Cat Safety Tips for the Fourth of July

Independence Day is a fun day full of cook-outs, family get-togethers, celebrations, and fireworks for Americans.  Unfortunately, though, July 4th may not be fun for your cat.  The loud noises, unusual smells, and strangers in their homes causes many kitties stress.  Therefore, as you plan your 4th of July celebration this year, please use these tips to help reduce your cat's stress and keep him safe during the holiday.

Give Your Cat a Sanctuary

If you're planning on having a get-together at your home, create a sanctuary for your cat in a bedroom.  Put your kitty's favorite beds and toys in the room as well as her litter box, food, and water.  Leavining the door to the sanctuary shut ensures that your cat doesn't accidentally escape outdoors when guests enter or exit your home.  

If your cat gets stressed by visitors, play some soft music for her to help distract her from what's going on outside the bedroom door.  Be sure to check on your kitty every so often to make sure she is doing okay.  If possible, engage your cat in a few interactive play sessions throughout the day to help relieve her stress as well.

If your cat gets stressed during fireworks, try distracting her with interactive play, soft music, or by just sitting with her and talking quietly.

Remember that outdoor kitties get stressed by fireworks, too.  If your kitty typically stays outdoors, you may want to consider bringing her into the house for Independence Day celebrations.  It's unfortunate, but not everyone is kind to felines, and some people might even try to shoot fireworks off near your cat.

If you care for feral felines, provide them with a safe place to hide outdoors.  Put some empty boxes out with towels in the bottoms so they have somewhere comfortable to hide out during the fireworks. 

Update ID and Microchip Information

If you're planning to have guests to your home, make sure they all know to watch for your kitty when they enter and exit your home.  Don't forget to be mindful of your cat when you go to and from your grill as well.  

Cats are sneaky and can scoot past even the most vigilant cat owner.  That's why it's important to keep the information on your kitty's ID tag and microchip up-to-date.  I include my cat's name, phone number, and the phrase, "Indoor cat," on Carmine and Milita's ID tags.  You can update your companion's microchip information on the Internet.  Just go to your microchip company's website, log in, and update your address and phone number as needed.  

People Food

In general, it's not a good idea to indulge your furry companion with people food.  However, if you want to share just a bite of your hamburger or hot dog with your kitty, make sure it has no seasoning or topping on or in it.  Jewel always enjoyed having a bite of plain hot dog or hamburger, but Carmine and Milita don't care for either.  

There are many people foods toxic to cats you should be aware of.  For instance, onions, garlic, lemon, avocado, and chocolate are poisonous to cats.  Please refer to our Toxic Foods for Cats Part 1 and Part 2 for more detailed lists.

Additionally, remember to keep alcoholic drinks out of your companion's reach.  According to the ASPCA, if a pet ingests an alcoholic drink, he may become intoxicated and severely depressed, weak, or go into a coma.  Death may also occur from respiratory distress in serious cases.

Remember to throw away all meat bags, packaging, tin foil, and plastic wrap.  These items are tempting to cats and may lead to intestinal obstruction if ingested.  

Sunscreen and Insect Repellent

Don't use any insect repellent or sunscreen on your cat that isn't indicated for use on pets.  Ingestion of human sunscreen may lead to drooling, diarrhea, vomiting, lethargy, and excessive thirst.  Neurological problems can arise from using insect repellent containing DEET on pets.  You can easily find pet-safe sunscreen and insect repellent by doing a search on the Internet. 

Glow Jewelry and Glowsticks

Keep all glow jewelry and glowsticks away from your pet.  If chewed and ingested, glow jewelry and sticks can cause irritation and possible gastrointestinal obstruction if large enough pieces are swallowed.    

Keep Fireworks Away from Your Cat

It may seem obvious, but having lit fireworks around your furry friend could lead to her getting burned.  It's also important to keep unlit fireworks out of your cat's reach because some fireworks contain toxic substances, such as arsenic, potassium nitrate, and other heavy metals, according to the ASPCA.  

Matches and Lighter Fluid

According to the ASPCA, some matches contain chlorates, which may cause breathing difficulties and blood cell damage.  In severe cases, kidney disease may also occur.  Lighter fluid can cause skin irritation if any is accidentally spilled on your cat's coat.  Ingestion of lighter fluid can lead to gastrointestinal distress and central nervous system depression.  When lighter fluid is inhaled, breathing difficulties and aspiration pneumonia may result.  

Insect Coils, Citronella Candles, and Oil Products

Keep insect coils, citronella candles, and oil products out of your cat's reach.  Ingestion of such products may lead to gastrointestinal distress and central nervous system depression, according to the ASPCA.  Inhaling oils may result in pneumonia aspiration.  

Medication and Anxiety-Relieving Products

If you know your kitty gets stressed or anxious when fireworks go off, talk to your veterinarian before the Independence Day celebrations begin.  Your vet will be able to recommend a medication or other product to reduce your cat's stress.  Never give your cat medication without talking with your veterinarian first.  Many human medications are toxic to pets. 

Rescue Remedy or Comfort Zone/Feliway diffusers may help keep your cat calm during fireworks.  If you choose to use a diffuser, plug it in a day or two ahead of time so it has time to disperse throughout the house.  

You can reduce the noise and bright light from the fireworks by closing your windows, shutting your blinds, and turning on the television or radio to a channel that plays soft music.  

Using these tips will help you and your furry friend have a safe and happy Independence Day.  

Do you have any Independence Day plans?  Please share with us in the comments!

Sources:

Pam Johnson-Bennett: Fourth of July Cat Safety Tips.

ASPCA: Fourth of July Safety Tips.

Banfield Pet Hospital: Fourth of July Pet Safety Tips for Your Dogs and Cats.

How to Relieve Cat Stress

A couple of weeks ago, we discussed how to tell if your cat is stressed.  While it would be wonderful if we could simply remove the stressor from our cat's life, this isn't often possible.  If you believe your kitty is experiencing stress, you may want to try one or more of these stress-relieving strategies to help your kitty cope.

Play: Playing with your cat can help reduce her stress.  Engage your cat in 10-15 minute interactive play sessions twice a day to help her relax.  Many kitties enjoy fishing pole type toys.  Others may prefer to play fetch or chase after balls with bells in them.  The Humane Society of the United States suggests setting a few toys aside specifically for interactive play sessions with your cat.  Only use these toys when it's time for you and your kitty to play together.  

Between interactive play sessions, provide your companion with toys he can play with on his own.  Many kitties enjoy catnip toys.  Your cat might also like balls, toy mice, crinkle balls, and puzzle toys.  To keep your kitty from getting bored with his toys, rotate them every few days.  

Environmental Enrichment: One cause of stress in felines is boredom.  Providing your cat with an interesting and enriching environment can ward off boredom and stress.  Provide your kitty with sturdy scratching posts.  Ideally you want to give your cat a few scratching posts in different shapes and sizes.

Lots of cats enjoy looking out the window.  To make the experience more pleasurable for your kitty, buy her a window perch or put a comfortable bed by the window for her.  Placing a bird feeder outside the window will attract birds to entertain your kitty.  

Provide your companion with comfortable spots to nap.  Carmine and Milita can choose to nap in cat beds, cushy cubes, or on fleece blankets.  Of course, they are always welcome to steal my bed if they want, too.  As mentioned earlier, rotating your cat's toys every few days will help prevent boredom as well.  Cat DVDs, music, and puzzle toys are other great ways to enrich your feline's environment.  Give your cat something fun to do while you're away by hiding a few treats or toys around the house for her to find.  

Provide Enough Resources: If you live in a multicat household, it's essential to provide enough resources for every cat in the home.  A good rule of thumb is to provide one of each resource for each cat in the home plus one.  For instance, if you have three cats, you should have four litter boxes and feeding stations placed throughout your home.  I divide up Carmine and Milita's allotted amount of daily kibble into three separate bowls.  They have never fought over food, but having three separate feeding stations ensures that they can both eat at the same time, and there is never any competition over the food bowl.  

Cats need to feel safe and secure in their homes as well.  That's why it's important to provide cats, especially those in a multicat household, with numerous hiding spots, resting places, and high spots.  Boxes, cat cubes, condos, trees, closets, and cat carriers are all great places for kitties to hide.  Bookshelves, desks, cat trees, and shelves make good safe high places for cats to hang out.  Providing your cats with plenty of choices reduces the likelihood that your kitties will fight over hiding places and high spots and helps ensure all of your cats feel safe and secure.  

If tension exists in your multicat home, you may need to reintroduce your cats or employ the advice of a cat behavior expert.  Tackle multicat tension early whenever possible.

Calming Aids: Another thing you can try is a calming aid.  Calming aids include collars, sprays, and plug-ins that use or mimic feline pheromones to give your cat a sense of well-being.  We have had good results with Comfort Zone (Feliway) plug-ins and Sentry calming collars.  These calming aids have been especially helpful to Carmine and Milita during moves and after Jewel's passing.  

Stick to a Routine: Cats are creatures of habit and do not like change.  Sticking to a routine is one of the best ways to prevent your cat from experiencing stress.  When you know you will need to change your kitty's routine, do so gradually whenever possible.  For instance, if you need to change your kitty's dinnertime, do so by gradually moving her dinnertime forward or backward.  Likewise, if you are expecting a baby, gradually get your cat used to the sights, sounds, and smell of a newborn before your due date.  

If you are expecting a short-term change that will interrupt your companion's regular routine, return to the old routine as soon as possible.  For example, if you go on vacation, resume your cat's regular routine as soon as your return home.  

Natural Remedies:  Some herbs are also useful for reducing stress in cats.  Remember that it is always best to consult your veterinarian before beginning any type of treatment, including using herbs to treat cat stress.

• Catnip: You're probably wondering why catnip is being suggested for cat stress when it tends to rile kitties up.  PetMD suggests giving catnip approximately 15 minutes before you know a stressor will occur, such as a trip to the vet.  After your cat runs around at high speed for a few minutes, he will become tired and calm.
• Chamomile: Chamomile acts as an anti-anxiety agent for cats.  PetMD recommends putting the dried flowers into a tube collar or making a little pouch with the dried flowers inside so that your cat doesn't eat it.
• Valerian: Valerian is said to act like catnip with one difference.  After your kitty's initial craziness, valerian is more likely to make your cat sleep.  Some humans use valerian for insomnia as well.
• Bach Rescue Remedy: Rescue Remedy is know to calm anxiety in cats and dogs as well as in humans.  Perhaps the greatest benefit of Rescue Remedy is that it works immediately, so it is a good choice when you need to calm your kitty right away.  Please ensure that you give your cat the Rescue Remedy formula that does not contain alcohol.  

It would be great if we could remove all of our feline's stress triggers.  Unfortunately, that's not usually possible.  If you believe your cat is stressed out, I hope you'll try some of these strategies to help relieve your kitty's stress.  

How do you relieve your cat's stress?

Sources:

The Humane Society of the United States: My Cat is Scared of Upset.

Pam Johnson-Bennett: Is Your Cat Stressed Out?

PetMD: 5 Herbs to Reduce Stress in Your Cat.

Do You Have a Stressed Cat?: Recognizing the Signs of Feline Stress

As humans, we face stressful situations everyday, whether it's with our finances, an appliance breaking in our homes, a disagreement with someone we care about, illness or injury, or problems at work.  Sometimes we get so wrapped up in trying to sort out our own problems that we don't recognize that stress is also affecting our furry companions.  Stress can lead to stress-related illnesses, make certain health conditions worse, lead to undesirable behaviors, and reduce a cat's quality of life.  Thus, it's important for us, as pet owners, to be able to recognize the signs of stress in our companions so that we can address it efficiently and effectively.

Causes of Cat Stress

Any change, big or small, in a cat's environment or body can cause her stress.  As with humans, some kitties are more sensitive to stress than others.  More sensitive cats may be affected by very small stress triggers while a less sensitive cat may only be affected by major stress triggers.  Your cat may be affected by physical, environmental, or emotional stress.  

• Physical: When your cat experiences changes or trauma to his body, he is dealing with physical stress.  Physical stressors include surgical procedures, physical abuse, neglect, starvation, injury, illness, obesity, and having fleas or ticks.
• Emotional: Changes that affect a kitty's psychological state can also be stressful.  Lack of mental stimulation (boredom), death of an animal companion or human living within the home, the addition of a companion or human to the home, and the prolonged absence of a pet or human are all examples of psychological stressors.  

• Environmental: Environmental stress occurs when a cat is faced with a change in his surroundings.  A change in litter or food brand, having only one feeding station or litter box in a multi-cat household, visitors, loud music, home renovations, seeing another cat in his territory, hearing a barking dog, and natural disasters are examples of environmental stress.  Cats may also be stressed by moving, going to the veterinarian, new furniture, rearranging existing furniture, and being denied access to hiding places.  

Symptoms of Stress

The symptoms of stress you observe in your cat will depend on whether your cat is experiencing acute or chronic stress.  

Acute Stress: Acute stress occurs when an unexpected (short-term) change or threat occurs.  It is usually pretty easy to tell if your kitty is experiencing acute stress.  

Signs that your companion is experiencing acute stress include:

• Immobility.
• Being crouched down on all fours with the tail close to the body.
• Shaking.
• Fully dilated pupils, ears flattened against the head, and whiskers back.
• Hissing or growling.
• May be aggressive if approached. 
• Involuntary defecation or urination.

Chronic stress can be more difficult to identify.  Chronic stress occurs when a kitty faces a long-term threat or challenge.  The signs of chronic stress are often more subtle and behavioral in nature.  

Signs that your cat is experiencing chronic stress include:

• Excessive grooming, which may result in psychogenic alopecia, or undergrooming, which may result in dirty or matted fur.
• Changes in appetite.
• Increased sleepiness. 
• Urinating or defecating outside the litter box.
• Less interaction with family members or increased attention-seeking behavior.  Clingy behavior. 
• Changes in relationships with the other companion animals in the home.
• Hiding.
• Excessive vocalization.
• Aggression.

Remember that cats are unique, and the way your cat shows stress may be different than the way another cat exhibits stress.  

If you notice any of these symptoms in your cat, please take her to your veterinarian for a thorough physical examination to rule out medical problems.  If no medical cause can be found, your cat may be experiencing stress.  Please join us next Friday as we explore ways to reduce and relieve your cat's stress.

How can you tell when your cat is stressed?

Sources:

Pam Johnson-Bennett: Stress in Cats.

Medic Animal: Understanding How to Identify Stress in Your Cat and the Common Causes Contributing to Anxiety.

International Cat Care: Stressed Cats.

7 Tips for Making Vet Visits Less Stressful

According to the American Association of Feline Practitioners (AAFP), 41% of cat owners only take their pet to the veterinarian for vaccinations, and 39% of feline owners state that they would only take their cat to the vet if she was sick.  Additionally, AAFP reports that 38% of cat owners say they are stressed just thinking about taking their cat to the vet.

Regular checkups are important for cats, just as they are for humans.  Being owned by a feline means it's your responsibility to ensure your kitty gets the medical care she needs.  I know that taking your cat to the vet may not be a walk in the park for either of you, but there are several things you can do to make your cat more comfortable going to the vet.  Try these tips to help make your vet trips easier and less stressful on both you and your feline friend.

Get Your Cat Used to His Carrier: When you pull out your cat's carrier, does he automatically run under your bed or couch?  Many cats associate their carriers with negative experiences.  One thing you can do to make vet visits more pleasant is to change your cat's association with his carrier.

Begin by leaving his carrier out all the time.  If your carrier has a removable top, take the top off so that your cat can easily get in and out of the bottom part of his carrier.  If your carrier doesn't have a removable top section, leave the carrier door open so your cat can go in and out of it voluntarily.

To make the carrier comfortable for your feline, place some soft cat bedding or a piece of clothing with your scent on it inside.  When you notice your cat sniffing, sitting by, or in the carrier, reward him with a treat.  Do this every single time you see him near or in the carrier.  Start feeding your cat near, and eventually in, his carrier.  This will help him begin to associate his carrier with positive things.  You can further your cat's positive association with his carrier by placing his favorite toys or catnip inside it.

Get Your Cat Used to Car Trips: Once your cat is used to her carrier, you can begin to get her used to car rides.  Start by simply placing your kitty in her carrier in the car for a few minutes at a time.  Reward her with treats every time to build a positive association.  Work up to turning the car engine on and taking short drives.  Ensure that you always talk to your feline in a calm, happy tone, and reward her with treats on each car ride.

Take Practice Trips: Petfinder.com suggests taking practice trips to the vet with your cat.  Take your cat to the vet once or twice a week, but do not have him examined during these trips.  Rather, give your kitty treats while in the waiting room.  Introduce your cat to the veterinary staff, and have them give your cat treats as well.  Ask if you can spend some time in an examination room with your kitty.  Once inside, open your cat's carrier, and allow him to explore the room.  Reward him with treats when he's on the examination table.  Repeated positive experiences in the waiting room, examination room, and with the veterinary staff will help your cat feel more comfortable when it's time for a real veterinary visit.

Find a Cat-Friendly Veterinarian: Some veterinarians have feline-only practices while others are making an effort to make cats more comfortable at their offices.  You can search the American Association of Feline Practitioners to find a cat-friendly veterinarian in your area.

Get Your Cat Used to Handling: You can help your kitty become more comfortable with vet exams by touching your cat's ears, face, paws, and tail while she's relaxing at home.  Gently picking up her paws, feeling her stomach, and opening her mouth will also help her feel more comfortable when your vet has to examine her.

Making Your Cat Comfortable in the Waiting Room: Some cats feel less vulernable when covered with a towel.  If it helps your kitty, bring a towel to cover his carrier with while waiting for your appointment.  Don't allow strangers or dogs to approach your cat in the waiting room.  Most cats are stressed out by unfamiliar people and pets.  Kindly explain to others who want to peek in on your cat that your kitty is stressed and needs his space right now.

Be Prepared: Write down any questions or concerns you want to discuss with your veterinarian.  Note any symptoms your cat has been exhibiting as well.  Pam Johnson-Bennett recommends using your smart phone (if you have one) to video concerning behaviors so that your vet can view them firsthand.  I've actually done something similar in the past for my vet, and I believe it helped her understand Jewel's behavior better.

Do you remember when Jewel was howling, seemingly randomly?  I used my smartphone to record the audio so that our vet could hear it for herself.  I also took photos of the way Jewel ate to help our vet understand Jewel's eating position, which changed over time.  The audio files and photos definitely helped her gain a better understanding of Jewel's symptoms and behaviors.

Going to the veterinarian for regular checkups is important.  Using these tips will help you reduce stress for both you and your kitty on trips to the veterinarian.

What do you do to reduce your cat's stress on trips to the vet? 

Sources:

American Association of Feline Practitioners 

Petfinder: Get Your Cat to Like the Vet

Pam Johnson-Bennett: Reduce Your Cat's Stress During Veterinary Exams

Frontier Veterinary Hospital: Making Vet Visits Easier

Pica: When Your cat Feasts on Fabric

It's thought that some kittens engage in wool sucking when they are weaned too soon or too abruptly.  Some kitties grow out of this behavior while others engage in wool sucking for life.  Wool sucking isn't usually dangerous unless the behavior progresses into pica - the eating of non-food items.  According to Pam Johnson-Bennett, while wool is the most common material associated with pica, cats with this condition may also eat plastic, paper, rubber, wood, leather, litter, and just about anything else.  Unlike wool sucking, pica can become very dangerous by causing intestinal blockages or obstructions.

Causes and Diagnosis of Pica

Pica can be caused by a number of things, such as dietary deficiencies, medical conditions, genetics, and stress.

Dietary Deficiencies: According to Pam Johnson-Bennett, some behavior experts and veterinarians believe that an inadequate amount of fiber or fat in a cat's diet can lead her to seek these nutrients from non-food items.  Some cats with anemia have been known to eat their litter, for instance. 

Medical Problems: According to WebMD, feline leukemia and feline immunodeficiency virus are associated with pica.  Pica can also be triggered by a brain tumor or diabetes. 

Genetic Predisposition: Some Oriental breeds, such as the Siamese and Burmese are genetically predisposed to wool sucking, which is sometimes a precursor to pica.

Boredom: Cats who aren't getting enough physical or mental stimulation living indoors may eat inedible items for something to do.

Stress: Some kitties try to soothe themselves by eating inedible things when they reside in a stressful environment.

If your kitty is eating non-food items, please take him to the veterinarian for an examination.  Your veterinarian will be able to determine the cause of your cat's pica.  Your veterinarian will also be able to help you treat a medical condition or make dietary adjustments, if necessary.  If no medical problem or dietary deficiency is found, you and your vet can discuss what steps to take to help your cat cope with pica.

Coping with Pica

There are several things you can do to help a kitty who has pica.  

Remove Temptation: If your cat likes chomping on sweaters, be sure to keep all of your clothes in closets, dressers, and hampers with lids.  If your kitty likes to munch on paper, keep all papers in filing cabinets or file boxes so that your cat cannot access them.  Keep whatever inedible item your cat likes to eat out of her reach.

If you cannot keep your cat's desired objects out of her reach, spray them with a taste deterrent, such as Bitter Apple or Veterinarian's Best Bitter Cherry Spray. 

Provide Safe Alternatives: Many kitties enjoy eating cat grass.  You can find cat grass kits at your local pet store that you can grow at home.  Cat grass will provide your kitty with something to munch on that won't hurt him.  Pam Johnson-Bennett reminds cat parents not to give their furry friends grass from the yard because it is often treated with harmful chemicals.  

Environmental Enrichment: An indoor-only cat can become bored if she isn't given enough stimulation in her environment.  Provide your companion with scratching posts, cat trees, toys, and puzzle feeders to keep her physically and mentally stimulated.  Place a cat tree by a window so your kitty can watch bird and squirrel TV.  Putting a bird feeder outside the window will attract birds for your cat to watch.  Your cat might also enjoy watching fish swim around in a fish tank. 

Some kitties find cat DVDs entertaining.  Milita loves watching Meerkat Manor, for instance.  If you don't have a cat DVD, Netflix has some nature shows your cat might find entertaining.  Milita really liked a nature show about birds I put on for her one day, for example.

Spend time with your cat in interactive play sessions twice a day.  Not only do interactive play sessions decrease boredom, they help you build a stronger bond with your companion.  

Reduce Stress: Determine what's causing your kitty stress.  This might take a little detective work.  Are there any loud noises in his environment?  Are there any cats outside causing him stress?  Have you made any recent changes to your home?  Has your cat's routine changed recently?  Any stressor, no matter how big or small, can affect your furry friend.  

If you can, eliminate the source of your cat's stress.  Of course, this won't always be possible.  When it's not possible to eliminate the source of the stress, make your kitty's environment more secure by providing him with cozy spots to curl up and nap in, elevated places to watch the world from, and safe locations for his food and litter box.

Comfort Zone diffusers or calming collars are effective at reducing anxiety as well.  I've used both the Comfort Zone diffusers and Sentry calming collars on Carmine and Milita, and they both help tremendously when stressful situations arise, such as when we moved and when we lost our precious Jewel.

Attention Seeking: According to the ASPCA, some cats engage in compulsive behaviors to get attention.  Don't give your cat any extra attention when she's eating things she shouldn't; otherwise, she may learn that chomping on paper gets you to pay more attention to her, which reinforces the behavior.  Instead, if you see your kitty chewing or eating something she shouldn't, simply take it away from her.  

Medication: In severe cases of pica where anxiety is the root cause of the problem, medication may be needed.  Many veterinarians use psychotropic medication as a last resort due to possible side effects.

Reducing or stopping pica behavior may be difficult.  If you've seen your vet, determined the cause of the behavior, and tried these solutions, and your cat is still eating inedible things, it may be time to consult a certified behavior specialist.

Have you ever had a cat who ate inedible items?  How did you help him or her?

Carmine's Vet Visit

As promised, here is an update on my little baby, Carmine.

We went to the vet on Tuesday to get an opinion on his health and to see what else we could do to help with his stress levels.

The vet noticed what I've known for years - Carmine is a *very sensitive* cat.  He picks up on stress and he is stressed *very easily!*

She weighed him and he has maintained his weight (thank God!).  He has been feeling lighter to me and some days he is too nervous to eat much, so I was really worried he was losing weight.  She gave him an exam, too.  His heart is perfect (yay!).  But his teeth are not :(  Carmine goes to the vet on a regular basis and they always look at his teeth, so I was disappointed to hear that he now needs 1-4 extractions, depending on how many they can clean up versus have to pull.

The vet specifically said that she doesn't want to put him through the stress of an oral surgery and recovery from extraction/s *until* the family is gone.  She thinks the stress would be too much for my baby and I totally agree with her on that.  She wants Carmine to come back for his dental surgery in three months.  The family is *supposed* to be gone by Sept. 1.  IF they keep their word (God, PLEASE let them keep their word!!!) then he will have some time to recover from this situation before we have to take him in for his surgery.

I really hope my little boy isn't in pain from his teeth.  He doesn't really chew his kibbles, but he never really has crunched his kibbles the way Milita does.  It concerns me that he eats on the side of his mouth when he's eating wet food sometimes.

I'd much prefer to take him in right away for the surgery to make sure he's not in any unnecessary pain, but I think the vet is right - I think we need to wait for this stressful situation to be over before we stress him with the surgery.  I just hope we're doing the right thing.

She also recommended Rescue Remedy for cats for him in conjunction with the Comfort Zone deffuser for his stress/anxiety, so I'll look for that as soon as I make it over to PetSmart.  I feel so helpless sometimes to help my baby.  I just want to make his anxiety go away.

We are sorry we haven't visited many of your blogs lately.  We plan on visiting everyone again soon.

An Update on Carmine

I wanted to give everyone a little update about Carmine.

Some days he eats well.  Other days I have to try to get him to eat his noms about five times before he'll eat a decent portion of them.  He will eat his kibbles regularly as they're in my room, but the wet food is a little harder to get him to eat some days, depending on how nervous he is.  He needs his wet noms for his FLUTD.  We've been mixing a little extra water into his wet noms so when he eats some, he's getting a good bit of water. :)

I went out and bought the Comfort Zone diffuser like many of you suggested and that seems to be helping him quite a bit, actually!  Thank you everyone who has been offering suggestions, purrs, prayers, hugs, and kind words.  We appreciate you all so much! :)

Carmine still isolates himself in his cube a bit more than I'd like, but he has been running around at night more, which is a good sign.  When everyone but me is asleep I think he's most comfortable.  He has been acting like his usual self more often at night since I plugged in the Comfort Zone in our room. It's nice to see him improving.

Carmine has a vet appointment on Tuesday (because they aren't open on Mondays).  We'll see if he's losing any weight, and if he is, how to get some of that weight back on him.

Thank you all for your support.  It means a lot to us :)