Ally Cat Updates

[Craftlady]

I've been giving her the Clomicalm once a day since Emeraldgreen sent it to me. She seems more subdued during the daytime (I've been home sick for the past week), but come night time, she is down at the bottom of the stairs (when I open the door to her room to let her run up and down the stairs for exercise), and she is wailing..

Could you give her another dose in the evening? Maybe that would get her through the night. Still keeping good thoughts and prayers for you.

[gini]

I don't know what this has to do with anything..........but I was thinking about Annie and Emma.

Both (sisters) were born outdoors next door. Their Mama was barely a kitten herself. They lived outdoors for the first nine months of their lives. They would come into my yard all of the time.

They have now been with me a little over five years. It has taken ALL of this time for me to get Emma calmed down and comfortable. She has destroyed lamps, chairs, furniture - the underside of my box springs......you name it. She has never (nor has Annie) ever lifted a paw or bitten me.

She used to be scared to death of my feet - so someone obviously used to kick her.

But it has taken FIVE years to get her to be loving and trusting. She still doesn't like strangers. For the past year or so she now snuggles with me at night. I thought I had died and gone to heaven when that happened.

That is just her background - now compare hers to Ally's - and it just breaks your heart.

I have said this before and I will keep saying it - Jenn, you must be a saint!

[Catty1]

Jenn, to echo Craftlady - try a dose in the evening as well.

I don't know if it would conflict with the Clomicalm...but if with two doses a day gets Ally to where you MIGHT be able to slip an elastic collar onto her with a tiny 'sleeve' of cloth on it, you could also try a tiny shot of Feliway into the 'sleeve'. That way she gets the 4 hour exposure.

Praying that Nancy can reach her this time.

HUGS

[jennielynn1970]

Jenn, to echo Craftlady - try a dose in the evening as well.

I don't know if it would conflict with the Clomicalm...but if with two doses a day gets Ally to where you MIGHT be able to slip an elastic collar onto her with a tiny 'sleeve' of cloth on it, you could also try a tiny shot of Feliway into the 'sleeve'. That way she gets the 4 hour exposure.

Praying that Nancy can reach her this time.

HUGS

Will have to try that... maybe splitting the dose in half, and half in the AM and half in the PM. Not sure. I'd like to feel safe handling her. I don't. She's very unpredictable.

[Catty1]

So - the dose she is getting now is for the whole DAY?

I wonder what dose Medusa uses...

Still praying for you and dear Ally...

[Lizzie]

I know the Clomicalm was sent by another PT'er, and I've offered to send my chache also. However, it is a serious drug that can cause heart rate increase and other problems. The dose for my cat, who is about 14#, was 10mg per day and I don't know if a vet would recommend giving half that dose twice a day. Unfortunately, it does take 6-8 weeks, even longer in some cats, to show full effect. Has Ally seen a vet recently, or even since she came to you?

I couldn't believe you were holding her and cuddling her, I'm sure I wouldn't be capable of doing that with a cat like Ally.

[krazyaboutkatz]

Jenn, I'm so sorry to hear that you're still having behavioral issues with Ally.
When Storm was on clomicalm he was on the compounded liquid form because his doesage was higher due to his weight of 14lbs. He only received it at night time and it made him sleep through the night but he was still very groggy and lethargic in the morning which I didn't like at all.

Over time he became less groggy and lethargic but he still wasn't the same Storm that I know and love. He also didn't run and play any more. I told my vet that I wanted to take him off of it and even though he hadn't been on it for very long (I think it was for no longer than 1- 11/2 months) my vet said that I had to wean him off of it or else he could have a bad reaction and behavioral problems which is something to think about if you have to stop giving this to Ally or if you run out of the medicine.

I sure hope that something will be able to Ally calm down and relax. I also hope that Nancy will be able to help you this time. Please continue to keep us updated about her. You are an angel for putting up with everything that Ally has done. I'll keep Ally in my thoughts and prayers.

[jennielynn1970]

Ok, the tablets are 5mg. tabs. I could try to do 2.5 twice a day to see if it has a better effect. She's only been on it a few days, so it's really not a true test to see how it will totally affect her.

When I say "holding and cuddling" don't get all warm and fuzzy. It's me having Ally wrapped in a blanket for her protection, as well as mine, so that I can carry her about on my 2nd floor where the other cats are. When she sees and hears the other cats she's not very happy, but I want to be able to pill her in the bathroom next to the soap and water and betadine just because of past experiences. I'm not sure that she likes to be held in that way. I just need to keep her mouth and those darn long claws she has away from me. I wouldn't be surprised if she locked on to me with her claws and launched herself at my head or something with her teeth. She's aggressive. Highly aggressive. Maybe it's a survival thing. I really don't know. I do not think the flight over here was the cause of her becoming like this. She was like this. She was aggressive. Whether it was due to Connor being introduced or not, I really don't know. I know on some of her pics she looks sweet as pie, and I'd LOVE to know that side of Ally.

To be quite honest, part of me wonders about schizophrenia in cats. If you could just see her eye go PURE BLACK.... it's one heck of a sight, and you are really wondering where to go to and what is going on in that head of hers.

Vet... ugh. Haven't taken her back yet. I'm kinda scared of getting her into the carrier. I wonder if they could run a bunch of tests to see if anything comes up strange. There's money left for it, and I can always chip in or see if I can make payments. I'd just hate to have any of the vet staff attacked by her before she was totally vetted there.

[Medusa]

Could you give her another dose in the evening? Maybe that would get her through the night.

No, don't do that. It's best to give only the recommended dosage once a day. I was instructed to give Clomicalm at night before bed and that's it, unless your vet says otherwise. I'll admit to not having read the entire thread so forgive me if this has been suggested already: try kitty Prozac. I hear it works wonders for behavioral issues. Ten mg. of Clomicalm a day is a lot! I give 5 mg. at night, regardless of the weight of the cat. Mine vary in weight from 7 lb. to 11 lb. and they all get the same dosage. When I asked if I could increase the dosage or give it during the day as well, I was emphatically told "NO". Please check w/your vet first before you increase the dosage or the frequency. I think I've been fortunate because I haven't played w/the dosage and it started working immediately. Some vets say it takes 6 - 8 weeks to begin working but that hasn't been the case here.

[Kirsten]

I would say angry would be an understatement. The scariest thing about her is when her eyes turn completely black, and she just shrieks. This happens daily, and it happens in an alarmingly quick amount of time.

How scary! This girl's soul must be so very traumatized!! I'm feeling so bad for both of you!

Kirsten

[nepeta]

Another possible source of help might be the Animal Behavior Clinic at the Tufts University veterinary college. They have a service called Petfax where people not in their local area can request assistance.

http://www.tufts.edu/vet/behavior/help.shtml

[Emeraldgreen]

I found a few sites that quote that Clomicalm can be given twice a day. One site is: vetinfo4cats.com
"Some cats do seem to respond to medications used for obsessive-compulsive disorders based on anecdotal reports, including clomipramine (Clomicalm Rx, 5mg per cat twice a day), fluoxetine (Prozac Rx, 1 mg/kg once a day) and amitriptyline (Elavil Rx, 2.5 to 10mg per cat once or twice a day). "

and I also found: "I know that many vets are using clomipramine for cats, though. There is a published dosage of 1 to 5 mg/cat per day. The most commonly recommended uses are inappropriate urinary behaviors (urine or stool marking) and psychogenic alopecias, or hairloss that is induced by
obsessive-compulsive grooming behavior on the part of the cat.
from the site: another site
The confusing part is that I think it's the same vet, Dr. Mike Richards who provided both quotes!!

I can't remember what the dosage for Paddy was on the stickers on the bottles but he is a really big guy, and I don't think he was prescribed more than 1 tab per day. Are the stickers still legible Jenn?

Does Ally eat wet food? If so, are you able to crush it up and mix it in the food?
My other suggestion was that you could take the two bottles to a compounding pharmacy and usually for about 20.00 (depending on the drug and the number of pills) they can put it into a chicken or fish flavoured suspension that Ally might like or the suspension could be mixed in with her wet food if she eats that.

[carole]

Amitriptylene is an awful drug IMO, i took it briefly for my fibromyalgia, if it does what it did to me to a cat, i feel nothing but sorry for the cat, she sure will be doped to the eyeballs, like a zombie ,however i guess everyone is different and even though mine was in small doses it had a terrible effect on me, it could well do the same to a cat, but in Ally's case you may have no other choice, which is sad,but reality., i wish you luck with whatever you try.

[Emeraldgreen]

Amitriptylene is an awful drug IMO, i took it briefly for my fibromyalgia, if it does what it did to me to a cat, i feel nothing but sorry for the cat, she sure will be doped to the eyeballs, like a zombie ,however i guess everyone is different and even though mine was in small doses it had a terrible effect on me, it could well do the same to a cat, but in Ally's case you may have no other choice, which is sad,but reality., i wish you luck with whatever you try.

Just a quick note to add that in my previous post I wasn't suggesting Amitriptylene. I was just posting a quote from the internet about Clomicalm and the entire sentence happen to include a few other drugs but my focus was on the Clomicalm part of that sentence.