Cats and Prozac!

Has anyone else had a cat who took Prozac? My sister in law has an ex-feral who used to pee on her bed almost every day, and she has taken Prozac for years. Not only did it stop the inappropriate urination, but Rowan has not had a herpes flare-up since she started taking it.

A few days ago, I started Katie on Prozac. She is...I don't know how best to describe it....a fidget. She spends all day pacing and meowing and pacing and meowing. She begs for attention, then jumps and twitches when she is touched. She has panic attacks if she is in a room and someone shuts her in. Following the most common recommendations, I started spraying Feliway around, got her a OTN of interactive toys, and started spending a LOT of time playing with her. I aimed to get her exhausted and panting at least twice a day, with other shorter play sessions in between. This completely backfired! Katie has become so muscular and fit that she can play forEVER. I don't think there are enough hours in the day to truly exhaust her. Furthermore, she becomes FRANTIC when I put the wand toy away, or anytime I go near the cupboard where it is kept.

She just seems like she is always anxious and on edge, and frankly her vocalization had reached a point where my husband told me he hated her and wanted her gone. (Not happening)

Since starting the Prozac, she is almost like another cat! She is still playful, she still runs over to scratch her Turbo Scratcher, and I think we're going to keep going through Da Bird refills pretty quickly. It's as though...the edge has been taken off. She doesn't pace. She doesn't meow constantly, repeatedly, endlessly. In fact, a few minutes ago she came up on the bed and laid down next to me, purring away. She did get up and lay back down a few times, but it was the calmest interaction I've ever had with her. Most nights when I get into bed she is on off on off on off, meow chirp, meow meow, on off etc...like she just couldn't settle down.

The most encouraging sign by far, though, is the fact that she got locked in the office overnight by mistake and she DID NOT FREAK OUT. I heard a soft meowing from downstairs this morning around 9am, and when I went to check on her I realized she was trapped in a room that usually caused her to fly into a full panic, screaming and pounding at the door, within a few minutes. Instead, I opened the door and she calmly walked out and went straight for the litterbox, then the food.

I'm also really hopeful that this may help reduce her herpes flare-ups.

I can't belive I waited so long to start her on Prozac. Part of me was worried because excessive vocalization IS one of the potential side effects, and if her vocalization had become any more excessive my head might have exploded.

Now I just have to figure out how to give her the pills without wrestling with her. She WILL NOT eat Pill Pockets, nor have I ever found a treat that she likes. Someone suggested Sardine Paste, which I'm going to look for tomorrow when I go shopping.

http://i206.photobucket.com/albums/b...Pets/016-3.jpg

We prescribe it to some pets at my clinic, cats and dogs alike, that appear to be suffering from forms of anxiety. Owners seem very pleased with the results. :)

I am so glad it seems to be helping her! Hmm, can you see if you can get it in liquid form, something flavored like something kitties love to eat?

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Originally Posted by Karen

I am so glad it seems to be helping her! Hmm, can you see if you can get it in liquid form, something flavored like something kitties love to eat?

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I can, but it's about 4x more expensive so I'm going to try and hide the pills in something tasty first...but I will go for the liquid if need be. :)

Sounds like a good med for her! Well done giving it a try.

If you need a compounding pharmacy for flavored liquid, I like Wedgewood in NJ. Their pricing seems to me to be lower than Diamond out in Colorado (which is the one my vet uses.)

Even without added flavoring, I find a squirt from an eye dropper easier with my cats, than a pill.

Queen of Poop uses it on her kitty Diego. She got it compounded into a cream which is put on or in his ear. Hopefully she'll weigh in here.

I am glad that Katie feels so much calmer - and I am sure you and your hubby do also! :):love:

One of my cats (Oliver) was on it for years and it sure did make a difference! I swore by that drug and I could tell when they changed manufacturer's b/c it did not work as well. Thankfully Oliver likes Pill Pockets so that was not a problem.

I use the RoadRunner pharmacy out in Phoenix for my compounded prescriptions. Their prices are reasonable and shipping is included. Your vet can just phone a prescription in to them and then they will contact you directly.

We have a re-check on Thursday to discuss how it's working and such, so I'll talk to the doc about calling it in to RoadRunner. I've used them before, when Sherpa tried Clomicalm to help with his peeing issues. They were great!

Katie just keeps getting better and better! The vet says we should expect to keep seeing changes for about 4 weeks, then it should stabilize. Katie has now taken to playing with the foster kittens, which is UNBELIEVABLY CUTE! She lays next to their playpen and sticks her paws under the edge, then yanks the back out when the kittens pounce on them! She will do this for HOURS, when last week she hissed whenever the kittens got too close.

We had our re-check yesterday which went OK...but she's still too tense at the vet for them to draw blood, so we STILL don't have any bloodwork on file. We're going to try again in two weeks.

I have two cats on prozac. One takes half a tab once a day and one takes a 1/4 tab once a day. I still have pee issues, but less. I also have 10 cats. :-0 Prozac has been very helpful to my cats.