Juni & Chloe are going on Prozac for a while

[Cataholic]

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 () does, too. CVS was $15.99 for the exact, same rx.

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!

[smokey the elder]

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

[emily_the_spoiled]

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

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

[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.

[sasvermont]

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.

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.

[Cataholic]

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.

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...

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.

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

[sasvermont]

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???

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.

[Cataholic]

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.

[smokey the elder]

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

[sasvermont]

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!

[Barbara]

Oh Chloe, you little diva! Of course Filou and Orion would be the same. Juni is the one who is not normal for a crazy Aby.
I must say that Orion is a very good boy - he never wakes me up for food. Kiri however- that's a different story. As they cannot be fed together (or Orion would not get any food at all) the times of free feeing are over. But as Siegmar is home they usually get breakfast, lunch and dinner - plus the odd snack. Orion can eat whatever he wants but Kiri is not overweight either. (But she would be if she could )

[krazyaboutkatz]

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.

I'm pretty sure that it was. I had thought that I had posted more about it here on PT but I haven't been able find what the price was and it was several years ago. Now I'm having aggression problems with Pearl. She just started attacking poor Colby a few days ago. I started a thread in cat behavior.

[mrspunkysmom]

SasVermont,

Sorry to hear the kitties are still fighting. Hope the kitty prozac works. I've been thinking a requesting some to stop the peeing on my counter.

Please take care when changing the dry food. Blue buffalo is no longer under PetSmart's control, or so I heard. I know that mine started throwing up on it. I try to stay away from corn and wheat.

Hope the kidney troubles improve.

[emily_the_spoiled]

It has now been a couple of weeks. Have you started to see any effect of the Prozac yet?

[sasvermont]

A complete fail.

First of all, after two full weeks of Juni taking the pill pockets, she suddenly decided she wouldn't eat the pockets anymore. I tried putting the liquid medication in tuna and clam juice. Nope. Chloe never did really like the pill pockets after a couple of days. So, after a month of off and on taking the meds, I let them at each other and left the house. When I came home, Chloe was hiding in a bedroom under a bed and Juni was in her room, sleeping. Things in the kitchen were knocked over (their favorite fighting spot) so I assume there was a fight or two. Chloe was upset. Since that time, I've kept them in their own rooms, allowing one to roam the house while the other is confined. That is how we started out and that seems to be the way it's going to be.

I have a vet appointment this coming Saturday and will discuss the problem with my vet. She may have another idea up her sleeve.

They seem to like being apart. Even when the have the opportunity to have the whole house to roam, they end up sleeping in their own room! I guess it's like a hotel to them. I'm not happy, but I have gotten used to it.

So a big FAIL. If my problem was with Lucy, my barn cat, it would be easy to pill her. These two Abyssinians are horrible to pill. I can't even catch them, that's how bad it is. They wiggle out of my arms, scratch, bite, kick, scream. Really. You MAY be able to pill them the first time you catch them, but from that point on, they will run from you when you go near them. They have always been that way. It has to be on their terms. Right now Juni is on my lap as I type. She would not be here if I had a pill in my hand. I can just about get flea treatment on them each month.

FAIL. FAIL. FAIL.