Herbal cat tranquillizer

17 years ago

I have four male cats who have embarked on a competitve spraying campaign. No sooner do we clean up one marked spot than another one is hit! Anything under 18" is a target.

Vet sites say the problem is caused by having more than 2 or 3 male cats. Vets say they can prescribe tranquilizers like Prozac for a couple of months and this eliminates the behavior. Well, I cannot imagine the trauma of having to give pills to 4 cats for several months. Not to mention the expense...

I have tried a vaporizing plug-in product that pet supply stores sell for this purpose....within days they had sprayed it too:>)

I would love to find a natural herbal tranquillizer that I can sprinkle on their food. Any suggestions?

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Comments (4)

Daisyduckworth
17 years ago
Check with your vet first, but here are a couple of remedies I have, listed under the heading of 'hyperactivity'. I have no idea how they work in animals, especially the St. John's Wort, which in humans interacts with practically every other herb/medicine, and which has unwanted side-effects such as photosensitivity. I don't know if it would react to such things as worming tablets and the like, but it's a herb I don't trust!

Add teas or a few droppersful of tincture of Chamomile or Valerian to your petÂs water dish.

Give about 1/2 teaspoon of St. JohnÂs Wort tincture in water or food, once or twice daily, for a small dog.

Here's a rough guide as to dosages of herbs for animals:

Cats: 1/8-1/4 the dose for an adult human.
Dogs: Correspond to adult human dose according to weight.
Horse: 8-16 times the dose for an adult human.
Goats: 2-2 1/2 times the dose for an adult human.
Sheep: 1 1/2 to 2 times the dose for an adult human.
Cow: 12-24 times the dose for an adult human.
Swine: 1-3 times the dose for an adult human.

There is one sure-fire solution, of course - spaying!
adrianag
Original Author
17 years ago
Daisy,

Thanks for the suggestions - I'll give the chamoile or valerian a try but will stay away from the SJW.

Spaying is not an option OR a solution. These are 4 MALE, neutered cats....this is a fairly common problem in multi-cat households.

One thing I have already done which is acting as a deterrent from spraying specific areas (under the Christmas tree,and the poinsettias, which they sprayed within hours of them coming in the house), is orange-ginger fragrance oil from Bath and Body Works. Since cats do not like orange scents, this is a good solution for specific targets, but I need to mellow them out to prevent them doing random hits.
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jlynn
17 years ago
I have found that Valerian - dried- like catnip, just does it for cats. LOL I've had to go to keeping mine locked up from the cat cause he will try anything to get it and just wants to roll in it. His eyes get very large and boy does he get mellow, unless I try to take it away. Don't know why it works so well but at least for my cat seems to be a tranquilizer.
lucy
17 years ago
I think it's sad that you have to drug your cats indefinitely to keep them from doing what comes naturally. Have you considered re-homing any of them? I know it sounds awful, but then you set up the situation and unless you have a very large place where they can be separated a lot of the time, you're not going to have much luck. Do post here though for lots of really good advice (on other things as well) - http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=5