Trouble In Paradise!!! Update 6-16-07 Things Are Going Well!!!

[krazyaboutkatz]

Thanks everyone. I missed the call from my vet because she called my home phone number and not my work number even though I gave her both numbers in my message to her. I knew that I should've called again while I was still at work but I thought that I would be able to reach her tomorrow. She was only there until 5pm and she won't be in tomorrow like she normaly is and she won't be in this Sunday either like she normaly is.

She told me to e-mail her so we could discuss what to do next. I e-mailed her and let her know that I'd like to try clomicalm even though she said that prozac works better in her experience. I also mentioned about Pearl's aggressiveness towards Storm but she hasn't seen Pearl yet so she may not be able to allow her to use this. There's a sign at the vet's that says that if an animal hasn't been seen for their yearly exam then they can't sell it prescription food or medicine. I'll let you know what happens as soon as I know anything more. I hope that tonight will be a better night for Storm.

[Medusa]

I sure hope the Clomicalm works for you because I've had so much success w/it. I've not tried Prozac although I know some PTers have. Before Clomicalm, I had them on valium and buspar w/no success at all. I was ready to boot Specs out the window because he actually ruined my dining room server, warped the wood so badly that I couldn't close the door, so you can imagine the smell, too. When I bought his house a couple of years ago, I gradually bought all new furniture, the dining room being my prized room. No way am I going to allow these cats, as much as I love them and would do anything for them, to make my house their own private litter box. I hate the thought of them being on medication but if that's what it takes, that's what it takes. Good luck and keep us posted.

[sandragonfly]

oh tracey, sorry about all of your frustration, I know you expressed it nicely but you surely need a break!

I wish I could help more, I've never had this problem with any of my cats or I would know what I would do. except I could empathize your frustration - I've went from a sickness to another. *knock on woods!*

but clomicalm sounds a real hope! and I would want to try that if this ever happens in the ark.

glad starr is well now and hope you'll find a way and get everything back to paradise for once! ((hugs)) take care.

[jazzcat]

I hope your vet will agree to trying the clomicalm and that it works well for you. I really see no bad side effects from it except Rocky hates the cream in his ear and he runs when he sees it coming. I have to do the surprise attack on him. The only thing I've noticed is he seems to sleep a little more while on it but he doesn't seem drugged or excessively sleepy.

I wish I could try the pills because it would be so much cheaper (and easier, I have to drive about 30 miles round trip to get the cream). My vet says the pills are for dogs so I need the compounded cream plus she feels in the long run the cream is easier to administer. With Rocky, she is probably right.

[krazyaboutkatz]

I received a reply from my vet and even though she feels that prozac would be better, she's willing to let me try clomicalm on Storm first. Here's what she said:

Go ahead and stop the metacam.

Clomicalm is a tricyclic antidepressant, so can have alot of effects
on personality. More so, in general, then prozac--which is more of an
anxiolytic. Just about all psychoactive drugs that I am aware of have
been shown to NOT be effective as transdermal preparations (the cream
on the ear you mentioned), so I am surprised some find it effective.
None of these drugs are a magic bullet, please do not treat them as
such.

That said, I have prescribed some clomicalm for Storm. You can pick
it up at Adobe tomorrow. We should give it a 4-6 week trial, as these
drugs require some time to reliably change the brain chemistry that
leads to behavioral changes. I would continue to use the feliway. He
may be tired the first few days. If tiredness lasts longer then a
few days, contact me and we will modify the dose.

Clomicalm is not appropriate for Pearl. Please do not give her any of
this medication.


I'm going to have to buy some more feliway spray and luckily I have a Pet Club that sells it for a fairly decent price. I know that clomicalm isn't a miracle drug but I hope that it'll help ease whatever stress Storm is going through and help to calm him down. My vet probably will be giving me pill form which is fine beacuse Storm is very easy to pill as long as I put it in pill pockets.

I gave him some metacam last night and this morning Pearl found another pee area on one of my entry way rugs. Storm did come back with me for a few hours this morning and we did cuddle in bed. I even woke up to Pearl licking his head. I just don't understand and I guess I never will.

Lori, if your vet writes you a presription then you can buy the pill form of clomicalm over the internet. There are many places to buy this and you'd probably also save a lot of money. My vet is willing to do this for me if I ever find a better price for something else where. I'm so glad to hear that the cream form is working for Ripley. Will he have to be on this the rest of his life?

Thanks again for all of your nice comments and suggestions. I'll continue to keep you updated about Storm.

[jazzcat]

I'm glad she is willing to let you try it. It's not a miracle drug but it may do the trick for Storm. If not you can move on to Prozac.

I am going to talk to my vet about getting the pill form for Rocky when I take Jazz in for her annual soon. All my conversations about Clomicalm have been on the phone and mostly through a receptionist who told me they won't give out prescriptions for mail order because they can't vouche for the meds. I think my vet will be willing to work with me better than the receptionist. Right now I'm paying $35 for a 30 day supply of cream but at least I can make that last at least 60 days now if not longer.

It's interesting to your vet's comments on clomicalm. Everything I've read really points towards low side effects, even my vet said that.

As far as how long Rocky will need it, I'm hoping not much longer since I've been able to cut his dosage down from daily to every 2-4 days now. I can tell when he needs it because he begins chasing Scout and getting a bit aggressive. I also used Feliway heavily for the first month but now I hardly use it. I think the clomicalm has given Rocky the stress relief he needed and now he can deal with the number of cats in the house better and can be weaned off completely soon. Fingers crossed.

I'll be looking for updates on Storm and I'm sending you both good thoughts!

[krazyaboutkatz]

I picked up the clomicalm tonight and they compounded it into a liquid form and it's tuna flavored. I was surprised but they couldn't use pills because he's on such a small doseage of it. It has to be refrigerated and I give him 0.3ml once a day and the bottle has 80mg. I'm not very good at figuring out things like this so how long will this last? It cost $16 and they charge a $6 compounding fee so it's $22 total. I'll be giving it to him tonight so I hope that I'll start to see some improvement.

For those of you that use clomicalm, how long did it take to see improvement in your cats? I asked my vet about this and she said it could take from 2 weeks to as long as 6 weeks to see results. I sure hope that in Storm's case that it's a lot sooner.

[Medusa]

I must be one of the lucky ones because I noticed an immediate improvement overnight even. I didn't even know it came in liquid form. The dosage is small for my cats, too, 5 mg. I sure hope it works for you w/no side effects. I've been lucky that way, too. Please keep us updated on this.

[ChrisH]

Tracey, I'm sorry to read of your problem with Storm. Prayers and good thoughts that the new medication works.

I tried to find out how many 3ml are in 80mg but it seems to depend on the thickness of the liquid involved. The best I could find for ml to mg are these.

1 ml = 1 gram H2O and 59 ml = 60gm

So perhaps 3ml a day/80mg of a light liquid could last 26 days? Anyone know for sure?

[krazyaboutkatz]

I guess I should've asked how long this would last when I picked it up. Storm hated the medicine and it made him drool a lot but I think it works quickly because he then found his favorite box and laid down. He spent the whole night here and was still in it this morning when I went out to feed the cats. There were no more new urine accidents so this confirms the fact that it's been Storm all along.

Storm is still very sleepy today but this is to be expected for the first few days. He perked up when he smelled food and he ate a good breakfast. He then wanted to go back in his box again but I wanted to make sure that he didn't need to use the litterbox. I took him over to the litterboxes and I put him in one and he did pee a little bit. Then he laid down on the carpet again. He's very relaxed and everyone seems much calmer now. I'm still using the feliway plugins and I think I'll continue to do this for quite a while because they've been helping Starr with his stress issues. I'm also still spraying the hallway and entry way in the morning and at night. I hope that this new medicine will continue to work for Storm. Please wish us luck. Thanks.

[sandragonfly]

hm, sounds good.. cats don't make accident daily but hope it is this!!

[jazzcat]

I didn't know they could make it to go on food, interesting. Sorry it makes Storm drool. Hopefully he will get used to it.

Sounds like it is affecting him like it did Rocky at first. I noticed a change immediately and after about two weeks I began cutting his dose in half. He didn't sleep as much but it still kept the marking issues at bay. In fact, I forgot to tell you that - I was told to give him .1 ml of cream in his ear daily but then I cut it back to .05 and now I only give him that amount every 2-4 days as I think needed. I can tell when he needs it because he gets a little aggressive with Scout. While he's been on it he's gone back to being his affectionate old self prior to the kittens arrival. I think the key is just finding the right dosage amount for each cat.

I hope it will work that well for you.

[lvpets2002]

Well good Tracie & I am so glad thinks are calming down now.. I also glad Storm is doing & feeling better.. Lots of Good Luck Vibes sent to you..

[krazyaboutkatz]

Things are going very well since Storm's been taking the clomicalm. He's much more alert now and seems to be his old self except that he's much more relaxed and not aggressive towards the others like he was before. There have been no more pee accidents since he's started this medicine which is also wonderful news. I hope that his will continue.

[Taz_Zoee]

Oh, this must be such a relief to you. I'm so glad to hear the clomicalm is helping. Sounds like Paradise is back to a nice relaxed state now.