Hello! So my newly adopted cat was having some bathroom issues out if the blue a few weeks after coming home. Long story short, all of her testing came back normal and the vet suggested that she might have some sort of anxiety that is causing her to act out ( she was pooping on the floor either at night, or when no one was home). Has anyone given their cat Prozac before? Is she ever going to be able to stop taking it or is this a long term thing? And are there any side effects? I plan on asking the vet about that when I pick it up but I'd just like to have a general idea of what to expect. Thank you!
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Prozac for anxiety?
- Thread starter Meg142!
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We haven't used it, but other members here have and I hope they'll be along to offer you advice.
I would want to use it short term only unless the problem was so serious their quality of life was at stake. How long ago was she adopted, do you have any other pets in the home? What was she being fed at the shelter, and what are you feeding her now? Also, what litter did the shelter use compared to what you're using?
I would want to use it short term only unless the problem was so serious their quality of life was at stake. How long ago was she adopted, do you have any other pets in the home? What was she being fed at the shelter, and what are you feeding her now? Also, what litter did the shelter use compared to what you're using?
It could be that she wants a separate litter box to poop in vs pee in. Some cats are that way. Do you have two litter boxes? The rule of thumb is one box per cat, plus one extra. Just a thought.
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- #4
I have three litter boxes, two in my bedroom ( where she sleeps at night now because I can't trust her in a room with carpet). I also scoop the boxes about twice a day. I had her for about a month before she started doing it so it was very unexpected because she hadn't had a problem before that. She is also on the same food and litter that she was using before we got her. There aren't any other pets in the house and she's been tested for parasites and a UTI. The vet suggested a one week 'confinement' to a single room to retrain her to use the litter box and she didn't have any accidents that entire week. Today was her first day out but she is still confined to a single room at night time and is only allowed in living room under supervision until I know there won't be any more problems. So far she has been doing well so I'm hoping that helped with the litter box issue. The vet thinks it's a behavioral issue caused by stress and suggested Prozac to see if that helped.
If you're concerned about possible side effects of Prozac, or long term use, you might want to ask your vet if Zylkene might be an option for your cat. Our vet recommended it for one of our kitties as a last step before resorting to Prozac (as he has some medical issues for which stress can be a trigger), and it was a godsend for us.
Zylkene is an OTC supplement, which as I understand it, contains an ingredient derived from a milk protein or something, and has a calming effect without making a cat drowsy. It doesn't have any known side effects, and our cat has been on it for years without any problems.
You might also try getting some Feliway diffusers. They can have a calming effect, which for many cats, can help to reduce anxiety, inappropriate elimination, etc.
Zylkene is an OTC supplement, which as I understand it, contains an ingredient derived from a milk protein or something, and has a calming effect without making a cat drowsy. It doesn't have any known side effects, and our cat has been on it for years without any problems.
You might also try getting some Feliway diffusers. They can have a calming effect, which for many cats, can help to reduce anxiety, inappropriate elimination, etc.
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- #6
Yeah I'm not too thrilled of the idea of giving her medicine everyday. I just don't want to give her something that isn't absolutely necessary. so far the only signs of separation anxiety is that some times she doesn't like to go into a room alone to eat or use the litter box, which I think caused her to go outside of the box. She will sit outside the door meowing until I go over and see what's wrong, then as soon as I'm next to her she runs right in and starts eating or uses the litter box. This isn't something that happens every single time, just a few times a week she will do it. She is also shedding an insane amount, I'm talking tumble weeds rolling around and in my experience, I've never had a cat shed so much so I assume that could also be a sign of stress? I'm definitely going to try something more natural first before giving her something like Prozac. For me that's kind of a last resort solution. Thank you!
For what it's worth, you can just open up a capsule of Zylkene and sprinkle it into your cat's food. So you don't have to pill your kitty and stress both of you out, which is especially helpful if you need to give it to her for a while. But to make sure Buddy would get the full dosage in case he didn't eat all of his meal, I used to mix the Zylkene in with just a tiny dab of food first, maybe about a teaspoon or so. Then once he ate that, I'd give him the rest of his dinner. (Now he's on so many meds and supplements, it's just easier for me to mix the Zylkene in with his cocktails.)
Our cat has a history of urinary tract problems FIV, and herpes, all of which can be triggered by stress. So I understand all too well about the importance of stress management.
Oh, and if the Feliway diffusers are a little pricey for you, or you're not comfortable running them 24/7, I think they still make a spray that you can spritz on bedding and whatnot.
Good luck with whatever you and your vet feel is best for your fur baby!
Just wanted to add...
When Buddy is really stressed out, it's like his hair just jumps out of his body and throws itself all over the place. So we've found a KONG Zoom Groom to be extremely helpful to remove loose hair before he swallows it while grooming and gets hairballs. Plus, he loves being brushed with it, and it helps him chill out.
When Buddy is really stressed out, it's like his hair just jumps out of his body and throws itself all over the place. So we've found a KONG Zoom Groom to be extremely helpful to remove loose hair before he swallows it while grooming and gets hairballs. Plus, he loves being brushed with it, and it helps him chill out.
I used Prozac for 2 male cats. One cat was aggressive and attacked the other cat. The cat who was attacked started spraying. It was awful. I tried for months to get the situation under control. I took both cats to the vet and it was decided to put both on Prozac. It is known to help with territorial spraying and also aggressiveness.
We started at at low dosage of 2.5 mg per day. It made both cats very very sleepy. I started giving the pill at night so that most of the side effects happened at night when they were less active. It took 6 weeks for the symptoms to get better. Lethargy was the main side effects, but I know others who deal with cats not wanting to eat. That can be a problem.
The cat who was spraying stopped spraying in just 4 days. It was incredible!! The aggressive cat was much calmer. As time went by, the cats issues were under control, but their personalities had both changed. Both were very subdued. They didn't have much zest or zip in their step.
After being on Prozac for 5 months, one of the cats started to have very large urine output. I started to monitor him closely. He was holding his urine for 24-30 hours. The urine output was often as large as a softball. I kept watching and within a week the length between urinations was increasing. He was hovering at 30+ hours. So to the vet we went. Long story short, but he ended up with a urinary blockage. I did a lot of research and found that Prozac can cause urinary retention in cats.
Of course he was immediately taken off of Prozac. I did use Zylkene for awhile. My main concern at that point was keeping him calm. The Zylkene helped, but not enough. After more research I decided to try CBD for him. I discussed this with my vet and we decided to give it a try.
I then decided 2 months later to take the other cat off Prozac. I just could not chance the same thing happening to him. I weaned him off and transitioned him to CBD as well. He has been completely off Prozac for almost 4 months now. He has only sprayed once!
Talk with your vet about other options if you are worried about trying Prozac. It can be very effective and help so many cats. Yet it does not come without side effects so do your research.
We started at at low dosage of 2.5 mg per day. It made both cats very very sleepy. I started giving the pill at night so that most of the side effects happened at night when they were less active. It took 6 weeks for the symptoms to get better. Lethargy was the main side effects, but I know others who deal with cats not wanting to eat. That can be a problem.
The cat who was spraying stopped spraying in just 4 days. It was incredible!! The aggressive cat was much calmer. As time went by, the cats issues were under control, but their personalities had both changed. Both were very subdued. They didn't have much zest or zip in their step.
After being on Prozac for 5 months, one of the cats started to have very large urine output. I started to monitor him closely. He was holding his urine for 24-30 hours. The urine output was often as large as a softball. I kept watching and within a week the length between urinations was increasing. He was hovering at 30+ hours. So to the vet we went. Long story short, but he ended up with a urinary blockage. I did a lot of research and found that Prozac can cause urinary retention in cats.
Of course he was immediately taken off of Prozac. I did use Zylkene for awhile. My main concern at that point was keeping him calm. The Zylkene helped, but not enough. After more research I decided to try CBD for him. I discussed this with my vet and we decided to give it a try.
I then decided 2 months later to take the other cat off Prozac. I just could not chance the same thing happening to him. I weaned him off and transitioned him to CBD as well. He has been completely off Prozac for almost 4 months now. He has only sprayed once!
Talk with your vet about other options if you are worried about trying Prozac. It can be very effective and help so many cats. Yet it does not come without side effects so do your research.
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For the litter box, you might look into using something called "Cat Attract", it's a re-training litter that is pricey but works.
We have 9 cats, so using this litter exclusively was going to kill us financially so we used regular litter and mixed the cat attract in and sprinkled some on top. We had a stubborn girl was stubborn urinary problems that took to pee-marking in other spots, and a month or two of this litter really broke the habit.
We have 9 cats, so using this litter exclusively was going to kill us financially so we used regular litter and mixed the cat attract in and sprinkled some on top. We had a stubborn girl was stubborn urinary problems that took to pee-marking in other spots, and a month or two of this litter really broke the habit.
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- #11
Thank you! I just have a generic, cheap brush so maybe investing in a better one will cut down on the shedding. Does your cat also get flaky skin when stressed? I just noticed the other day that my kitty has some pretty bad dandruff right now
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- #12
Ugh! I think I'm definitely going to try Zylkene first, by the sounds of it Prozac can cause more issues in the long run. I don't think that her anxiety is so bad that it needs something that strong. I think that her main issue is when I'm gone for a long period of time so I'm wondering if I could even get away with giving her something a few hours before leaving. Thank you!
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- #13
Yes! I just got that litter and started mixing it with hers. That stuff really is expensive! But so far she hasn't been having any issues. There was a wet spot outside of the litter box today but I think she just threw up a little bit of hair and some water. So I'm hoping that the litter is working!
Well, Buddy does have a tendency toward dry skin, but that's probably from just having to run the air conditioner nearly all year round, which sucks the humidity out of the air.
For some cats, fish oil supplements have worked wonders re: dry skin. You might want to check with your vet to see if a fish oil supplement or treats might be a good option for your kitty.
Just had another thought...
If your fur baby finds comfort in cuddling, maybe you could fix her up a cozy box or two, to simulate someone holding her while you're away. That has really come in handy for our cats when we weren't available to comfort them, like during Hurricane Harvey, when all of the two-footed members of the family were busy trying to keep water out of the house for days on end. Our kitties like to have a roof on their boxes, so I usually just turn a box on its side, line it with some cheap fleece blankets that I get at Walmart for about $2.50 a piece, and drape one of the blankets over the box so it covers the opening about halfway like a curtain. Basically, it's just a homemade version of an enclosed cat bed. Our cats won't use fancy store bought stuff, so I have to improvise with boxes and paper bags instead.
Does your kitty have plenty of toys and things to keep her busy while you're gone? Sometimes our cats get stressed when they're bored.
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- #15
She has a few different types of balls ( that's I've never seen her play with) some catnip toys and a dancer toy that she loves. She also likes to turn socks into toys and often unfolds my laundry looking for them to play with 
. Other than the socks and dancer toy nothing really seems to interest her. And I definitely will have to look into a kitty cave or something, during the day she prefers to run wild but at night she is a cuddle bug. Maybe something a little more cozy with make her feel more secure when I'm not home over night.
. Other than the socks and dancer toy nothing really seems to interest her. And I definitely will have to look into a kitty cave or something, during the day she prefers to run wild but at night she is a cuddle bug. Maybe something a little more cozy with make her feel more secure when I'm not home over night.
