Too much Prozac for my kitty??

[MillerShipley]

Long story short - he’s 11 years old and roughly 10lbs. He’s got anxiety (back rippling and tail attacks but not self mutilating, aggressive non fun zoomies) Our vet put him on Prozac and he’s been taking it a week and a half now. His dosage is 5mg in morning and 5mg at night. He seems MORE anxious and having more episodes for the last several days.

Everything I’ve read online the dosages are roughly 2-5mg a day and our boy is on 10mg a day!!!!

Is 10mg normal for some?! Should I back him down to 1 5mg pill a day? I plan on talking with my vet but he’s closed tomorrow (every Wednesday)

Desperate for advice and opinions in the meantime!

 

[di and bob]

That does seem excessive. Is there an emergency vet you could call, or even another vet to ask? Side effects can include hyperactivity, usually sedation though. DO NOT just stop the med. that may be worse. I have found that vet assistants do read orders wrong and give bottles with wrong doses. I ahd this happen last week with Prednisolone. I do know also that Prozac can take a couple months to start working in people, so I would venture to say it most likely will take a while in your cat too. I really do think you are right to question the dosage.

 

[stephanietx]

My kitty takes 5mg every other day to help control inappropriate elimination. When we first put him on it, it was 5mg daily for 30 days, then 5mg every other day for 30 days. The maintenance dose is every other day. We did wean him off of it briefly, but he had to go back on it because he started peeing outside the box again (related to IBD). His biggest issues are appearing too sedated and lack of appetite.

 

[silent meowlook]

Hi. It
Medicine to ease the feline mind

The below is copied from the Merck Veterinary Manual

“Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, including fluoxetine, sertraline, and paroxetine, have been used to treat psychogenic alopecia, allergy-related pruritus, owner-directed aggression, fearful behaviors, obsessive-compulsive behaviors, and urine marking. It may take 7–30 days for these drugs to be effective. The most common adverse effects are changes in appetite and GI signs, although seizures have been reported. These drugs inhibit liver P450 enzymes, so drug interactions are possible. Dosages for fluoxetine are 1 mg/kg/day, PO, for dogs, and 0.5–1 mg/kg/day, PO, for cats.”

In my experience, when I worked at the cat hospital, we prescribed Prozac (fluoxetine)
No more than 5 mg a day.

it does take a couple of weeks to take effect. It is also used off label for cats.

I am not a veterinarian and am only offering my personal opinions based on my experiences. Obviously do not alter a treatment plan your veterinarian has for your cat, without first discussing with your veterinarian.