OKay... so my family and I are HUGE animal lovers... especially cats. We have a knack for taking in stray animals. One day we found these two kittens in an abandoned trailer... I'm talking practically just born. They couldn't even open their eyes. We took them home (assuming the mother and others were gone because we searched and never found them) and we went to the vet and got them formula and bottle fed them until they were old enough to eat kitten food. Now they are grown and the female seems perfectly healthy but the male (which is mine) has a bit of a mental problem. He's very clingy to me and when I leave home for long periods he doesn't eat and pretty much stays outside. Every now and then he freaks out and jumps off. Sometimes he's really scared of random things that are around him and will hiss at them and run off (after he scratches everyone around and does a complete 360) Everyone in the house has been pretty cooperative but now my older sister had a baby and their talking about getting rid of my cat because he spazes out and they are worried about the baby. I don't want anything to happen to the baby but I also don't want to get my cat put to sleep (no one wants a mentally ill cat). HELP! I don't know what to do. I was thinking maybe he was just retarded because he usually walks around sniffing everything really slowly like he;s scared... but I've realized he doesn't do it ALL the time... actually most of the time he's normal... so anyway is it possible for cat to have Schizophrenia? Or what else might be wrong? PLease help I'm so scared they are going to get him put to sleep.! :(

I would also like to add that my cat is fixed and I really don't feel that the Feliway Comfort Zone product you keep advertising will be enough... can a veterinarian be able to tell what is mentally wrong with animals? Please help... thank you,,

Hello,

First of all, I 'advertise' Feliway Comfort Zone because it works. It is made for cases such as yours where a cat is super stressed and/or naturally timid or anti-social.

Don't knock it till you try it. It's great for animals with 'mental' or 'emotional' issues.

Second, used in tandem with Rescue Remedy (found at health food or supplement stores) or some other herbal anti-anxiety supplement for pets, I think you might see some amazing results.

It's not impossible for cats to be mentally unbalanced, I've worked with a few myself, but most of the time we find that it is an emotional issue.

Because you cat was not brought up properly by his real mother, he is confused about his place in the family. He wasn't disciplined properly nor taught other things that mother cats usually teach them such as how to be independent.

Basically, his instincts are telling him one thing but he's been taught something different. Some bottle raised cats don't seem to have a problem but we see that about 80 to 90% of them do have some issues.

Sure, a vet could put your cat on Prozac or Valium, but those drugs only treat the symptoms NOT the root problem. Not to mention, they have side effects almost as bad as the issue at hand. Prozac is expensive to boot.

If you can find a good animal behaviorist, they might have some other suggestions. I have worked with cats for almost 12 years now and have seen these problems first hand many times. For the most part, the Feliway seems to work fine by itself but some people use the Rescue Remedy to boost the Feliway's effects.

If you decide to trust my informed opinion, the Rescue Remedy can be used at a rate of two or three drops in the mouth once daily or added to water. It won't hurt any other cats in the household to drink it if you put it in water.

I wish you success!

Regards,