? Jack 03/10 - AMPS 266, +3 272, +6 279, PMPS 353 - Question about stress levels

[AngelaMiao]

Yesterday

Starting off the day in yellow. Hoping this means the bounce has cleared! Always happy to see the day start in anything other than pink or red. Delayed his shot by an hour yesterday and did his PM and today's AM shot 30 min early to catch up but today was daylight savings time, so we still have another hour to make up.

Jack is in a good mood today, very social and walking around the house - usually only does this when he's in green, blue, yellow or bounced into red. Anytime he's sailing in pink he feels shitty - I'm guessing the reason that red feels good is because it's usually the peak of a bounce and the liver is starting to relax, having reached its goal lol


I have a question. So I took Jack in from my parents just over a month ago and my BF has a big dog that he's still not comfortable with. Jack usually stays in my bedroom (dog not allowed in the room) and only leaves the bedroom during the night/early morning or during the day while my BF is at work since we keep the dog in the basement during these times. Originally we had a baby gate to keep the dog from coming upstairs so that Jack could roam around more than just the bedroom but we removed it 2 weeks ago to let the dog come closer and get them used to each other and it's still a mess everytime the dog comes too close (Jack usually ends up hissing, poofing up his fur and when I close the door on the dog, Jack jumps the door and starts howling). I'm worried about the stress affecting his BG and wondering if I should wait a bit before testing after any dog confrontations (and if so, how long should I wait before testing).

 

[Bobbie And Bubba]

So far it's looking like a flat yellow cycle today which could indicate a lower cycle coming up tonight or tomorrow.


Stress can definelty raise a cat's BG's. Some cats with stress go lower. It's an ECID kind of a thing.

As far as waiting to test after an altercation...I am not sure how long to wait to have them level out again.

Something you can try to do to socialize them a bit is to rub the dog on each side of his face with both hands, up and down. Then immediately go to Jack and rub both sides of his face . The idea is to exchange their scents to help them go to get acquainted without any real threat to Jack. I have had good success with doing this when I have brought in a new animal to add to the mix. Hope that helps.

 

[JoyBee&Ravan]

You might try putting the gate in the bedroom doorway when you're home,so they can see each other & get acquainted. You could stay in the room with Jack & let the dog come to the gate & sniff around.What's the dogs name?
Kitty hissing & howling is just her way of warning the dog. The more you keep them apart the longer it'll take for them to get used to each other.( is the dog in the basement because of Jack?)
You need to pet the dog & let Jack see you like the dog.Let Jack smell your hand to get the dogs scent.Put one of the dogs' toys or blanket in the room with Jack.Do the same with the dog. Give him one of Jacks toys to smell.The dog is dying to get a sniff of Kitty!

Are your cats' nails trimmed? You wouldn't want him to take a swipe at the dogs' face & hurt him. I think the more you seperate them the more stressful it is for everyone. It's important you remain calm & talk quietly to both the cat & the dog,(don't holler at the dog or the cat) they will gradually
get to know each other.Animals are very sensitive to our feelings & reactions. If you stay calm Jack will feel safe & know the dog is OK. It will be one big Happy Family There's been a lot of changes in their life lately. Stressful for everyone.

There's a product called Feliway It's only for cats. I use it when I need to take them to the vet,which really stresses them out. You spray it on their blanket & let it dry It works really well to calm them down. (I don't know if it's available where you're at)

Years ago my mother brought her very large Irish Setter over. My cat was 8 yrs old & had never been around any dogs. We put the dog outside & proceeded with a BBQ. People were going in & out of the house.
Hours later I realized the dog was not out in the yard. I ran into the house looking for my cat.
I was amazed to see the dog sleeping in the front room with my cat laying right against him also sleeping. It made me sad to think my kitty was probably lonely all those years. She looked forward to him coming to visit after that.

If I could tell you one thing it would be,"Patience" animals are wiser than us. They will work it all out if we just give it time. Best of Luck to you!

As far as Jacks BG he will have to deal with all kinds of stress day to day so I don't think you need to delay his testing because of the dog.

 

[AngelaMiao]

Thanks guys!

We're trying to get them to start smelling each other - dog just wants to play but Jack won't have any of it. It took him 4 years to come around to me and my family (now he just wants to be touched at all times), he's a very timid cat so I'm not super surprised. Have been trying to go back and forth exchanging their scents. I gave Jack a dog toy, so he's been sniffing that for like 3hrs lol - I don't have anything of the cats to give the dog (name is Mikka), he just sleeps on my bed and doesn't play with anything but the lazer pointer lol. Gonna see if I can keep him in a shirt for a bit and give that to Mikka. Will look into Feliway, I'm pretty sure we have that here.

PMPS was 353, hopefully next cycle isn't another bounce cycle. Hes back to acting poopy and sad.

 

[AngelaMiao]

Jack being a mope.

 

[Gill & George]

Gorgeous boy.

We did the scent exchange thing, but most of all it takes time and lots of patience.

George was first so he just bossed the two puppies and so they have utmost respect for him.
The other 3 came after the dogs, and we introduced them as kittens, there was a fair bit of hissing and spitting, but DH kept the dogs on a lead, I held the kittens and we slowly let them get to know each other, our biggest problem was Jazz she was very excited by the kittens and just wanted to lick them from head to toe, the kittens were not impressed, eventually she stopped being excited and they get on just fine now. It did take a long time and for quite a while I thought it wasn't going to happen.

 

[AngelaMiao]

Wow, so many animals! Hopefully Jack will come around soon. He's gotten better with age, at least. He used to be afraid of new people, even family members that have been coming over for years but now he still won't socialize, but he'll at least hang around the bedroom as opposed to hiding under the bed in a corner for 6hrs. He came around to my boyfriend faster than he ever has to any new person and even sleeps on him.

We have a baby gate at the bottom of the stairs to the basement to keep the dog in at night and I recently started waking up and finding Jack standing by the gate, staring at the dog as if he were laughing at her for being locked up while he's free lol. He only feels safe when there's a gate. She's a GSD/Husky mix, so she's not a small dog

 

[Gill & George]

and I recently started waking up and finding Jack standing by the gate, staring at the dog as if he were laughing at her for being locked up w

That hilarious, but probably her way of getting to know the dog.

George was much the same as Jack he would hide under bed when folk visited when we first got him especially didn't like small beans. Over the years he became braver, it's funny though there have been some of our friends that he takes an instant liking too and others, try as they might to be friends with him, he would have nothing to do with them.