Miss Molly Magoo
Monsieur Remy Martin
Remy is home from his stay at the veterinarian's clinic. Remy was on IV fluids for two days, and he had a series of glucose tests on his blood and urine. He does NOT have Diabetes. His kidneys are fine.
He's crazy.
Remy suffers from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. For an unknown reason, he pulls out his own fur. Remy grooms normally...and then grabs a great mouthful of hair and jerks it out. He's been doing this since he was eleven months old. At the time, we noticed that his tail was getting really scraggly as he was coming up to his first birthday. At first we assumed that he was losing his summer coat prior to growing his winter one. It wasn't until I kept finding great hunks of hair about the house that we started to pay greater attention.
Remy was caught in the act of pulling out the hair in his tail and along his sides by Dave and I a few times. We took him to the vet's office. At first it was thought that he might have a skin allergy, A shot of Cortisone later, and that was ruled out. We also ruled out his food, the shampoo that was used at the Groomer's, and aggression with Molly and Emile as causes to the hair loss.
Finally, he was diagnosed with Obsessive-Compulsive DIsorder. As we couldn't alter the cause, we decided to medicate for a cure. He was put on a drug called Clomicalm (Clomipramine). His dose was 2.5 mgs daily.
This seemed to do the trick. Remy stopped his excessive/destructive grooming, and his fur grew back. He regained the long, lush flowing tail that makes Maine Coons famous.
In September, Dave quit smoking cigarettes. (yay Dave!) He was no longer going out onto the back deck for a cigarette multiple times a day. That meant that the cats were no longer going on the deck multiple times daily. (Our cats are allowed onto our kitty proofed back deck when they are supervised.) Remy showed his displeasure at this change in circumstances by starting to rip out his fur again.
The vet increased his dosage of the drug, and told Dave to take the cats out for "fresh air" a few times a day. It seemed to be working, until the crisis with Emile.
We were paying so much attention to Emile and his dental problems that we failed to notice that Remy had practically stopped eating. Remy lost two pounds before we took him to the vet's.
All of our cats see two vets at the same clinic. Dr Todd Morgan and Dr Rachel Thomas have been looking after the boys since they came home with us.
Dr Morgan saw Remy's weight loss and decided to change Remy's medication from the Clomicalm to Prozac. I had the prescription filled at my own pharmacy, where it was dispensed in a Cherry flavoured syrup. (Children's Prozac was the only dose low enough for the cat)
The Prozac made Remy foam at the mouth, and it was stopped immediatley. Remy lost another pound while exhaustive tests were run to see why he was so ill. Kidney disease, a viral infection, and Diabetes were all examined.
Remy came back negative for everything. His urine glucose, at one point, was very high, but that ended up being attributed to stress. It turns out that Remy should have been weaned from the Clomicalm before starting the Prozac. One of the withdrawl symptoms from the Clomicalm was anorexia.
It has been decided that Remy must regain his weight before we try him on any other type of behaviour modification therapy.
As I write this, Remy is purring while he sleeps on the window perch beside Dave's desk. He's sleeping with his tail curled over his nose. There is less fur on his tail today than there was yesterday, but we're going to take everything one day at a time.
Monsieur Remy Martin
Remy is home from his stay at the veterinarian's clinic. Remy was on IV fluids for two days, and he had a series of glucose tests on his blood and urine. He does NOT have Diabetes. His kidneys are fine.
He's crazy.
Remy suffers from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. For an unknown reason, he pulls out his own fur. Remy grooms normally...and then grabs a great mouthful of hair and jerks it out. He's been doing this since he was eleven months old. At the time, we noticed that his tail was getting really scraggly as he was coming up to his first birthday. At first we assumed that he was losing his summer coat prior to growing his winter one. It wasn't until I kept finding great hunks of hair about the house that we started to pay greater attention.
Remy was caught in the act of pulling out the hair in his tail and along his sides by Dave and I a few times. We took him to the vet's office. At first it was thought that he might have a skin allergy, A shot of Cortisone later, and that was ruled out. We also ruled out his food, the shampoo that was used at the Groomer's, and aggression with Molly and Emile as causes to the hair loss.
Finally, he was diagnosed with Obsessive-Compulsive DIsorder. As we couldn't alter the cause, we decided to medicate for a cure. He was put on a drug called Clomicalm (Clomipramine). His dose was 2.5 mgs daily.
This seemed to do the trick. Remy stopped his excessive/destructive grooming, and his fur grew back. He regained the long, lush flowing tail that makes Maine Coons famous.
In September, Dave quit smoking cigarettes. (yay Dave!) He was no longer going out onto the back deck for a cigarette multiple times a day. That meant that the cats were no longer going on the deck multiple times daily. (Our cats are allowed onto our kitty proofed back deck when they are supervised.) Remy showed his displeasure at this change in circumstances by starting to rip out his fur again.
The vet increased his dosage of the drug, and told Dave to take the cats out for "fresh air" a few times a day. It seemed to be working, until the crisis with Emile.
We were paying so much attention to Emile and his dental problems that we failed to notice that Remy had practically stopped eating. Remy lost two pounds before we took him to the vet's.
All of our cats see two vets at the same clinic. Dr Todd Morgan and Dr Rachel Thomas have been looking after the boys since they came home with us.
Dr Morgan saw Remy's weight loss and decided to change Remy's medication from the Clomicalm to Prozac. I had the prescription filled at my own pharmacy, where it was dispensed in a Cherry flavoured syrup. (Children's Prozac was the only dose low enough for the cat)
The Prozac made Remy foam at the mouth, and it was stopped immediatley. Remy lost another pound while exhaustive tests were run to see why he was so ill. Kidney disease, a viral infection, and Diabetes were all examined.
Remy came back negative for everything. His urine glucose, at one point, was very high, but that ended up being attributed to stress. It turns out that Remy should have been weaned from the Clomicalm before starting the Prozac. One of the withdrawl symptoms from the Clomicalm was anorexia.
It has been decided that Remy must regain his weight before we try him on any other type of behaviour modification therapy.
As I write this, Remy is purring while he sleeps on the window perch beside Dave's desk. He's sleeping with his tail curled over his nose. There is less fur on his tail today than there was yesterday, but we're going to take everything one day at a time.