Every time my boy has to go to the vet she becomes extremely aggressive toward him when he returns, usually for a few days. She blocks the top of the stairs and chases him under the bed and terrifies him. The worst was when he had dental surgery and that lasted at least week and was so upsetting. I did take them both together for their shots one time and she didn’t get aggressive. But this summer I had to take him because he seemed to not be feeling well and I brought her along and she still lashed out.

Today was a planned visit and I was really nervous leading up to it. I gave her a new calming collar the day before (she absolutely hates collars being put on even though she’s always worn one). Since both my kids are away at college I set up one kid’s room as a confinement room for her. I put in a pheromone diffuser, litter box, food etc. then I gave her a treat with the miracle drug called Bonqat (it’s for veterinary anxiety but note I give it to the cat who isn’t going since she’s the problem). I gave her that medicine in the room and closed her in. This was about an hour before leaving. I had the cat carrier set up in the downstairs bathroom which is not really near the room where she was confined. The patient came and sat on my lap for awhile and when it was time to go I scooped him up and got him in the carrier in the bathroom and the aggressor was not even aware (zonked out on a cozy bed upstairs). Usually the boxing up is where there first freak out starts.

When we came back I kept her confined basically all day. She never complained bc it was so comfy and she was still a bit woozy I think. During the day I wiped down the patient with pet wipes and brushed him and he did some grooming. I went to visit the aggressor and brushed her with the same brush and let her smell the brush and a cloth I rubbed on the patient. Pet her etc. kept the door closed. After about 7 hours of confinement the patient was curious and wanted to go in the room (the door doesn’t fully close so all day I could peak in the crack) so I very cautiously let him in. She hopped down from the bed with her tail in air, rubbed against him, sniffed him and there wasn’t a single his. I couldn’t believe it! For some reason she hasn’t wanted to leave the room yet and they are both in there together. it generally takes several days to get to that point.

Anyway of course every cat is different and it may not work next time but I was so worried and this was the best outcome. I do recommend looking into Bonqat. It tastes good so they are more happy to eat it than gabapentin.

Good luck!

Actually no, indoor cats need their claws just as much as outdoor or indoor/outdoor cats. Beyond hunting and climbing, indoor cats need their claws for stretching, territorial marking, playing, self defense (even indoor cats get out accidentally sometimes), and grip. Dogs and rabbits technically don’t need their claws if they are indoors only yet we never declaw their feet if they ever get destructive with their nails, now do we? So being an indoor-only pet is not an excuse for removing their body parts (unless it’s spaying or neutering which is fine).

I don’t know if you are still active on this site, but thank you for the post. It is the first and only one I have been able to find, who really digs into this very brutal asspect of pet-parenting. Sorry for the lon post to come…

We are in a similar situation as many others have been, from what I can see just in this post, with our 20 month old Corgi. He has been sick since he was 4 months old, starting with severe AD(Short Ulna) and we chose to have him operated in both front legs, since they said recivery rate was very high and that he would be able to live a normal life after healing, because we caught it while he was still growing. The operation went incredibly well, he healed slowly and therefor got much better results than anticipated – but he was on exercise restriction untill 8 months, where he was fully healed. So no guests, no play mates, short walks on odds times – because he cound’t get excited. He was amzing through all of this and never lost his spirit. He was always a dog who prefered to be outside, in all kinds of weather and he had a really high energy level and activity level.

He always had behaviour problems, since he was little, as many Herding breeds do, when placed in a urban envoirnment with lots of stuff happening. We have big windows and live at the most populated part of the area, so lots of bikes, people, children etc. passing by, every single day. And no gardenspace we can inclose. So his stress levels have always been high and he is very sensitive and reactive. And he gets walked 4 times a day, always allowed to sniff to his hearts content and we also often went to enclosed areas where he could run free, we played herding specifc games etc. We did lots of sniffle games, he had licky mats, kongs, lots of chew things available to soothe his nervous system. I also took him to see real sheep to teach him how to deal with his instict, impulsecontrol and so on. (he is a natural at it, and he LOVES it.) But lots of triggers every day, on walks. So I have spent 100 of hours, listening to Podcasts about positive training methods, sciencetifc researh into behaviour, phsycology of herding breeds, reactivity, trigger stacking, you name it. And have been training him every. Single. Day. He has come a long way now, but it has been exhausting… And it didn’t make sense to involve a behavioral therapist as long as there was physical pain going on.

So after the operation, it turned out that he neeeded exstensive physiotheraphy. Because he had used his body wrong his whole life, so we went through batch after batch and we had reached a point in May 2025, where he was actually well, we found an exercise regime that satisfied him and me and it was good. But…. His whole life, he has had Pica (eating his toys and stuff that is not edible, with MANY edible things available all the time, so we had to take his teddies away. It was though ofr him, he loves them…) and we always had problems with him not wanting to eat… But the vet written it off as hormones, etc. So I went through SO much different food with him. Never worked. And his stomac was always wierd, he always rolled around on his back and was dramatic, after eating and was in prayer position, his poop swinging from normal, to hard, to dhiarrea. And in May he had it every day, for almost 3 weeks, then we contacted the vet again…
They did exstentsive testing for all kinds of parasites, bacteria etc. and took blood tests. Turned out he had Acute Pancreatitis and his liver and kidney numbers were high from inflammation and he had an imbalance in his large intestine(vet suspected it was the raw feeding… So he got antibiotics and Prednisolone…. And after a week or two on Prednisolone he got remarkably better, he got appetite and stopped crying and doing prayer position… His poop was still not good untill end June, and still then, it hard hard shell and dhiarrea inside. But the Vet wanted to take him off Prednisolone so we fased him out…

Lo and behold, behaviour problems returned with excessive force and he was back to dhiareea and screaming in stomac pain. So we put him back on and waited it out, but after 2 weeks, he still wasent better. So we took him to a specialised clinc an hour away where they redid all testing……

All his results are normal, Ultrasound of organs – all normal, except for enlarged small intestines but the Vet ruled it was due to the cronic inflammation HE HAS HAD HIS WHOLE LIFE! So he upped the Prednisolon to 20mg (he is 18kg) for a short stint and gave him Milbermax for good measure…. And put him on allergy trial on Anallergenic fodder and took ALL his supplemnts away, including his Glucosamine and MAM. And the last week, he has just been declining, rabidly. He is in so much pains, he can’t go to physio because he can’t be on painkillers while under trial, his legs are weakening and his back is strained, his right hindleg too… He stumbles a lot and have a hard time getting up… Smacks his lips a lot, burbs and have gas in his stomac… Talked to the vet yesterday, she gave him something for stomac acid and now we are trying to wean him out of Prednisolone slowly…

But – he does not want to play, don’t want to walk, barely wanna play with his friends. He play herding games for maybe 2-3 minutes then he just wanna lay down outside and look at the world go by. His eyes are dead, the last 3 days he is not excitedly coming running to the door when I come home, but stays in the bahtroom wagging his tail at me and then getting up… He sleeps most of the time, looks like he can barely keep his eyes open, has heavy breathing almost every night, restless, can’t find sleep… All his chew things have been taken away from him, due to allergy trial, no snacks. He don’t have energy to do the things he love anymore and I just see him getting more and more depressed…

And we are at our wits end, heartbroken for him and how he suffers and dreading to go through a 3-4 months food trial, if he is declining this fast. And it is clearly due to the lack of his Glucosamine and MSM, that his body is in turmoil. And he always had tendency to swelling front legs, after exercise. Ortopædic clinic never found out what it was, and wrote it off as “it must be due to the way he is build. He is a Corgi”. And now, he needs to learn how to wear a muzzle outside, because he wont stop eating stuff and ninja it from the ground or lick the grass which is full of snails…

They suspect either IBD, Poly Athritis, Cushings, Addidons, Systemic Lupus due to his lifelong anemia and low blood count – or another type of systemic failiure or comorbidity of the above… And we are lokking into potentially months of this uncertainty, restrictions and then maybe even more invasive tests, vet visits etc. Even if he does get diagnosed he will have to be medicated for the rest of his life and we don’t know how he will take it. It will be a slow decline, in all of the cases. Except if it is allergy and IBD, then ther eis hope… But at what cost to figure it out?

A 20 month old PUPPY shouldn’t be this sick!!! But as long as he is on Prednicorte, the tests that do show wrong numbers, can’t be trusted since that can be due to Prednisolone……… And they did exstensive bloodwork on him and vitamins etc. So right now we are in this dreadfull inbetween, we ar epowerless to help him, it is out of our control, and all we can do is be strong for him and wait…… But I really, really have started to wonder, if this is where we should cut it… How far do we go and is it for his sake or ours? We don’t know enough yet to know what it is….. How on earth do you make this descision?!

What if it is just the Prednisolone? What if it is just an allergy and he will be fine after? Then is the suffering for him worth it in the long run? Or are we looking into a lifetime of restrictions for him, that will not enable him to live the life that he want?

I don’t know anymore. I am preparing the goodbye every day but it breaks my heart… It breaks my heart.

Thank you – for listneing. If you read this far <3

I’m at that turmoil point. I know it’s inevitable but can’t make that decision probably because I can’t imagine life without him

Hi, you are one of the few cat owners I’ve heard of that found a Vet to prescribe LDN for cats and dogs. I had to ask our Vet who diagnosed my 3 yr old cats with FHS if she would prescribe LDN for them. She finally agreed and has them on 0.2mg tiny tablets twice daily from the compound pharmacy. LDN works great and is easy to get them to take the tablets in a salmon flavor pill pocket with their wet food.
On occasion I have to give them gabapentin when they have a higher level of pain and anxiety. I prefer to keep them on the LDN as it gives them enough chill factor and helps them feel more relaxed and alert. LDN works well as I can avoid having to give them the bitter Gabapentin as often as I used to. I also occasionally sprinkle drops all over their sensitive areas and brush them with “Pet flower Essences” Pain Relief & Life Force Zest, which I found on the internet.

I took both my girls to the vet as they each had an appointment. We’re now on week 8 of them still having to be separated as one tries to viciously attack the other. They were completely bonded before this. In my experience both going to the vet was just as bad and I’m heartbroken it’s been going on for 2 months.

I think the term parent or some other label that refers to human relationships is inappropriate when referring to pets. I will never be my cat’s mother or my children my cat’s siblings and I refuse to use such labels when referring to my pets or other people’s pets.