# Zyklene and fear aggression?



## KeekeeD (Jul 9, 2014)

Hello,

I was looking for some advice please.

My cat, Dolly, is shall we say a bit of a ladette rather than the lady she looks like . We have had her for over 4 years now, she was a rescue and came from a house where she was left alone a lot or moved back and forth from one place to another and with other cats.

At first she hid under the sofa for weeks, where we had to slide her food and sing her the song of our people to let her know we weren't that bad; apart from our singing. Eventually, she came around but she was really aggressive and her main prey was/is me. 

I have read a lot on the internet and some of the Vicky Halls books, which have helped a bit as now she will come up for a fuss or play alone, yet she still thinks I'm fair game. Most of the time we cannot just pick her up, we cannot groom her without being attacked badly and certainly cannot clip her claws. I now know what to look out for, but some times there is no rhyme or reason to her attacks, for example, last week when I woke up Dolly was really fussy, had to accompany me to the loo  and forced herself on my lap and purred madly, but when I left the loo she chased me into the bedroom and latched onto my leg, sinking her teeth into it and now I have 4 lovely deep puncture wounds. 

I really do not know what to do. I love Dolly with all my heart, but I am afraid of her and I always have to cover my arms and legs as randomly she will attack. Also, Tia our other cat who is also a rescue but normally very chilled out, has started to become jealous, reclusive as Dolly will with no reason will just flatten her with a big paw and this has led to Tia cornering Dolly. 

I have tried play therapy which does and doesn't work; she will play by herself a lot more now which is wonderful to see/hear, but when it comes to her and I playing, she very rarely joins in and especially not if Tia is around, yet it looks like she really wants to. I give her valerian root, catnip toys as I know she likes them and reward her for good behaviour. I have spoken to the vet about her, but the vet refuses to see her now as at her last visit she tried to go for his and the vets nurses eyes , they had to fully knock her out as even under sedation she wasn't willing to have a check over. Also, on our last visit he explained it may be better to put her to sleep as to her she is constantly scared/if she heaven forbid got ill he could not do anything , which hurts as she can be really chilled out at times, fussy and loving, but am I being selfish by keeping her alive?

Sorry, to cut a long story short would zyklene work for her? Or am I prolonging the inevitable? Called the vets today and they barely gave me any information, other than I can buy zyklene from over the counter .

Thank you for reading and any advice.


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

Hi KeeKeeD, welcome to Pet Forums.

Are you in the UK? If so, then I am really shocked any UK vet would imply nothing else can be done to help your cat's anxiety issues and that euthanasia might be the best solution Unless we are talking about a very elderly cat, e.g. in her late teens? (you don't mention Dolly's age).

Before such drastic action should be taken, you should consult a cat behaviourist for advice. Vicky Halls books are excellent, but it would be better to have a cat behaviourist come to your home and observe Dolly in her own environment. You would then be given detailed advice based on what the behaviourist observes.

If you are in the UK you can ask Vicky Halls herself to come to your home. Her fees are not cheap, but you are getting a top expert.

I do sympathise with you when you say you are afraid of Dolly. In the past I lived with a cat like that (RIP). He was volatile and unpredictable in his behaviour. In his case he was a rescue cat with chronic kidney disease, whose owner died when the cat was aged 15. So his angry behaviour was understandable really.

My guess (though I may be wrong) is when you adopted Dolly you introduced her to Tia quite quickly? i.e. in a matter of days or weeks, rather than months. So, it could be the case the two cats were not given the time they needed to gradually accept each other and adapt to sharing territory. Cats are often very unforgiving of their own species when the relationship gets off to a bad start.

It sounds as though Dolly has a very strong sense of territory. Her indoor territory consists of her home, and also of you and any other humans in the house. But as she is closest to you she is more possessive of you.
Some cats are like that, and it can be the case they do not want other cats around and may be happier living as the only cat in the household.

Some of Dolly's aggression to you may be misdirected aggression she feels towards Tia, your other cat. It would be better if the two cats could have set times apart from each other in the house every day to take the pressure off them both. e.g. I'd physically separate them at night, either shutting them in separate rooms or separate parts of the house (erect a dividing door e.g. at the top or bottom of the stairs) so they get used to having their own space.

I'd also make a point of separating them for a few hours at some point every afternoon. In other words, you will be reducing the overall time they spend in each other's company. Both of them will benefit from this.

Cats who don't get on with each can live Ok in the same house as long as there is enough space and opportunities to avoid each other, except in passing.

Regarding play - many cats won't play with their human when another cat is playing. This is always the case with my cats. Two of mine get along exceptionally well together, but when I play with one, the other will always leave the room. The answer is to ensure you play with each cat individually.

In the case of Dolly and Tia it would be better to play with each of them out of sight of the other, to avoid exacerbating Dolly's territorial behaviour.

Do your cats go outdoors? If not, is it possible they could? Perhaps with a cat-proofed garden if you are not in a safe area. Both cats would benefit 
(but especially Dolly) from being able to increase their territory to include the garden. It would make their territorial carve-up of the house less intense.

Another thing is litter trays/boxes. Litter trays are a very much a territorial issue for cats. As the two of them are not pals, (not in the same social group as it were) make sure sure there are enough litter trays around the house so the cats do not have to share, if they choose not to.

When Dolly attacks can you try and recall exactly what led up to it? It is possible you may, with a bit of detective work, be able to identify some triggers to the attacks. If so it may be possible to act to distract her from being so angry or frustrated before she has attacked you. Ignoring her when she is angry is probably the worst possible option.

By all means try Dolly with a course of Zylkene, it can't do any harm and may actually do her some good.

Zylkene Capsules - Pack Of 100 - 75mg - Animed Direct

The contents of the capsule can be added to food.

There is also Royal Canin Calm dry food which contains the same ingredient as Zylkene plus L-tryptophan, an amino acid which controls mood, appetite and sleep. There are good reports of this in some cases.

But just giving Zylkene or RC Calm on their own is unlikely to achieve much benefit for Dolly. It is important to use them as part of a planned approach to tackling the underlying problem. Giving the cats more time apart, as mentioned above, is going to be just as important.


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## buffie (May 31, 2010)

Sorry really cant help with your aggression problems but I would advise caution in using zylkene.
I tried it when Meeko was a kitten and was being really aggressive and vicious in his biting,it made him worse.
The behaviourist I used later said that although Zylkene can help with stress/nervous cats in her experience those who show aggression like Meeko did can have their confidence boosted (he was bomb proof)and become even more aggressive.
I have used it since,just recently,for a possible stress related UTI and it didn't have that effect this time and did seem to help.


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## Soozi (Jun 28, 2013)

buffie said:


> Sorry really cant help with your aggression problems but I would advise caution in using zylkene.
> I tried it when Meeko was a kitten and was being really aggressive and vicious in his biting,it made him worse.
> The behaviourist I used later said that although Zylkene can help with stress/nervous cats in her experience those who show aggression like Meeko did can have their confidence boosted (he was bomb proof)and become even more aggressive.
> I have used it since,just recently,for a possible stress related UTI and it didn't have that effect this time and did seem to help.


I found Zylkene really helpful with my girl and now her pouncing and biting does not happen often! she still on rare occasions goes to bite but even if she does it is more of a grab! I do tell her off in a deeper voice (without eye contact) than I use normally and walk away! She knows it wrong I can tell when she lowers her eyes and just sniffs around as though she hasn't done anything! So I feel a longer course of Zylkene will be helpful for OP's cat!


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## buffie (May 31, 2010)

Soozi said:


> I found Zylkene really helpful with my girl and now her pouncing and biting does not happen often! she still on rare occasions goes to bite but even if she does it is more of a grab! I do tell her off in a deeper voice (without eye contact) than I use normally and walk away! She knows it wrong I can tell when she lowers her eyes and just sniffs around as though she hasn't done anything! So I feel a longer course of Zylkene will be helpful for OP's cat!


I don't doubt the usefulness of Zylkene in the right situation and was only warning the O.P of the possibility of Zylkene boosting the confidence of an already over confident cat as was the case with Meeko.If biting comes from aggression it isn't always because the cat is fearful,My little lad had behaviour problems where he attacked/stalked people and lunged at them,Zylkene made him more confident (which is what it is usually used for) this in turn made him bite even more.
As I said I have used it since for what was possibly a stress related UTI and it did seem to help,but his aggression is in the past


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## Soozi (Jun 28, 2013)

buffie said:


> I don't doubt the usefulness of Zylkene in the right situation and was only warning the O.P of the possibility of Zylkene boosting the confidence of an already over confident cat as was the case with Meeko.If biting comes from aggression it isn't always because the cat is fearful,My little lad had behaviour problems where he attacked/stalked people and lunged at them,Zylkene made him more confident (which is what it is usually used for) this in turn made him bite even more.
> As I said I have used it since for what was possibly a stress related UTI and it did seem to help,but his aggression is in the past


I suppose it's what suits each cat! My girl is very confident too. From day one of adopting her she was just 1 year old she slept on the bed with me, investigated the whole house and ate a hearty meal within ten minutes of being let out of the carrier! I was amazed! she also had no problems whatsoever with people coming and going in the house. She's really friendly but I think gets a bit over excited! I don't believe she had any issues in her past but did start this running after me and pouncing and biting after a few weeks! The short story is the Zylkene has really helped calm her! I would say she still has bags of confidence but the Zylkene seems to have helped with whatever triggered her attacks as they are a very rare occurrence now.


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