Louis sleeps in my arms every night, is a good boy and gets lots of cuddles whenever. Rory is always being told off for hunting, preying on and attacking Louis. We play lots with Rory with all sorts of toys to stimulate his hunting tendancies and tire him out. Part of the problem is that Rory isn't a cuddly cat, so doesn't get much affection from us despite our best efforts. He rejects us. So I think there is a huge imbalance between being told off and getting the affection and positive attention he needs.

Anyway, it has come to the point where we need professional help. Louis is getting ill because of Rory's bad antics. We have a vet behaviourist coming tomorrow to help advise us. We discussed the situation, and one of the things mentioned is medicating Rory, either anti-depressants long term, or with valium derivatives short term just to calm him down as the anti-depressants take months to work.

Have any of you tried medicating a cat for aggression issues....does it work? Does it only work while they are on medication, or can it work enough to calm them down and allow behavioural corrections to take place. Can they ever come off of these medications, I know they can damage their kidneys and liver!!! So not wanting him medicated forever.

Thanks, would love independent views, as I don't always trust vets as pill pushers....but we MUST do something drastic as we are in a crisis now, that if not fixed will lead to Rory being rehomed. This would be a very sad day all round and not what we want.

[Ruth B]

I will admit that the furthest I would go with medicating for that type of behavioural problem is a Feliway diffuser, I have nothing against medication for physical issues, but I don't think it is the correct answer as a way of forcing two incompatible cats to co habit, so please either disregard my post or take it on board as you see fit.

My first thought is that I am assuming both cats are neutered?

Do they have access to the outside, even if it is just an outside run. If not this might be an answer and would give Rory the stimulation he needs to give Louis some peace.

My thoughts mainly come because your Rory sounds very like my Saturn. Saturn is just over 2 years old and is a real 'lad' in temperament, and regularly teases my old granny cat given half a chance. However as he can get outside, she gets a lot of peace during the day when he is gone and when he does return he is more interested in sleeping for a bit than antagonising her. It isn't uncommon for him to be gone for over 12 hours at a time, at first i used to worry, but I have come to accept that this is just how he is.

He also is a cat that only likes cuddles when he wants them. When he does he is really affectionate, when he doesn't and you try to give him unwanted attention he either just ignores you or struggles to get away. I have a feeling Rory is a bit similar again, so when he wants attention give him plenty, but don't worry if he seems standoffish at times and I wouldn't worry that he isn't getting the same amount of cuddles as Louis, as long as he is getting them when he wants.

I have once had to return a cat to the charity she came from after her and the two resident cats all started inappropriate soiling around the house. I now understand it was a form or passive, dominance struggle and that for those three months I had three very stressed cats. I was heart broken to hand her back and really guilty that I had failed her. That was when I started reading a set of books by a behaviourist (Vicky Hall if you haven't come across her books). I finally realised that I had made the best decision possible, and finally lost the guilty feeling of having failed to integrate them. It helped that my pair reverted to good behaviour and I heard that the other cat was rehomed as an only cat, so happy endings all round. Sometimes what is best for the cat can be really painful for us, and then you have to decide, do you want a permanently doped up cat, or is it better for it to be in a home suited to its temperament.

I do believe that you are doing the best thing possible getting a professional behaviourist in and I hope they can come up with a solution for you that doesn't involve medication, or at the most only short term medication.

[booktigger]

I agree that I wouldn't medicate for this type of behaviour 'problem' further than Feliway or Zylkene (I have heard that they work best combined) - sometimes cat's just don't get along, and in my opinion (both as a cat owner and someone involved in rescue), is rehoming, especially if your existing cat is becoming ill with it. It's not an easy decision, I've had to do it myself.

[Shortbread]

Hi Ruth and Booktigger,
thanks for input, I really appreciate it. What you say about Saturn resounds very much with us. He does sound like a similar character.
Also, Ruth what you say about feeling guilty about failing him really hits home, as that's exactly what I feel. I desperately don't want to send him back to the refuge as it was terrible there. I have discussed everything with the vet behaviourist today, she was recommended by my normal vet as being the best in the whole region. She says that in terms of behaviour correction and environment we've done everything just fine. We've to block off Louis to our bedroom - his favourite haunt - and not let Rory get near him at all until we have an improvement. We've to make sure Rory knows that our bedroom is off limits to him at all times, so that Louis can have a safe space. We have an en suite, so will put Louis' litter tray in there. I'll only lock Louis in there when I know he wants to be in there...I know his routine by heart, also as I work from home I can keep checking on him to see if he wants to come out to the garden.

She decided that the only recourse is to give Rory prozac for the following month, if we don't see an improvement in the next month, she will help me get permission from the refuge to rehome him ourselves, to make sure he goes to a home where he will be the only cat. She reckons that if we're going to see an improvement, it will happen in the next two weeks, and be much better by one month. Depending on the extent of improvement, we will probably keep him on medication for 2 months max. If it doesn't work I will make sure I find him a good home at the end of the month. We've tried feliway in every room, zylkene once a day for the last two months, and Bach's flowers essences. Nothing has worked, so this prozac is our last chance.

OK; so both boys are castrated (that's what they do here is Switzerland). They have access to our medium sized garden all day if they want, and Rory loves being outside, but this won't last forever, once the good weather of summer is over. Rory get's as much stimulus from us as he wants. My boys love playing with him, and will even do so in the garden. I agree with you I don't want a doped up cat and don't think that is any long term solution, but this vet behaviourist thinks that he needs to seriously calm down and that this will work to do that and allow him to make his peace here. Even she agrees we should give him one last chance, as he's had such a tough life it would be terrible to rehome him if we could fix the situation.

I think I'll feel less guilty if I at least try this, and then I'll know there's no hope and he must be rehomed. She says she's had terrible cases that she's treated like this where all three cats were stressed out and urinating and defecating everywhere because of internal cat aggression and that now they're all at peace with one another and off medication. So let's hope for Rory's sake, and poor old Louis'.

[booktigger]

Fingers crossed

[Ruth B]

I'll be keeping my fingers crossed it does all work out and I think you have accepted the best compromise, short term medication to give them a chance to settle together, and then to find him a new home yourself in the worst case scenario. I was lucky, one of my relatives worked with the charity I had Suzie from so I knew it was a good one and was updated on what happened. I have come to accept that what I did was right and that I had nothing to feel guilty about, but it took a lot of time and a lot of reading to reach that conclusion.

I love all my cats dearly, and did have reservations about Saturn when we first integrated them, wondering whether I was being fair to Tiggy with the way he kept on at her. Fortunately things have settled down and Tiggy was (and still is) always happy to give him a good right hook when he got too much for her. I do hope that things work out for your two and they do accept co habiting even if they are never close friends.

Also don't assume that Rory's love of outside will diminish when the good weather ends. if he is anything like Saturn, cold dry days are fine for checking the territory, and even wet ones can be put up with as long as there is somewhere warm to dry off before venturing out again.

[Shortbread]

Thanks Ruth and Booktigger,
yeah even the vet behaviourist agrees that if a cat doesn't want to cohabit, we must rehome them. It'll be tough all the same, my 7yo will be heartbroken. Uuurgh. Really hoping this works.

Yeah, he might want to go out even in the bad weather, we'll see. He's a very high energy cat, so needs the stimulus.

I just did a quick pubmed search on prozac and cat behaviour treatment. The one paper I could find mentioned a 90% success rate in one study. So I'm hoping that'll be the case.