Separation Anxiety in kitten 9 weeks old?
Long story short as I can be, our cat had kittens 5 of them, 10 days later the mother got deathly sick and I became a mother cat, bottle fed, potty and slept with these guys on a heating pad, liter trained them and everything. The runt of the litter tended to be with me a lot more often as they became mobile, as the others would beat her up out of the food and just flat out pick on her a lot. SO I fed her separate of the others, she was behind a bit developing. 100% set up for Separation Anxiety for this little gal. Turn for the worse at 6 weeks old she jetted under one of my kid’s feet and got stepped on. she was in very serious condition, and I held her, brushed, petted and talked to her 24/7 no rest for 4 days nursing this kitten to survive. She was my special girl before the accident, even more so with another 10 days of intensive kitten care. drops of water for 4 days, then watered down moist food for 3 days, she is doing fantastic now. Until…
Ok I have gone out of the house since she is mobile again, shopping, taking kids to things at school and so forth, Thanksgiving day we were ALL gone for about 6 hours. Came home and they all sat up yawned at me like "oh you were gone?"
Suddenly Tues night my daughter needed a ride home from work, so I ran 6 blocks to pick her up and came home to a semi comatose kitten. I always shut my bedroom door when I leave so the dogs don’t go in after the kitten food, and the kittens don’t run about the house getting into trouble as they can manage a lot of.
I shut my door and leave, About the time I made it out of the front door, my 2nd oldest heard this blood curtailing scream coming from my room, she ran up open the door and the kitten was against the door and fell out of the door way, ripped down the steps into the bathroom.. NO MOM!!! She went into a hysterical run all over the house making rounds to every room screaming, till she finally just collapsed panting like she was dying, not 5 minutes went by and I was back home, to my daughter standing there holding this limp dead looking cat, and my daughter crying saying "mom, somethings wrong with her"
Of course as much heart as I put into this kitten to save her life now in her short little life of now 9 weeks, I screamed and ran toward her. The sound of my voice she jumped up suddenly ALIVE!! and jumped on me up to my face, licking me purring hysterically loving me to death. Now not 2 minutes before that, she was limp and my daughter couldn’t get her to "come around" She had run her self around hysterical and I guess passed out.
Again today 1st time I have left her and not "taken her along" since Tues night. I drove my son about a block and half to the bus stop and right back, I timed it and was not gone a full 3 minutes. came home to her running hysterically to find me and saw me, climbed me kissing me to death again.
All the causes for this kitten to be this way is there, I get why she is like that I seriously do. I spoil her to death to which doesn’t help. Scrambled egg in the morning, Super is moist food, and a treat at bed time, she has her own little bedroom and toy room cubes… She will continue to be spoiled for the rest of her life.
But, I also have NO doubt, that if I leave this kitten behind again for more then 5 minutes she could very well have an anxiety attack that she may just lay down and die over it. She is only 9 weeks old.. seriously do I want to drug this little thing that already had such a ruff start?
I have to drive to NJ to get my husband returning from Iraq next week, and already going shopping for travel needs for her.
My question is I guess, would be, any suggestions on how to start gradually fixing this sudden onset? I can’t think of a thing to have caused it that changed from Monday to Tues. Monday i went shopping with my daughter for 2 hours, left her here with my other kids, she didn’t care less about me going away. NO house changes happened to cause Tues reaction to me leaving for 5 minutes…
She literally was limp and gasping for air…
So any suggestions on where to go from here on getting it better aside from Drugs?
TY for responses so far, yes I knew this was a possibility for all 5 of them, but esp this gal with all she has been threw.
The good part is the ONLY aggression she shows at all is if I am sleeping and someone comes near me.. LOL
My husband has been in Iraq for a year and comes home next week.. what a welcome home.. huh? snarl snarl HISS HISS get away from my mama!!
but if the person is in the bed before me, like my son fell asleep on my bed the other day and I moved him over and the kitten and I went to bed, he was ok.. but don’t try to get near me after I’m sleeping.
It’s been a long haul with these guys. I am momma… no doubt about it. I read so much information when I had to take over.
I already take her with me everywhere I go, but soon i’ll have to go to the grocery store, and she can’t go there. 5 hours to pick up hubby I guess we’ll see how she rides long distances now too!
Tagged with: bottle fed • dogs • heating pad • kitten care • kitten food • kittens • liter • mom • mother cat • runt of the litter • scream • separation anxiety • special girl • thanksgiving • thanksgiving day
Filed under: anxiety attacks causes
If the kitten is taken away from her mother within an 8 week period of its birth, the first signs of its impact will be in the form of the cats behaviour. The cat may have abnormal eating habits, abnormal toileting habits, abnormal scratching behaviour. In addition to these, the cat may also form a maternal attachment to the owner, which can lead to many secondary problems. These may include extreme stress and depression when the cat is separated from its owner for any significant period of time. The cat may also develop an aggression towards people who are not its mother, or is perceived to pose a threat to its mother.
you became the kittens mom, mom is everything to a kitten.
the only suggestion i have, is take this kitten with you in a carrier whenever you leave the house.
the good news is, kittens become independent, starting about now, so, within a few weeks, maybe a few months, she should be a normal, ignore the human, cat.
another trick you can try, wear an old t shirt all day, then give to kitten to sleep on while you are gone. it smells like you. scent is very important to cats. your scent might reassure her.