Any ideas for a stressed cat, without using pills. My friends cat started pulling out it's fur. She became quite concerned, so off to the vet. $400.00 later he said nothing medically wrong. He asked if anything unusal happening at home. Her DH is completely replacing the bathroom ie. lots of noise. This is stressing their already timid cat. I just read about dryer sheets for loud noises re dogs, anything similar.

Do you have an outbuilding you could lock her in till the work is done? An attic? Or basement?
Or even a family member or friend she could stay with?

Or, have her boarded at the vets. He/she could watch the cat till the work is done.

I had a friend who made one of those baby slings, wraps or whatever they are really called (smile) and carried her timid cat in that whenever she was home (her DH did so as well). The holistic vet told her it just needed to feel close and unthreatened. She gave it a lot of attention and it worked.

Not sure about the noise, maybe isolate the cat in a room away from the remodeling job. BUT... they do not have collars as well as meds to help destress animals. Not sure how well the collars work but may be worth a try. At walmart they are less than $10. I'm not sure how much at vet's office. A friend got one for her cat and it seemed to work. But all cats are different. Good Luck, hopefully the remodeling is nearing the end!

try rescue remedy from a herbal store, supposedly you put it in the water, this is what a cat rescue told me, don't know if it works but it is for people and is in a vitamin store. It is worth a shot if she has tried everything else recommended by a vet

They do make a scent thing. I saw it at pet store not too long ago. Looks like one of those air fresheners for your outlet. Don't know what its called. But only $25'ish. Thought about getting one for one of our cats.

My parents' cat goes through fur-pulling stages too. They've basically gotten to the point where they just let her do it--meds and vet visits just contribute to her stress. As long as her skin is normal and she's not chewing or scratching sores into it, it's not going to harm her to have a few bald spots.

? dryer sheets for dogs r/t loud noises, please tell me more!
I have 2 terrified of thunder!
Thanks, Penny

This happened to my sister's cat...her DH was laid off for a few months, the cat was fine before while they both worked, however, after mybrother-in-law went back to work, the cat(Loco Coco) started pulling its hair out...took her to the vet, he said it was an emotional problem as there was nothing medically wrong with Coco...seems like the vet visits only made her worse=more stress

There was a tread here a few days ago. I think the title said something about giving the dog a happy pill.

? dryer sheets for dogs r/t loud noises, please tell me more!
I have 2 terrified of thunder!
Thanks, Penny[/quote]

My vet mentioned plug in pheromones, it's supposed to calm cats down. Like if you were introducing a new one into the fold. She says they work awesome. You can get them on line.

I think it's called Comfort Zone with Feliway. It stops scratching, marking territory, and generally calms cats down.

I have a cat who does that. He was almost bald in spots on his back. That distressed me. Took him to the vets. He's on kitty Prozac which has worked for him. It's about $50 for 2 month supply but he has fur and I'm less stressed about him. Vet said it was a cat form of OCD or like picking at your skin as some people who have OCD do. He was stressed out from "The Holy Terror" aka our new kitten, Lily. She loves/lives to torment him.

Those plug-in things are really good. I can't think of the name of them but I used them when one of my cats got stressed out over a new addition. You can get them at Petsmart. They are a synthetic product identical to cat pheromones and relax them.
That poor kitty!!

My friend uses those plug in happy kitty things. She is very impressed with them. She started using them when she brought a half-wild barn cat home to live with her family-including other cats. She orders hers online at valleyvet.com-says they're pretty cheap there. Maybe she could watch an episode or two of "My Cat From Hell" on Animal Planet. Maybe she could learn some cat therapy from the cat guy!

Do they make the plug-in pheromones for dogs, too?

Peckish, I don't know. You may want to google a pet website like Petsmart and do a search.

Here are links to a couple of the plug-ins on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Feliway-Plug-D...dp/B000WHUOEI/
http://www.amazon.com/Farnam-Comfort...dp/B000FH708I/

There are collars for cats too. Found this collar for dogs (and there are others):
http://www.amazon.com/Sergeants-Vets...dp/B002J9HQ9S/
Also found this pheromone diffuser for dogs:
http://www.amazon.com/DAP-Appeasing-...dp/B000O5HUEA/

Pheromones for dogs yes also in a spray!! Also thundershirts work well for anxiety!! Go to thundershirt.com I just had to put my dog in her's. She's afraid of storms, loud noises ECt. It does help her Except. When storms r severe then I take a corner of the sheet and swaddle her middle over the thundershirt. It does help. Cost about 36$. Worth every cent!

So what area of house do u plug it in? Maybe I will go ahead and get one.

That's it- Feliway!! Thanks, Prism!

I used them in the rooms where the cats were the most. My son also bought the spray when he got a new puppy b/c his cat got nervous and it worked like a charm.

My cat did the same, spent lots of time and money at the vet. Talked to a pet food store owner and he suggested it was not stress, but the food he was eating. I switched to "grain-free" and that solved the problem immediately and completely.

I used that for my cat, it was expensive and didn't work :(

This did nothing for my 5 cats. Thought about using the liquid drops in water to keep them happy when new fosters come in. Dog is on Clomicalm- works very well!

Poor kitty. When we had our bedroom and bathroom redone my cat had to right in the middle of the construction. The workers loved it and were really careful not to hurt her.

Cats are all so different. I remember a move once and one of my cats sat and watched the movers while the other one hid the whole time.
Those Feliway plug-ins did wonders for my cats.

Kola was stressed when we moved into our current house. She lived in our walk in closet for about a week. She was terrified of the ceiling fan in the living room. She had never seen one before. My husband says she may have thought it was a large bird.

She calmed down after about 2 weeks.

After reading several of the response I would suggest you go on a search on line for cat sites and you might find something there tha tyou can do yourself (your friend can) that would not caost to much to do it yourself.
Take care.
Linda

liquid Benadryl. Pharmacist should be willing to give you a measuring spoon that holds it nicely till you can get it down the cats throat

That could be the problem.
Also some dust, or other debris the cat is licking off itself.
Try rinsing the cat off with plain warm water.
Cats are often sensitive to softners and detergents used to wash its bedding.
I am too! I itch fiercely!

Rescue Remedy does work for pets. Have a dog that used to be deathly afraid of thunder storms. Gave her the remedy and it calms her down. She still hates the noise but tolerates it.

I just put the Rescue Remedy right on Teddi's head by her ear instead of in the water.

It lets them feel your relaxed energy. It does work on most. You could also give her someplace to run to, to feel safe, (could be a cat bed in a room never visited during working or stress "Her spot". Could be in the corner of your room, the den, garage, etc.)

Love Rescue Remedy for humans and for pets(special formula for our furbabies) Been using since 1992. Wouldn't be without it!!

Here's a link for pets...http://www.nelsonsnaturalworld.com/e...ng-rescue-pet/

benadryl will help to make the cat less aware of its surrondings and calmer. I have used it on my dogs and my cat in the past during moves and also when tearing apart the house., If you go to the website it will give you the dose amount, I thinnk it is 1 mg per pound.

they do here in UK so guess you would have them too - worked a treat for mine

Yes, we had one of those. The vet recommended it to us because our cat was stressed. It really helped. I think the starter kit is $40.00 and the refills are about $25.00. They last about a month. But, it really made a difference for us. It was expensive, but our cat was having accidents all over our laundry room floor. That stopped with this atomizer. It is the Feliway brand. I would recommend it.

I just checked valleyvet.com in case you're interested in the Feliway stuff. The starter kit is $26.75 for one, $24.95 for 2. The refills are $15.95 or 3 @ $13.95 each. I believe shipping is free too! They do carry the happy dog stuff too.
Hopefully it's okay to post this here. I have no affiliation with the company, I'm just all about saving the $$$!

Great info! Thank you.