Juni & Chloe are going on Prozac for a while

I just today, took Chloe to the vet for an examination and evaluation. We decided, after the blood work was completed, that they both will go on Prozac for a while, to try to clear the problem of them suddenly hating each other and fighting.

I haven't picked up the prescription yet, but it is going to be compounded to taste like tuna fish, and I will put it on their food. The vet said it might take a full month for it to kick in.

I think it will be around $100 per month for the two of them, since it is compounded. If the drug works, I may try without compounding to make it a bit cheaper. We shall see.

Chloe will need to go in for a dental cleaning in June.

The vet also told me to NOT feed them the grain-free food. The protein level in grain free food is often much higher than the other food and can disturb their kidneys. Juni's kidney numbers are inching up, so I will be putting them back on regular cat food as soon as this boatload runs out. I will mix the two and then switch completely, later.

Both cats had fairly good numbers, blood test wise. So there is no physical reason for them hating each other. I think it is mental. The breeder said age can bring on this behavior.

I would like to get this problem resolved before summer sets in. I hate having doors closed and air cannot circulate. I will sweat to death. I just don't like closed doors, period.

I will keep you guys posted on how the cats tolerate and react to the medication. I know there are a couple of other furry friends having this same problem with bad, bad behavior.

It never ends. Hundreds of dollars later, I may have peace in my house, again!

Ugh!:rolleyes:

I had no idea all this fighting was still going on:( i am so sorry to hear this. How old are they now? Well below ten both of them I'm sure. I'm a little worried about Juni's kidney levels. Filou, and then Tama, it really seems to be an Abyssinian thing. i hope the prozac does the trick. I wonder however whether there would be another option than heavy medication-but I'm sure you tried everything.
Orion tells me they should simply accept that sisters are a pain. He certainly thinks this of his sister ;)

Hi Barb, We have kept them apart for almost two months now. They have both had thorough exams. The breeder has chimed in as well. If you heard them fighting you would not want to experience the event all that often! It is horrible to witness as well.

We are hoping that we can break the "horror" cycle by drugging them. It shouldn't modify their personalities anymore than a human. We hope it cuts the drama out of just seeing each other and they can resume their old relationship. Right now, all they can do is scream and fight. It is hard to believe, isn't it. It just happened one day. Once Chloe decided that Juni was "going to get her" it was all over. From that day on, they fight when they are in the same space. I know, they used to groom each other!

So, we are going to go this route. We will give it a few months on the Prozac. We are also going to change the diets back to grain dry food. My vet said that sometimes high protein diets can effect cats in strange ways.

Juni's kidney function numbers were normal in all categories except one and that one was not in the danger zone at all. It was a high normal. That is why we're going to switch their food back. Less protein.

So, I will pick up the prescription tomorrow and begin the battle to see what I can put it in so that they will eat it. Since they are all being fed in different rooms, keeping them apart for the meds will be easy.

I am happy that we are on the way to at least trying to fix this problem rather than just keeping all the cats apart.


Oh, they are eight and nine years old. Juni weighs 6.5 lbs. and Chloe weighs 8.5. and is the younger.

Ugh!

So sorry you're having such a time with them. :( Did the grain free start first or the behavior? I just switched Pinot this year to grain free as well, but she doesn't have a sibling, so I can't really compare results.

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Originally Posted by Pinot's Mom

So sorry you're having such a time with them. :( Did the grain free start first or the behavior? I just switched Pinot this year to grain free as well, but she doesn't have a sibling, so I can't really compare results.

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The behavior started several weeks after switching to Blue Buffalo grain free. I had been giving them another grain free brand before that switch. I really don't think it had a connection, but we're going to switch back because of the strain on the kidneys. Abyssinian cats have kidney problems in their breed line, so I don't want to add insult to injury. Once I heard that one of her(Juni) kidney numbers was on the high side, I knew the food had to be changed.

I didn't think about the kidneys when I switched them to the Blue Buffalo. Oh well. It doesn't cause disease, it is however, high in proteins. :rolleyes:

Queen of Poop has/had a kitty who suddenly got nasty and attacked his littermate.

She got the Prozac compounded into an ear cream. That may be a less expensive option for you to consider.

Best of luck - and maybe even the food change will help.

Here's hoping it helps, and they can relearn how to be friends. It'll be better for your sanity, their safety and everyone's eardrums in the long run.

Catty1, thanks for the comment. My vet said the topical (cream) is less effective and more expensive. I am going to pick up the prescription after work today and will ask all kinds of questions then. I have to drive to the company doing the compounding. I will let you all know the outcome.

By the way, Chloe was a complete angel at the Vets when they drew the blood. Juni, on the other hand, a couple of days earlier, was a mess. She wasn't unkind, just a major league wiggle worm. They had to go to two different places on her body to get enough blood. Of course, I figured it would have been in the reverse. ....................Go figure...................... C A T S!!!:rolleyes::p;):confused:

So Chloe is a BIG Aby girl at 8,5 lb. Juni weighs the same as Orion, he's 6,5 lb too. When Filou was healthy he had 7. I wish you all the best with the prozac- hope it works out.
I think it is kind of scary that their behavior changed from one day to next. And yes, I don't believe the food had a part in it but of course at the slightest suspicion of kidney problems, less protein is good.
Keeping fingers crossed for my favorite Aby girls.

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Originally Posted by sasvermont

I haven't picked up the prescription yet, but it is going to be compounded to taste like tuna fish, and I will put it on their food. The vet said it might take a full month for it to kick in.

I think it will be around $100 per month for the two of them, since it is compounded. If the drug works, I may try without compounding to make it a bit cheaper. We shall see.

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Oh wish I'd known this earlier. Check out Wedgewood Pharmacy online. They are a compounding pharmacy, my vet and I both use them. Pricing is much lower, the meds arrive in your mail about 3 days later. Here is the link:
http://www.wedgewoodpharmacy.com/

Do a search on that site for the med name, see if they have the tuna flavor (I'm sure they do!) and then phone the toll free number, speak to someone and explain you are checking pricing. You ARE going to find it much less than what you have spent today.

The ear cream did not work for Diego. Neither did the liquid format. Now I get it in a chewable treat format, comes in different flavors too. This I mush up with some similar flavored "treat type" cat food and he eats it all down. I alternate with Fancy Feast and Whiskas wet. The vet calls it the McDonalds of kitty food, but has ok'd me using it for this purpose. I really don't care what it takes to get him to take the meds, so long as he's getting them and we have a peaceful household and Miss Cali, the white girl has no red bite marks on her sweet head.

The ear cream (trans dermal) does not work.

The compounded formula is difficult to correctly dose.

Have you tried pill pockets? I have two cats on prozac, and I place a 1/2 tab (5 mg) in each pill pocket and the cats eat it up without any trouble.

My sister in law's cats won't eat the pill pockets. She can easily pill her cats.

Some cats will eat a pat of creme cheese. Or, cubed. Maybe a small piece of chicken with it in there?

Kroger sells a month's supply of prozac for $4.00. Its cheap.

I noticed a difference nearly immediately- like 24 hours immediate- despite the vet's comments otherwise. Anecdotally, there are many people that notice an immediate change. I had those knock down drag out fights, and major peeing, and the fights stopped instantly. The peeing is moving in the right direction, with probably 90% success rate.

Good luck!

Well, Juni ate her meds with food and Chloe would not touch it. So I am going to continue giving it to Juni only. I will talk to the vet about getting just the pills and save myself the compounding expense. I hope that once I get in the habit of feeding Juni each afternoon, she will not notice the change and take it in pill form, if I smash it up.

This only day number two. Wish us luck.

;)

Many prayers and good wishes are being sent that you'll come up with a satisfactory solution here. God bless you.

:love::love::love::love::love::love::love::love:

I woukd give it with the first meal of the day, when they would perhaps be the hungriest.

I'm sorry to hear that they're still fighting.:( Hopefully the prozac will do the trick. I also use pill pockets to pill my cats and it works out well. I actually cut the pill pockets into 4 pieces and roll them into tiny balls and then I wrap them around the pills. I don't know what I've do without them. Good luck.:)

I just saw this thread and would like to chime in. One of my guys (Oliver) has been on Prozac for about 5 years now. We use the pill form and put it in the pill pockets. Like Cataholic I could see a difference within a couple of days. That being said, I could also see the difference when they changed brands (and it was not pretty :D). So my advice to you is that it can make a HUGE difference and not all cats are on it as long as Oliver. But once the furry ones are stabilized on a dose and brand do not change them around (just like for humans).

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Originally Posted by Cataholic

The ear cream (trans dermal) does not work.

The compounded formula is difficult to correctly dose.

Have you tried pill pockets? I have two cats on prozac, and I place a 1/2 tab (5 mg) in each pill pocket and the cats eat it up without any trouble.

My sister in law's cats won't eat the pill pockets. She can easily pill her cats.

Some cats will eat a pat of creme cheese. Or, cubed. Maybe a small piece of chicken with it in there?

Kroger sells a month's supply of prozac for $4.00. Its cheap.

I noticed a difference nearly immediately- like 24 hours immediate- despite the vet's comments otherwise. Anecdotally, there are many people that notice an immediate change. I had those knock down drag out fights, and major peeing, and the fights stopped instantly. The peeing is moving in the right direction, with probably 90% success rate.

Good luck!

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I have a problem with the pill concept. My vet wants to give them a dosage of 1 MG each, and pills come in 10 mg. How in the world can we cut the pill in 10 pieces for the pill pocket. I guess the difference in your cats' dosages and my cats' dosages has to do with their weight. But lets say my cat weighs in at 7 lbs. does that mean your cat weights 35 lbs? and can tolerate 5 mg! Wow, bid difference. I wonder if my vet has it right?

Also, my vet called the compounding guy to complain about how much they charged me. The guy said he would reconsider, since he charged me $45 for one cat's supply for a month and will do a three month supply for both cats for $79.00. There isn't much competition around here for compounding, so I don't have much of a choice. I will call the compounding place mentioned in an earlier post, to see if I can get it cheaper. $79 for three months isn't too bad, but Chloe doesn't seem to like it in her food. I will try it again. I bought pill pockets and they both ate the pockets in a second, so I am hopeful the pills will work. Now we have the dosage problem. Anyone have a suggestion as to how we can measure a un-crushed or crushed 10 mg. pill?

Juni seems to be less active having been on the liquid med for over a week now. I feel sorry for her being cooped up in one bedroom, by herself. I do let her do a run through the house from time to time, but I want it back the old way - doors open all the time.

C A T S !!!

The 10MG is the dose Oliver has been stabilized on for a number of years. He is a big guys but not 35 lbs :D I tried to decrease the dose over the years and it just was not worth the pain and suffering it caused for everyone else in the house, so he is staying on 10mg.

It sounds like your vet is titrating the dose to find out what will work for the guys. But 1mg every day sounds very low. We started at 5 mg and worked our way up (I used a vet who has a behavioral practice). Here is a link for you to read about what is available (there is a liquid) and the dosing for animals.

http://www.petplace.com/drug-library...zac/page1.aspx

Sas, another compounding pharmacy to try would be local to me, Johnson Drug. Because they are in NEw England, maybe it would ease the shipping costs a bit? Worth checking it out, in any case. http://www.naturalcompounder.com/ They've been in business long time, and are trustworthy, as far as I can tell!

BTW, I forgot to mention that the drowsiness is normal and will go away after a few weeks.

I will call my Vet tomorrow and discuss why she thinks such a low dose is necessary. Juni weighs 6.5 lbs. and Chloe weight 7.5, so they are pretty skinny and small. Maybe my vet is afraid it will cut into their food appetite too much. I don't know, but I do know that I just put the liquid on food for Chloe and she would not eat it. She can smell it, I guess. Juni runs to her dish to eat it! I have my work cut out for me.

I think I will just ask to have the prescription filled, and try to cut the pills in quarters. Half and then half again. That should be just a speck in the pill pocket. If that doesn't work, then I am out of tricks. Believe me, I will be able to catch Chloe maybe twice, to pill her, and then she will be no where to be found. That's the personality of the Abys! They hate to be contained and tended to.... they are their own little persons and you cannot make them do anything. I think that is why Barbara always took Filou to the vet for his subq's. Once at the vet, they usually are well behaved. Usually.

I am leaving the wet food with liquid meds on the counter so it could be that Lucy will eat it. Oh well. Can't hurt her. I really am going to aim for the pill pocket routine, probably tomorrow.

Thanks for listening.

I should go spend some quality time with Juni-get-down, before she thinks no one loves her!

SAS- I am no vet, but Ibelieve your vet has it wrong. 5 mg is very, very, very common a dose to start with, though I know my sister in law is on 2.5 to begin. Her cats are behemoths, by the way.

I don't know what my cats weigh, but it is closer to 8-9 pounds. I increased my sonic boy up to 10 mg a day (5 mg in the am, and 5 mg in the pm) and it has worked very very well. I didn't even go back in to see him, I just upped it as I know someone that did the same, no problem.

I don't notice a darn thing with appetite (heck, Sonic eats a ton!) and noticed what might have been some sleepiness that very first day. Nothing since.

I wouldn't mess around with 1 mg. I would go to 2.5 and see what happens.

Oliver weighs about 12 lbs, so he is not a big big guy but we started on 5 mg and that didn't even make a dent. So if you vet is willing to try at least 2.5mg then go for the tablet for. BTW, it is MUCH cheaper to by the tablets from the vet and not your local people pharmacy (even though they are made by the same company).

I also did not notice any change in Oliver's eating (but this is a guy who will never turn down the opportunity to eat :D)

Please keep us posted on how things go at the vet.

I asked why such a low dose and she said they usually start the cats out really low to see how little they need. Well, in the mean time, I have cats that still fight until they get to a higher dose. So, we agreed to get 10mg. and cut it in quarters and use pill pockets.

I have to thank you folks for your stories, as I read them to the tech over the phone. She was flabbergasted at the doses but agreed that maybe the cats could tolerate a higher dose.

So, tonight, if I remember to pick up the pills today after work, I will begin the pill pocket routine. I think I should pop one or two in my evening meal, just to even out the TEAM !!

I will keep you posted.

Thanks again,

Sas and her unhappy campers :(

:eek:;):rolleyes:

Usually the rule of thumb (at least for people) is that if the dose is adequate you will start to notice an effect within the first week or two with the full effect by weeks 6 to 8. They have already been on it long enough to know that it is time to increase the dose. Hopefully this will help you out and don't be afraid to increase it to 5mg if need be. This drug is very safe for animals and the only monitoring for long term use is an annual blood test (to check liver values).

So give the girsl PillPockets tonight with the meds and give yourself a big glass of wine :D

Wine it is! Thanks for the hand holding.

Off to work again.

:)

Oh Chloe and Juni, why do you naughty girls not get it. You were such good kitties-why doesn't ot work out anymore:(

Well, I filled the pill pockets and placed each one on a plate with a few greenies. They LOVE greenies. Juni gobbled her's right down. Didn't even chew them. Just like a dog. Chloe is STILL sitting at the top of my kitchen cabinets, looking down at her plate, decided WHAT exactly I did to it THIS time! I have Lucy, the other cat, outside, so she won't be unnecessarily medicated by eating Chloe's food. I still think I should take (the Prozac) them and leave the cats to work it out on their own.

The pharmacy charged me $9.95 for 15 pills! (10 mg.) If I find they WILL take the pills, I will hunt for a better price at another pharmacy. That seems rather high in price. But for the time being, I have 1/2 bottle of the liquid (enough for 1/2 month) and 14 pills (enough for a month).

Yikes.

Off to prepare that glass of wine!:eek:

Talk with your vet about getting the pills there. I pay about $30 for 100 tabs from my vet. They are MUCH more expensive in a people pharmacy. The one trick I have learned is to take a regular treat and break it in half. Then attach a half treat to each side of a pill pocket. That helps mast the taste.

Now pour yourself a glass of wine and enjoy the nice weather!

Emily- I don't find the vets prices here in Cincinnati to be competitive. Kroger sells this rx for $4.00, and I have heard others say that Walmart (:o) does, too. CVS was $15.99 for the exact, same rx. :mad:

SAS- I accidently stumbled upon KAK's comment that she splits the pill pockets into quarters. I thought she did it to make it smaller, not stretch out the pockets- not that that isn't a good reason. BUT, I found that a whole pill pocket, with a 5 mg dose of prozac was just too chunky for my cats. So, I split it, put the pill in one half, let that be gobbled up first, and then give the second half for good bahavior.

AND, I can't stress this enough...first thing in the am is USUALLY a hungrier time for my cats. I found that if I put down the pills, in front of both Molly and Sonic- at the same time....they both gobble up quicker, as they don't want to lose out. I have ten cats...I am VERY careful about making sure Sonic and Molly are the only ones close to the meds, and wouldn't turn my back for a split second when doing it this way.

I just talked to Medusa about upping my boy Sonic's dose to 10 mg a day. My vet was slightly aghast at the amount. But, it is working. It has been a while since I have found anything that seems fresh. And, I don't notice a single change in Sonic's behaviour.

Good luck, and keep drinking! :)

Can't you get generic Prozac (fluoxetine) at Wal-mart? Their generic scrips are $4, I thought.

I know that I am probably paying more than I might at Walmart (but I refuse to shop at Walmart ... another story and not for this post). But I have also found that Oliver reacts REALLY badly when I change brands of Prozac. So I am very specific about what I want and many times a larger people pharmacy is unwilling to do something like that, especially for a pet. That means that I pay $29 for 100 tablets every three months :)

I have also tried your trick with the PillPockets for another one of my guys on Bethanechol. In that case I actually split the tablet in half (because it is pretty big) and do the same thing. I put them down for Frankie with Temptations and they are GONE in a few minutes.

BTW, Oliver has been on 10mg for about 5 years now and it is still working just fine! My house would not survive without it :rolleyes:

SAS, maybe if Chloe doesn't like the Prozac you can try giving her the alcohol (Bailey's would work) and that would mellow her out :D

The short time that I used Prozac on both Storm and RB Starr, me vet called in the prescription to Costco, similar to Sam's Club, because she said it would be much cheaper here. I think that Storm's doseage was probably too high because all he wanted to do was to sleep. Later on he also refused to eat. I was later told that usually only dogs may become anorexic from prozac. I had to wean him off of prozac and he hasn't had any since.

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Originally Posted by krazyaboutkatz

The short time that I used Prozac on both Storm and RB Starr, me vet called in the prescription to Costco, similar to Sam's Club, because she said it would be much cheaper here. I think that Storm's doseage was probably too high because all he wanted to do was to sleep. Later on he also refused to eat. I was later told that usually only dogs may become anorexic from prozac. I had to wean him off of prozac and he hasn't had any since.

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Would you happen to recall if the price was cheap? I think I will ask for a new prescription when I go for Prue's appointment in June. And then take the prescription to Costco for filling.

Thanks so much for your advice.

Right now, Chloe is playing hard to get about eating her treats and meds. She ate them last night, but I will leave her alone to eat them, in her own little room for the afternoon. Juni ate her's in a second, just like yesterday. Chloe is going to be the tough one.

I have never fed my cats in the morning, even when I fed them canned food. That way they never would wake me up early to eat. I usually fed them at night, upon arriving home from work. So I try to feed them their treats in the afternoon or evening.

I will adjust the pill pocket size. I would like to save a little expense too, so smaller is better. Between the Greenies, pill pockets, medications, regular food, canned food, it's costing a small fortune. I have been lucky so far with my cats and they have both had very few problems, thank goodness. I don't begrudge they money just want to make sure I don't spend my life's savings on these two.

:confused:

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Originally Posted by sasvermont

Would you happen to recall if the price was cheap? I think I will ask for a new prescription when I go for Prue's appointment in June. And then take the prescription to Costco for filling.

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You don't need a 'new' prescription to switch pharmacys. I presented the script, and had one month's supply filled at CVS, and then when it was time to renew, I went into Kroger, and gave them the bottle and told them I wanted to switch. They called CVS and had it switched to Kroger...

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Originally Posted by sasvermont

I have never fed my cats in the morning, even when I fed them canned food. That way they never would wake me up early to eat. I usually fed them at night, upon arriving home from work. So I try to feed them their treats in the afternoon or evening.

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Do you mean you put down food for your cats one time a day, at about 5 pm??? :confused:

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Originally Posted by Cataholic

You don't need a 'new' prescription to switch pharmacys. I presented the script, and had one month's supply filled at CVS, and then when it was time to renew, I went into Kroger, and gave them the bottle and told them I wanted to switch. They called CVS and had it switched to Kroger...

Thanks... I've never switched a prescription to another Pharmacy. Didn't know that. Thanks.




Do you mean you put down food for your cats one time a day, at about 5 pm??? :confused:

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I have always free fed dry food for my cats. But when I was feeding them canned food as well, they were fed at night so that they would not expect it to be given in the morning too. So yes, once a day for wet food. Then years ago, I stopped with the wet food. They usually ate it so fast that they threw it up anyway. And their teeth improved once I stopped the wet food.

Now, with the treats for the meds, I will resume the evening routine so that they don't stomp all over me in the AM to be fed a treat.

I know, I'm odd.

Well, you may be odd...I don't know about that. LOL. But, I think you mean you have dry food down for them all day long, not that you put dry food down for them one time a day, in the evenings.

I never thought about making wet food a night time thing instead of a 5 am thing. BUT, my cats don't really bug me too much in the am...and I get up at the crack of dawn anyhow, some of them are still sleeping! In fact, Jasper stays in bed if I get up before 6. Silly dog.

A&P in my area has 10% off meds for your pets under a vet's scrip, as another option.

Well, I may have to modify the dry food feeding. Chloe wasn't all so interested in the treats. So last night I put away the dry food, so that Chloe would be hungry when it comes time for her treats and meds.

Ugh!

Juni is not a problem at all. She just gobbles her meds (pill pockets) and Greenies!

Now to get Chloe to eat. She really is always on edge. You might think I beat her or something. She has always been that way. She does love company though! Go figure. She winds herself all around company, trying to get into their purse or bag, falling all over their feet. But when it comes to being corralled, watch out. If you call her name, she runs for the hills. Can you imagine if I had to give her an injection every day? I would have to make her live in a box!

I am not working today, so she will have lots of time to eat her treats/meds.

Well, I must go do some yard work before the weeds grown to meet my head! We've had lots of rain and sunshine, thus major league weeds!

:love: