Anyone give cats Busipar for anxiety?

[twofatcats]

Red Cat has been licking his belly bare and sometimes almost raw for almost a year now. I've tried some other medications and he went through a number of tests. This week the vet prescribed Busipar for anxiety. I should have asked the vet this, but didn't, and it will be Monday now before I can call. So maybe someone else knows: Is Busipar one of those drugs that has to build up in the system for a while before one is likely to see any effect? I've given it three days now, and see absolutely no difference in his anxiety level.

Also, if anyone else has used it, any insights about it would be appreciated.

 

[taoofcat]

I gave this to both Jasmine and Simba when I was having major integration problems. It made Simba much more crankier and did nothing for Jasmine's anxiety. I had to get it at a regular pharmacy and it was expensive. I heard it does work in some cases.

 

[baileysidney11]

If it's Buspar, it's a antianxiety medication for humans. There must be something for cats.

 

[twofatcats]

The prescription label says Busipar, with an i. I got it at the vet. I tried doing a Google search, and didn't have much luck. Suppose the vet assistant could have misspelled it.

 

[twofatcats]

Okay, the vet assistant must have misspelled it. It appears that BuSpar, though off-label for cats, is quite commonly given to them for improper elimination behaviors and for anxiety. And I did find the answer to my question in a reply by Amy Shojai to a question right here on CatSite.com. She stated "Buspar (and similar drugs) take many days to a couple of weeks to reach effective blood saturation levels so it will take a while for this to show a positive effect."

All this got me to reading a great deal more about feline behavior, and particularly feline anxiety. I'm beginning to realize how complicated all this is. I never dreamed I was going to have to start worrying about how everything I did was going to affect their poor little psyches! LOL! And I can see that I am going to have a lot more questions in the next few months.

 

[ollie]

My vet gave me some Amitriptyline (Elavil) for urine spraying (it was for my cat, not for ME!). Does anyone know how long this takes to work?

 

[baileysidney11]

Elavil, an antidepressant, takes about 2 weeks to build up in the system to be effective, in humans anyway. I'm amazed at how we, and our furry friends, can take the same medications.

 

[9katz1poodle]

Originally posted by ollie
My vet gave me some Amitriptyline (Elavil) for urine spraying (it was for my cat, not for ME!). Does anyone know how long this takes to work?

When my kitty was on it for excessive fur biting she told me give it about 24 hrs. I will admit he seemed to feel better, sort of like how we feel after a couple of glasses of wine. But it didn't help the fur biting.