My cat went through two traumatic phases in her 14 years and what I found worked miraculously is Bach's Flower Essences. This was years ago, both of us went through a tough period. There was a lot of confusion and anxiety for her. She hid behind the computer and refused to come out for days and didn't touch her food either. I had to pull her out and she would scramble back to hide. It went on like that for about two months till I put her on Bach's essences. I got in touch with the importer and had a tincture specially concocted for her. She was back to normal in two doses! According to the importer, animals' emotions are less complicated (in her exact words, less layers to peel) therefore, the essences work quicker.

I moved to a landed property two months ago, into a closely knit community. She is the first resident cat, so the kids were eager to see her... everyday. My guests wanted to meet her too. Suddenly she had way too much attention, she is not that well socialized and no where safe hide. She hid wherever she could all day and was pulling her fur... didn't come out for dinner like her normal self, so I gave her the essences again and thank God, it worked.

I don't know if Bach is still sold here, but when I last checked on the net, there is something similar.

BTW, I put my cat with Scallywags in PJ when I go away. It's a proper cattery housed under huge trees, with radio and fan and whatever kibbles or wet food you feed your cat (premium food included). All cats that are housed there have to be immunized and your cat will not come home with somebody else's cat fleas.

Hi Ruffz,Thanks so much for telling me about this product. I had a look at the Pet Rescue Remedies, is that the product you recommended?

Wow they didn't have Pet Rescue Remedy in those days! I would write in to ask for a special concoction. Reading about Kitty and looking at this site, http://www.bachflower.com/Pets.htm
I would recommend

Star of Bethlehem for mistreated past,
Aspen for unaccountable fears,
Crab Apple for OCD and
Elm to restore confidence and positive outlook.

You can mix up to five essences per concoction and the base is Rescue Remedy. Don't worry about wrong diagnosis, the wrong flower would then not have any effect on the animal. Having a tailored concoction would work better. Rescue Remedy is good to keep at home for general use-- even on people.

Hope it works for The Great Kitty and keep us posted! The results are worth the effort!

Thank you so much Ruffz, I will buy the 4 products you mentioned and will see which one works better. Did you put the oil into the water? I really hope it works for Kitty. I will keep you posted about his reaction after trying it out.

I laughed when I saw that crab apple was an ingredient in the essence because it brought a memory back about a time a few years ago while I was studying in the UK: My boyfriend, Ewan (who is my husband now), told me that crab apple was poisonous. I was very curious about this little apple with the silly shape, and really felt I wanted to try it, but I was concerned that I might die if I tried it.

One day when I walked past a crab apple tree, I saw that it was full of apples, and some of them were a bit red and looked delicious. I couldn't resist so I picked up one, sniffed it, but then remembered that Ewan said it was poisonous; however, I thought I could just lick it a bit and see what it tasted like—that shouldn't kill me. I did it and it tasted very sour. Nothing happened after my silly behavior; I survived after the lick of the crab apple!

A few days later I walked past the tree again, so I thought I might as well eat a bit to see how I felt—and I did. The taste of crab apple wasn't that bad: it tasted a bit like a cooking apple, but awfully sour. When I got home a few hours later I got a bad stomach; I thought it was the crab apple and remembered that it was poisonous, then felt frightfully sorry for myself for doing such a silly thing.

I thought I would need to go to hospital, but at that time I was watching my favourite chef, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, on TV; he was cooking crab apple so I realised that it wasn't poisonous! It was a good relief after realising I hadn't been poisoned. So every time I see a crab apple it reminds me about that. I've been back in Malaysia for 5 years now and there aren't crab apple trees here, so I haven't seen or heard about them since I was in England; now when I heard about crab apples again it really reminded me about my silly story in England :))

I contacted Scallywags last Christmas; I called Liz 3 weeks beforehand, but it was fully booked already. It is a popular place among expats; a lot of them leave their cats there. I like her boarding house as she doesn't lock the cats in a cage like other places do. I will contact her a lot earlier next time.

Hi Sharon,

I really enjoyed reading your post! I know the crab apple only through drawings, from a book by Mary Cicely Barker which I carried with me every where when I was a kid.

Bach essences are not oils. It's just liquid, like water and it's odorless. I put it in my cat's water and food (cooked fish). You can also put it on Kitty's paw or nose, so that he can lick it off.

Yes, Scallywags is always fully booked during festive holidays and international school holidays-- during these times, book at least 3 months earlier. But Liz is okay if you book in advance for a period and only confirm the exact dates a little later. She always spend time with me when I have questions about my cat... like the time when I realise my cat is getting old and I may come home one day to find her dying. But at the rate she's going now, she might live till 20 or more.