Valium....

Anyone else ever have a cat on this? Pouncer's on it, and the vet DID warn me that he would be wobbly and unsteady on his feet, but I was not prepared for just how wobbly and stumbly he is. He can't jump because he totally misjudges distance (my big fear here is that Mr. Breaks-His-Paws will break a paw from misjudging :rolleyes: ) He's soooo obviously stoned out of his head. He typically meows a complaint when I pick him up. Not now. He usually struggles to get out of my arms, and he's not even noticing that I even picked him up now. He's just been sleeping and stumbling around in an obvious haze. I guess the good thing is he has not been in the litterbox at all today. :confused:

I just feel SO BAD that he's like this! Its what the vet says will help him, but it feels so wrong - there must be something else to help him relax without making him stoned kitty.

Anyone else experience anything like this with valium?

No I cant say that I have used Valium.
I hope that it accomplishes what is meant to, as I know how much you hate to see Pouncer that wobbly.

The dose might be too much for him, can you split the pill or something?

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Originally Posted by G535

The dose might be too much for him, can you split the pill or something?

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Exactly what I was going to suggest. What is the dose he is on now? Does he get it just once a day? Perhaps it could be split and given every 12 hours?

I'm supposed to give him one whole pill twice daily. I gave him one this morning and have yet to give him the second pill tonight. I might just split the pill for the evening to see what it does. It is supposed to relax him so he can relax his eurethra (sp?) and I thinks it has worked too well! He's definately relaxed -- too relaxed!

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Originally Posted by catnapper

I'm supposed to give him one whole pill twice daily. I gave him one this morning and have yet to give him the second pill tonight. I might just split the pill for the evening to see what it does. It is supposed to relax him so he can relax his eurethra (sp?) and I thinks it has worked too well! He's definately relaxed -- too relaxed!

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But you said above that he hasn't been in the litter box all day? Has he had enough fluids? Is he so relaxed he can't find the box?

I would give him just half a pill and see how that does. What color is the pill? That would tell me the dosage. Different color=different dosage.

Don't give him the second pill tonight. Give him half a pill tomorrow morning.

I have not used this medication, but my insticts tell me to do what I suggested and then call the vet monday AM!

I've used Valium on a couple of cats, for behavior problems, but I didn't see coordination problems quite to the degree you are seeing them. There was a general floppiness, sleepiness and a great increase in affection, that's what I remember. Valium loses its punch quite quickly, so Pouncer's reaction to it will diminish somewhat over the next week probably. In your place, I would continue with what the vet advised even though you find it hard to watch - it is working in the way it's supposed to and that's the main thing. Can he be confined to decrease the chance that he will hurt himself? I was unable to continue treatment with Buspar on one cat because I couldn't stand to watch him become like a vegetable, so I know how very hard it is to watch the extreme change in behavior. These things always happen on a weekend, don't they, when you can't call your regular vet and ask questions - sigh! If you call an emergency vet place, they will usually advise you over the phone if you are concerned about an extreme drug reaction.

What seems like ions ago, I had a little girl that was always going into heat as she had a cyst on her ovary and was put on valium until she could be spayed. But she only got 1/2 a pill twice a day and she wasn't so out of it like Pouncer is. That must be so heartbreaking to see him like that.

I hope he will be okay Kim.

Ripley takes Valium to help with his urinary issues/kidney failure. When he weighed 18 pounds a whole pill once a day worked fine although he was a bit stoned but now that he is down to 13.5 pounds a whole pill does the same things as you described with Pouncer. Poor guy couldn't walk down the hall without running into the wall or falling. I started giving him a half once a day and it worked well. My vet said that was the right thing to do.

I can't believe they said a whole pill twice daily - WOW! :eek: :eek:

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Originally Posted by Grace

But you said above that he hasn't been in the litter box all day? Has he had enough fluids? Is he so relaxed he can't find the box?

I would give him just half a pill and see how that does. What color is the pill? That would tell me the dosage. Different color=different dosage.

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I never worry about him and the litterbox when I don't see him in it. He's a very private boy and I never, ever see him in the box unless he's sick. Then I constantly see him in the box. So the fact that I haven't seen him in the box all day is a good sign as far as I'm concerned for him. If the reason he's having trouble peeing is because he's not relaxed enough... well thats a non-issue right now because he's one mellow stoned kitty.

The pill is white and looks mighty large to me. I'm giving him half of one tonight and in the mornign and will see what difference that makes on the poor stoner.

Lori, I'm glad to hear that Ripley had the same reaction and your vet approved half the pill :)

Poor Pouncer!!! I'm glad that Lori has had experience with this procedure. I would try reducing the dosage too! Good luck!

Hugs,
Kim

Even though I've never had any experience with this,my first thought was that the dose was too high. I hope that he'll better tomorrow. Good luck.:)

It really sounds like he is being overdosed.... I would only give him 1/2 a pill in the morning and 1/2 in the evening... If he is still so out of it, I would half that until he was NORMAL... I am sure kitties are like us humans, their bodies react differently to medications. Some having a higher tolerance than others for a medicine. I would do the 1/2 a pill for a week and then try uping it to a whole one, giving his body time to get use to it... All he may be able to handle is a half of one. It is not a one dose covers all. I learned that myself when I was on some drugs that knocked me out and made me goofy...

He started to come out of the fog about an hour ago and we had a nice game with the feather teaser. I gave him some wet food and then 1/2 a pill (thinking the food would at least help). His eyes started to glaze over within 10 minutes. He's now upstairs eating again but he's not as loopy as before.

The only good thing is I did get some really good photos of him before the first dose wore off. A stoned Pouncer makes for a great photo session! :p

Did you save the other half for you? ;)

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Originally Posted by orangemm

Did you save the other half for you? ;)

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http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...h16th/lol1.gif GREAT idea!!