Saturday, June 14, 2008

Eiffel Jean Pierre

When we think of pets, we think of happy thoughts: a little puppy so excited to see us, a kitten playing with a string or a Retriever dedicated to his “master”. But what happens when our pets don’t live up to our expectations? What do we do when a problem arises and the trust and warm fuzzy feelings fall by the wayside? What do we do when our pet becomes aggressive or soils continually in our home? If we’re like most people, we would take them to a shelter or to the Vet to have them put down. I can’t say this did not cross our minds when my Eiffel attacked me and starting spraying in our home. I never really minded that he had never cared very much for others; he certainly loved me! Well, we fell out of love and the past the few months have not been fun.

Did you know that most animals are taken to shelters and eventually euthanized due to behavioral problems? 3-4 million pets are euthanized a year!!!

After many vet visits and many prayers, we were advised to take him to an animal behaviorist to help with his aggressiveness and spraying - “marking his territory”. To be honest, we did not quite know if we were being taken for a ride or not. We only knew that after many vet visits, this was our (his) last option.

We are happy to report that as of today, we still have our crazy cat with us. He has not sprayed and he has not been aggressive (to me). He is on prozac , yes prozac, and we have to keep our blinds closed in the front of the house. If he sees other cats, he might go into “territorial mode” which is not his fault - this is what cats do. He does not roam free any longer but goes in the garden on a leash.

Is HE happy? I think he's happier than he would have been if we'd taken him to a shelter. Are we happy? Very.

2 comments:

Z said...

Your Jean Pierre looks a lot like our male tabby. However, our Papageno is a Milquetoast. I'm glad you've worked hard to keep him with you.

Nancy said...

RIP Eiffel, 8/31/17