sorry in advance because this is LONG
my Siberian is almost 3 (her birthday is in 2 weeks) and she has been a complete menace for nearly the entire time I’ve had her, and I got her as a kitten. I literally do not know what to do anymore, I have been dealing with her issues for years and I have considered rehoming her twice now. I’m hoping other Siberian owners can help.
more background and timeline:
- I grew up with a Siberian (kitten to age 16, he is still alive!) and this is my first time owning one as an adult, so I am a little familiar with the breed.
- I got her as a kitten. She is from Ukraine, the breeder still shows cats and gave me extensive documentation of her breeding lineage. She was also spayed there.
- She has been, as I would describe, anxious and unable to self soothe, since I got her. She has also been “diagnosed” twice with chronic vocalization. she is extremely energetic and difficult--she has escaped my apartment 4 times and climbed onto the roof of a neighbor, and I've had to climbed into the roof to rescue her each time. She meows maybe up to 2000 times per day, whether or not I ignore her.
- She has been medicated for anxiety (prozac
5mg
- ) for over a year. It helped A LOT in the beginning but I think its effects have plateaued. At its peak efficacy, she was able to sleep through the night in bed with me and it was perfect. The first vet I asked about medication said I wanted to “drug my cat” but I’m glad I found a different vet because she was so much better on it.
- Prozac can be constipating, so I put her on a prescription dry food. She often struggles to poop and I have to “help her” (bring her to the litter box to remind her she needs to poop). Once she’s there she poops no problem.
- I went to a cat behaviorist (Mikel Maria Delgado, she had a book that I read and she was much cheaper than the local SPCA that the vet recommended, which is $600 for just the intake appointment). She recommended some basic things like ignoring her meowing to stop reinforcing the feedback loop, letting her knock all my things over or moving them so she can’t get to them, keeping her awake during the day so she sleeps at night, and clicker training. Ignoring the meowing only occasionally works—she will meow for 3+ hours (I simply won’t stick around long enough to endure more). I live in a junior 1 bedroom attic apartment, I do not have enough room to stuff all my belongings out of sight for her, and because the ceilings are short, she can reach things on the short shelves. Clicker training sort of worked, but it was hard to keep up for every single behavior all throughout the day when I was working from home. I did try really hard to keep her awake during the day and tire her out so she would sleep at night, and using the most activity packed days as a gauge (a walk in the park, climbing trees--always leashed), that didn't make any difference.
as it stands right now, this is how a usual day goes:
I am unemployed and have been for a while since I was laid off. I am at home a lot. She is either begging for attention all day or asleep. I put her on a leash and let her sit on the deck while I work (she is always within my eyesight and tethered to the door). When she asks for attention, she often is annoyed by being held and doesn’t want to play, or gets bored after a couple of minutes. Often when I put her out on the deck because she meows to go out, she then meows and comes right back in. It seems like she just needs me to be involved in every activity in a very direct and engaged way.
night time: Some time several months ago she decided she doesn’t want her wet food (1x daily) at 10am, but at 7am, then 5am, then 4am, and now around 2-3am. Now she just wakes up at this time, sometimes eats the wet food, sometimes doesn’t, but just wanders around meowing incessantly, pacing around the apartment, walking on top of my head, and knocking things over. It’s not really “zoomies” and she doesn’t want to play with toys. This usually goes on for 1-3 hours every night. My vet recommended putting her in another room, and the only “room” I have is the bathroom. I tried putting her in the bathroom last night after she knocked numerous things over at 4am and she meowed until 7am. I ended up leaving and sleeping at my partner’s apartment. I have been sleeping there most nights because I can only sleep for about 5 hours a night now if I stay at my apartment.
other observations: she does better when my partner is around and when friends come. I think she needs more stimulation than 1 individual can provide and I just simply can’t do it. I try to do playtime with toys for at least 30 minutes every day and/or a walk on the leash around my building. She is just the neediest animal I have ever encountered and I have owned dogs, rabbits, guinea pigs, grew up with another cat, and both my siblings have cats. I know Siberians are slow to mature but this is ruining my life and I love her to death but I also can’t stand this. I need help and the vets are just not being helpful.
