Marilyn Knits: Claus's Story

We got Claus last summer in July. On our way to Minneapolis to pick him up it was quite a storm. Thunder, wind and a bit of hail. Coincidently, it was a winter storm when we got Teddy, our first kitty from Minneapolis. Snow so heavy that you could hardly get down Interstate and roads closing all around. We made it though! Both times! We knew Claus had a couple issues when we got him. He had been at another home that hadn't worked out and had been taken back to the breeder. We knew that going in and decided that we would still give it a go. He is not a litter mate of Teddy's but is still a full brother and we thought it would be fun to have 2 brothers. Claus was scared and hid under the bed until I got him out and stuffed the edges of the bed with old pillows and blankets to keep him out. Then he was still scared but at least out in the open. We couldn't pet him or touch him in any way and he mainly scooted along the edges of rooms looking nervous. It was a challenge to catch him and get him into a carrier for the 1st checkup at the vet.

This is how he looked during about the first month with us. Hiding behind furniture and nervous.

Shortly after we got him home we begin finding places where he had peed. Several places. I had heard that sometimes there can be an infection or other illness when cats do that so there was another trip to the vet. We found out he was fine physically and the vet devised a plan to help him emotionally.

We got him a bigger litter pan, some of the litter he was used to in Minneapolis and used Feliway spray where he had peed. Ahem, inappropriate urination. That's what the vet calls it.

The vet also said that he might need more to do and so we set up a small TV and DVD player and put in our cat video. He did love watching it...it was fun to see him. But these things didn't stop him from peeing and I was on the phone again with the vet. I told him we wanted to do everything we could to keep Claus and he suggested our next step was drugs. Claus was put on Prozax. It was compounded at a pharmacy in Grand Forks into a kitty size dose and he took it in a Pill Pocket. Thanks goodness he would eat the pill pocket 'cuz he still doesn't like to be held in a controlling fashion and so giving him a pill would have been impossible. It worked! Claus was on Prozax for a few months and gradually weaned off it and he's a completely different cat. No more inappropriate urination!

He gets along really well with Teddy. Here they are watching birds out the living room door. (Teddy on the left. Claus on the right.) Do you think they are a bit spoiled? Stools in front of the door so they can see out??

He even comes to sit on my lap to watch me knit. We can pet him and he loves to be scratched behind his ears. There are times when he is still a bit cautious. He doesn't like being in a situation where he feels trapped. But overall he has done a 180 degree turnaround.

Because he doesn't like being held against his will there hasn't been any brushing and so he developed some quite large mats. Again the vet had a drug to help the situation. He prescribed a short term pill, Zanax, so we could take him to a groomer and get the mats clipped out and give him a good combing and nail trim. It worked beautifully! He was so relaxed he napped in the carrier both on the way there and back.

Claus is now a happy, much better adjusted kitty. He loves to take a mad dash run through the house with Teddy most every morning. He has gained a bit of weight...he was quite thin. And he loves to watch the birds outside.