I need suggestions on good herbal remedies for chronic stress & nervousness in cats that can be given to the cat long-term, not now & then.
I understand valerian, chamomile, & passion flower are favored herbs, but how well do they work, and can I give them to the cat for possibly months? And is there anything else out there?
Does anyone have experience with long-term use of this kind of remedy?
I have a cat who’s nervous all the time. Greta’s on edge, jumpy and quick to lash out at the other cats because of it. She’s not mean, she’s frightened most of the time.
When she was 2 years old, she decamped across the street to my house and had her kittens under my porch (2d litter, I later learned). She’s been living in the house since July 5th (with the 3 kittens & my original 2 boys, I now have a full house).
She was an outdoor-mouser cat with a group of other female cats. I think she was the one they beat up all the time. Because of this, she assumes all the other cats, even her daughters, are out to get her, so she pre-emptively strikes out as they pass by. (The dog avoids her.)
(I think she was also a lousy mouser, & easy to drive away from the food dish, because she was incredibly thin when I started to feed her in June when I realized we had kittens under the porch.)
She has not made even the slightest move toward the door since she came in – she WANTS to stay with us. She just has really huge trust issues. And bad memories.
She just needs to calm down long enough to understand that we’re not a threat to her.
Advice appreciated.