The Escape Artist

Last night, Stubbs escaped into the hallway of our apartment building twice. The first time, we didn’t even realize he had escaped. Joe was helping our friend, Ben, in the door with his baby and all the accessories that come with a traveling baby. When Ben went back out in the hallway to go down to his car to get something he left down there, he discovered Stubbs in the hallway. He picked him up and brought him back in.

About an hour later, our friend Rich showed up (Tuesday night is guys’ night at our house). Stubbs had obviously learned from his previous sojourn that he needed to bolt, lest he be captured again, and bolt he did: Down one set of stairs, up the other, into the laundry room, dodging both Joe and Rich’s attempts to capture him. Finally, Ben came out to aid in the rescue mission; the three surrounded Stubbs, and he had no choice but to turn himself in.

Most cat owner would just chalk this up to a cat being a cat. And that could be the case in this instance. But, I always have to take into consideration the fact that Stubbs is a special kitty, a kitty that has been on and off various sedatives and anti depressants for the better part of a year.

As I’ve previously discussed, Stubbs pees outside the box. Not all the time, but it happens. It has been determined through tons of medical testing to rule out any physical issue that this behavior is the result of an anxiety disorder.

Yes, my cat has an anxiety disorder. Roll your eyes if you must, but it is very real.

Back to last night. The reason that Stubbs’ behavior raised some red flags for Joe and I is that the last time he escaped (and he has only made about 4 escape attempts, including last night’s, in the 3 years he has lived with me) about 6 – 8 weeks ago, the escape was followed by a 3 day pee-outside-the-box rampage that ended only after Stubbs took Acepromazine (a sedative) for several days.

You see, we have become very experienced at dealing with Stubbs anxiety. We have learned to read the signs. Like I said before, being a pet owner is all about learning from past experiences.

We made the decision to start Stubbs back on Clomicalm, an antidepressant used to treat anxiety disorders in cats and dogs. We gave him a low dose, and will continue to do so for a few days while we monitor his behavior. This is strictly a preventative measure; we are trying to play offense this time. If he goes a few days without anymore incidents, we will stop the meds, as we prefer to have him be medication-free as much as possible.

Did we make the right decision? Was he just being a normal cat? He has been pretty wild and playful lately, at least by his standards. Should we have waited another day to start the meds? What if he is actually getting better, and just being a more playful cat, and we are putting a damper on a normal behavior? Is giving him this medication taking a step forward or a step back in our treatment of his issues? I guess only time will tell.