My cat seems depressed, any advice??Rescue remedy?

Question

DONT WASTE YOUR TIME ANSWERING WITH
"GO TO THE VET"

My siamese (female) is about 8 months now and has gone into heat a few times now. My bf and I noticed she has been less active (sleeping alot) and not eating any wet food. When she does it it's dry food and not alot of it.
We took her to the vet yesterday and they gave her some fluids and checked her blood (was fine). She was dehydrated.
The vet says she may be acting like this because she hasn't been spayed.

My bf called the vet today to ask advice about this rescue remedy and all they want is money! They said of bring her down and we can watch her for the day. They are guessing about what is wrong, maybe it's this maybe it's that. How much fricking money do I have to spend?! I don't feel the vet wants to help us out in giving any advice they just want us to spend more money!
We will plan on getting her spayed, but in the mean time does any one have any advice because force feeding her does not work + it stresses her out?

Has anyone tried the rescue remedy? Is it safe because it does contain alcohol??

I do have one other male cat, who is the same age.

Answer 1

I wouldn't try the rescue remedy on her if it's for humans. If it's something you can buy at the pet store, it's worth a try.

Having a cat that is not spayed will not make her sick or depressed. If that were so, there wouldn't be any feral cats. All the females would die of illness or dehydration and malnutrition.

To fix the dehydration issue, you can try changing the water in her dish very often, buying one of those cat fountains, or introducing her to the bathtub spigot, turned on a medium-paced drip. Cats are often drawn to drink moving water. One of our cats will ONLY drink from the faucet, actually.

To tempt kitty to eat, you may want to try very smelly food, like tuna or bacon. Cats usually can't turn the stuff down. If she eats this, try mixing it with water to help combat the dehydration. You may also want to try a different brand of food. Some cats are simply really picky, and can develop a change of taste anytime, but especially in their first year of life. Just be very mindful that when you change food, it may cause diarrhea, and that would just be the icing on your cake of problems.

As far as kitty's mindset, she could be tired out from being in heat. But if she is sad, you can try cheering her up with new toys. I find that even when our kitties are feeling sleepy and lazy, they always fall for the feather-on-a-string toy. You can also try giving her tons of petting attention to see if that perks her up.

Has anything changed in her life recently? If you have moved, gotten or lost a pet, or even rearranged the house, she may take some time to get used to it.

Lastly, it doesn't sound as if you have been going to a very good vet. They should always be willing to answer any questions you have and should be sensitive to financial restrictions and be able to work around them. You should try consulting another in your area. Keep an eye on your kitty so that if she exhibits any odd symptoms, you can relay those to the vet as well.

Answer 2

I never heard of the rescue remedy, and haven't a clue what it is.

I think that perhaps being in heat a lot makes her tired... when we are on our periods, we get crampy, stressed and sometimes exhausted, so maybe the same for your animal? I hope spaying will improve this.

You can also get some toys and catnip for her? There are interactive toys out there (poles with feathers on them you can play with her).. i don't know if this will perk her up.... You can also take an old sock, put catnip in it and tie the open end shut.. she might like it...

Having a pet can be expensive, so it's something to think about before getting our pets.

As for her dehydration issue, maybe you can offer her some diluted evaporated milk a couple times a day? (dilute it by 1 can of milk to 3 cans water -- you can refrigerate it, and it should keep a week or so... perhaps she will drink better for you until she is feeling better if offered this combination.

You can also buy chicken thighs (they are cheap) boil them and break them up and mix a couple tablespoons with her canned food. perhaps this will be more appealing to her?

i hope she feels better soon....
and that you get good answers here.

umm i looked up rescue remedy and it seems that it starts at about $8 if ordered on line... i have no idea if it works, but i guess that you can do a yahoo search for it, and see what others say.

Answer 3

How old is your cat? my cat was 8 weeks old when I got her and she wasn't eating either and it turned out to be an upper respiratory infection (cold). Since your cat's tests came back normal, it may just be a side effect of being in heat. Like human women, they can go through symptoms of PMS. If this doesn't change when she's not in heat, then I would recommend having her spayed and possibly looking into whether or not she has a cold. if they can't smell their food, they won't eat. I've never heard of the rescue remedy, sorry. But I know that siamese cats are also very tempermental and can have difficult personalities. Hope this helps some.

Answer 4

Rescue Remedy is used much as it's name implies - for emergency situations where a cat or other animal has been injured and is under stress. As I have never had a cat with heat cycles I don't know if it would help or not.

Chamomile is a North American essence which promotes emotional balance and can correct inability to release emotional tension. You can sometimes find these essences at a health foods store along with the Bach or order at http://www.fesflowers.com

All flower essences are preserved with some alcohol. They are benign and will not make your cat "drunk". It amazes me that people freely give their pets drugs from the vet which have harmful side effects and not consider using flower essences for emotional problems. There are many people online or otherwise who are "professionals" in their use, usually they do some animal communication along with suggesting some or one essence to use.

At any rate they do not have to be INGESTED to do their job. You just shake the bottle well and put drops on your cat's fur between its ears.

You could give your cat a BATH in a flower essence without doing any harm. When you use them you "dose" frequently - every half hour if they seem to be helping or four or five times a day for maybe a week to ten days to judge if they are having the desired effect.

Answer 5

I wouldn't give her Rescue Remedy because of the alcohol...it's preserved in brandy or something and could damage her a lot so a definite no to that!

Otherwise, I think that taking her to the Vet for the day means - just as you said - that they don't really know what's wrong. So, you might have just as good a chance by observing her at home (and not such a hole in your pocket!).

It is likely to be a simple explanation to do with her being on Heat, it makes them pretty uncomfortable and if she's off her food and moping around, that sounds fairly standard for a moody hormonal cat!

She's not pregnant already is she? Just a thought....

I would keep an eye on her until you can get her spayed...I am sure she will feel better after that. If anything worse happens though I would take her to the vet, I know it's expensive but if it starts to look serious you might have to throw some money at the problem...(although getting her spayed first is probably cheaper than a few vets visits)....

Definitely no to the Rescue Remedy in the meantime though...

Answer 6

what is rescue remedy? I wouldn't wait a long time to get your cat spayed it could make your cat sick.

Answer 7

Try spending more time with her, maybe even get her a kitten friend.

Answer 8

just love and pet her. give her lots of attention. she may just be exhausted from being in heat so much.