riddle me this: separation anxiety

this is so lyla!

whenever i leave the house, or am away for the night, lyla cries whenever jessie retires to her room and is left alone [WITH buster, mind you]. she cries and cries [or so i hear ;)]. i feel really guilty pretty much everytime i leave. i've been doing a little research on separation anxiety in cats and some of the signs from petplace.com ring loud and clear...

- Over-attachment to the owner, following that person from room to room around the house.

- Distress as the owner prepares to depart (so-called pre-departure anxiety). This can take many forms but some of the more common presentations are meowing, sulking, apparent depression, slinking away, and hiding.

- Vocalization (crying, moaning, meowing) right after the owner has left (you might need to set a tape recorder to check this sign).

- Destructive behavior – rare, but some cats may claw and scratch door edges presumably in an attempt to escape from their solitary confinement.

- Exuberant greeting behavior – as if greeting a long lost friend that they did not expect to see ever again.

i included the ones that are the most true for her. since she's not 'making accidents' outside of the litterbox or more of the extreme signs, i don't think it's severe... but i think she still is anxious. when i was away for a week on vacation, they pretty much stopped eating and it took a week or so for both of the kitties to regain their appetite. i got the kittens when they were very young and were parted from their mother VERY early, another sign. lyla constantly reminds me of her early weaning separation by suckling on cookie monster.

i have found a few tips on various websites that I am going to try out...
- leaving on the radio/television
- ignoring the kitties 15-20 mins before leaving and when coming home to make the events less dramatic. [this is going to be SOOO hard for me. i say bye to each of the kitties like 3 times before i leave and am used to them running up on the bed when i get home and i hug them/pet/kiss/etc.]

i'm pretty sure that i can't/won't do ALL of the tips [some are intense]...like one site said keep cats out of the bedroom which is pretty much impossible with my current living situation.


has anyone else experienced separation anxiety with their kitty? any tips?

i thought the fact that lyla was obsessed with me was really cute and honestly made me feel good, but now i am nervous that she is mildly stressed. and that makes me stressed. i always feel so guilty leaving. gosh, can you imagine when i have KIDS? send me over any separation issues with pet owners tips you can find... cause i know I have it TOO!

Another Lyla Spay Day Update

lyla seems to be a-ok! she's been scooting around the apartment and taking lots of naps. occasionally she'll try to jump on things, but realizes that it doesn't feel very good. buster has been behaving and not trying to play with her. lyla hasn't really eaten anything since she's been home, but getting lots of zzzs. she's pretty groggy. but still cute!

here's an almost picture of her battle wound. she doesn't like it when i get too close to it, obvs.



here's a video of cute brother buster coming to her aid:



long day! good night!

Update: Lyla's Spay Day

just spoke to the vet, and lyla is doing just fine!

in fact, she said lyla was very 'crabby' and had to get out some gloves to handle her. aww lyla. she's just like her momma. restrict us from eating, and we're not very pleasant.


[and yes, i'm hyping this jam again because i love it]

lyla's spay day!

good morning! lyla is currently 'under the knife' [i'm assuming] i dropped her off about an hour or two ago...and supposed to pick her up later this evening.



buster seems a little more concerned with where lyla is than she was when he was getting his alteration. occasionally, he'll walk around and cry for her. he's a very loving brother.

now, however, he's just chillin' next to me and taking a bath.


poor lyla. getting the snip snip. she's been my little medical emergency so far... so i'm a little nervous, although sure everything will be fine.



updates to come!

cat-sup!

hiya world. well i'm still trying to get back in the swing of things after the holidays & vacation. bear with me!

the kitties have been oh-so-sweet since my return, although they're not eating very much [stopped eating when i was gone, awww] hopefully, they'll build back up their appetite soon especially now that we're back on schedule.

i almost totally forgot about this... but this thursday is a big day. lyla is having her spay day! yes, you heard me right, lyla will be having a little procedure! so sad. now if you remember, the vet said we should have lyla's little ticker looked at before she goes under the anesthesia. he thinks that the mumur isn't bad enough to create any compliations so we're going ahead with the surgery. don't want her goin' in heat and yellin' in my ear all night up in here. regardless, i'm still very anxious about the whole thing with the murmur issue AND the allergic reaction that one time...lyla is my little medical issue. she's still so tiny! so anyway, that is coming soon.

here are some cute pictures and a video that i don't think i posted yet of the kitties watching their video catnip!


hi pet me!

buster ballchop update...

sorry folks if i left you hanging! buster has been absolutely fine since his 'procedure' on friday. he was very happy to be home on friday night and not too out of it! in fact, he was running around and napping per usual. yay!

- aftershot -


next up... getting lyla's lil heart checked out this week to see if we can proceed with her surgery.

today's the day! buster's ballchop update...

i meant to write about this earlier... but today was buster's ballchop. honestly, i had a few tears in my eyes when i dropped him off at the vet. what? i didn't want him to be scared!

so i just spoke to the vet and he is doing 'just fine'.


['just fine' mary j. blige]

i'll be picking him up in a few hours! i stayed home with lyla today because i thought she might get confused without him around and looking for him... but turns out it's not really affecting her at all. she's just sleeping her day away per usual. yep, i realize i'm overprotective.


['overprotected' britney spears]


regardless, the operation is over and buster is half the man he used to be.


['creep' stone temple pilots]

visit to the vet, part 2

the kitties visited the vet last week for their third and final round of starter vaccinations and first rabies shot.



i was a tad leery of vaccinating lyla after the 'exciting' events of last time. to be safe, dr. k gave lyla a steroid shot to combat any possible allergic reactions. good news! no swollen face this time around : )



at this visit, buster weighed in at 5.8 lbs... such a big boy. lyla is starting to catch up! she weighed in at 4.35 lbs and doubled her weight from last visit.

BUSTER'S GROWTH...
sept-> oct -> nov
1.6 -> 3.9 -> 5.8

LYLA'S GROWTH...
sept -> oct -> nov
1.3 -> 2.13 -> 4.35

i didn't mention this last time, but lyla has a little heart murmur [i know, so sad, no?] typically if a kitten has a murmur, and it's not a larger issue, it will go away before four weeks, the vet told us. unfortunately, lyla's is still there :( folks advise to check the heart out before she gets spayed and undergoes anesthesia via an echo cardiogram. i'm still trying to decide what to do about the ECG as I of course don't want to put lyla at risk, but can't imagine that the ECG is a cost-efficient test. part of me feels that she still needs to grow a little... who knows. to buy myself a little time, i've gone ahead and set a date for buster's 'procedure' which i lovingly refer to as the 'buster ballchop' in my calendar. d-day is friday november 30th. yikes! if we get buster fixed, then i can rest assured that the kitties won't make kittybabies while we figure out the situation with lyla's little heart before getting her spayed.

off topic, but do any of you lovely readers have pet insurance? worth it? not? scam? please share your stories in the comments or e-mail me! since lyla [especially] is seeming to become my little walking health issue [i mean that with all the love in the world, of course]... i'm curious if it would be worth it. i can get a discount through work benefits so it crossed my mind.

that's the latest in the kitties health : ) will keep you posted on the status of lyla's pitterpattering heart and buster's ballchop! let's hope she just gets really excited and that lyla doesn't really have a larger heart problem.




ALSO! i need a new carrier as clearly they are crammed in the one i have now. does anyone have any recommendations of cute [if possible, or not unfortunate looking] soft, sided carriers. i have a hard one now and it's so difficult to carry and they're outgrowing it!

lyla's long night

last night the kitties went to the vet for their second round of vaccinations and check up. we had an evening appointment at their new vet... st. marks vet. [with frank's recommendation]. they saw dr. kurowski who was just the best. i love my kitties because they aren't very shy in around new people or environments. they popped right out of the carrier with curiosity. their long lost brothers and sisters in GA would have been shaking in their boots at the very idea of leaving the house.

after getting their shots, buster was calm and collected, as usual, and lyla seemed a little shaken up. buster weighed in at 3.9 lbs [compared to 1.6 lbs at his last visit a month ago] and lyla weighed in at 2.13 lbs [compared to 1.3 lbs].



when we got home, lyla started acting pretty wild. binge eating, throwing up, etc. i will spare the other details. i figured this is normal after-the-vaccination behavior, as i know it can shake them up quite a bit. after a little time had passed, i looked at lyla's face and realized that her face looked puffed up. it was pretty easy to tell that something wasn't right as generally her face is very thin. in addition, her eyes looked swollen and she was shaking. in my experience, vaccinations usually make kitties sleepy so when lyla was running around, restless, and very frantic i got very nervous. it seemed that she was having an allergic reaction of some sort...to either the vaccination or dewormer.


so, naturally i freaked out and took her to the 24 hour, Animal Medical Center [which was AMAZING btw]. buster looked so sad and confused when we packed lyla back in the carrier and left without him. but he was showing no signs of a reaction and was his typical cool-as-a-cucumber form.

lyla was quickly seen and the doctors gave her a steroid of some sort and benedryl to combat the reaction. immediately, she started to look and act better. thank goodness for the speediness of the AMC! i'm happy to report that lyla seems back to normal and is happy and frisky. but lil lady gave me quite a scare. what a night!

chipped!

buster and lyla got microchipped today. basically, they gave the kitties a shot and insert a small chip into them so if they run away or somehow end up outside of my apartment and are found, they can be scanned and returned to me. it seems like a pretty bizarre thing but i can't think of any negatives here. the idea of losing a pet is quite daunting... especially in this huge city with so many places to hide. since shelters are so overcrowded, these microchips help locate lost owners without having to take on the cost (or turn away) a lost critter. apprently upon researching, they can be tattooed too. c'mon that's just super weird.

for more info: visit wikipedia
the kind my kitties received: Home Again

i didn't know this until i just visited the site, but if they are found and taken to a vet, they can scan and pull up the kitty's records if they need medical care. that's pretty rad. and if you report your critter lost, they can immediately have a network of folks on the prowl searching for them.

when the issue starts turning into 'people chipping,' i start getting majorly skeeved out. sure parents do have legal control over their children, but at some point they become of age to make their own decisions. if an 18 year old doesn't want to be found its his/her prerogative. but as for my little kitties who would want to come home but dont know how to get there, it makes me feel a lot better knowing they are more likely to come back home with the help of a little chip.

now just for fun...

from jeff's flickr when the kitties came to visit him for the first time.