When I came home from work last night, I went into Snafu’s room (DP leaves for work about an hour before I get home) and spent time playing with him. He was at that extreme level of stimulation where he’s purring loudly and rubbing on everything frantically to the point where he could get hurt, depending on what he rubs on (dogs for instance or objects that could fall on top of him). Since we were in his room, he was relatively safe.
He is three whole days off the Amitriptyline, and in his over stimulated state, it was hard to keep his attention on the toys and other flying objects I wanted to engage him with. Maybe three or four minutes had passed and he stopped going after the toys, but kept kneading and head butting things, so I sat down on his couch. He marched back and forth, jump up on the couch and then off, went to the door (which is a screen door), where Penny was sitting on the opposite side, and rubbed all over it, the door frame and wall. He did not spray anything, though at one point he stopped in front of Penny at the door. I could see he was getting himself worked up…which is this strange little huffing sound he does, so I called to him. He immediately broke out of it and came back to me on the couch.
One thing I have noticed off the Amitriptyline is his responsiveness is better. It seems his mind is clearer, even though it may be agitated. On the couch he rubbed all over me. I had my hands tucked inside my sweatshirt because I knew I could easily get a very excited love bite even though at this point since arriving home I had not petted him at all. Unfortunately my ears were vulnerable and when he jumped up onto the back of the couch rubbing behind me, he crunched my ear. Yeow! Thankfully, he did not puncture me or draw blood which he has done in the past. I put the hood of my hoodie into good use after that.
I will time this out next time, but I’d guess it was 15 minutes or so before he totally flopped on the floor, still purring. He got up a couple of times, but kept laying back down. Another minute or two later after he flopped, I picked him up and air lifted over Penny and the rest of the cats waiting in the hallway outside his door, and brought him into the kitchen. He just lay on the floor and watched me (which is what he used to do while on Amitriptyline) while I did a few chores, then I lit the woodstove and gave the kitties their dinner.
This will be the new regimen: One on one play/attention, food, warmth. DP gave him his one dose of the herbal tincture today. I’m not quite sure what to look for, but it may take a day or so.
~Lisa Co9T
