Anyone have experience with kitty "Prozac"?

[kaitie09]

I'm just looking to see if anyone has any experience with medication to control anxiety, and if it worked for you. I have a 4 year old spayed female who had 4 homes before she was a year old (not because of any issues on her part). I have noticed that she is extremely anxious and does not react well to change. She has gone so far as to pee on a desk at face level while I was sitting there, all because I switched HER blanketI have tried calming collars, feliway, and natural remedies, with no change. I am going to be moving in with my BF a little over a month and really think getting her away from the craziness of this house (6 other cats, plus 3 dogs) would help her a lot. Plus, she is extremely attached to me.

I'm seriously considering medication for her. I think "resetting" her will help her calm down and solve the litterbox problems (she pees outside the box and sprays). She has no medical issues per the vet.  I already have a room set up for her there and have a plan to introduce her slowly to the house and resident cat. 

So my real question is, how has your experience with anxiety reducing medication been? I've been reading it can take as long as a few weeks before it really kicks in, so I would like to get her started on it soon. 

 

[p3 and the king]

 
I'm just looking to see if anyone has any experience with medication to control anxiety, and if it worked for you. I have a 4 year old spayed female who had 4 homes before she was a year old (not because of any issues on her part). I have noticed that she is extremely anxious and does not react well to change. She has gone so far as to pee on a desk at face level while I was sitting there, all because I switched HER blanketI have tried calming collars, feliway, and natural remedies, with no change. I am going to be moving in with my BF a little over a month and really think getting her away from the craziness of this house (6 other cats, plus 3 dogs) would help her a lot. Plus, she is extremely attached to me.

I'm seriously considering medication for her. I think "resetting" her will help her calm down and solve the litterbox problems (she pees outside the box and sprays). She has no medical issues per the vet.  I already have a room set up for her there and have a plan to introduce her slowly to the house and resident cat. 

So my real question is, how has your experience with anxiety reducing medication been? I've been reading it can take as long as a few weeks before it really kicks in, so I would like to get her started on it soon. 

Cats as a rule do not like change and considering she has been rehomed 4 times... Well, of course she is insecure and has anxiety.  You can try Comfort Zone/Feliway diffusers many have lots of luck with it.  I think the collars are better and stronger.  Because the diffusers can take up to a month to see improvement.  But collars seem to be right away.  If that doesn't work, yes talk to your vet about Prozac.  My kitty, Paige, is on it.  She has OCD.  I kid you not.  However, I will caution you that it is not an immediate fix and just like with people it can take up to 6 weeks to get into the system and start working and plus with the dosage adjustments.  It can help.  It works wonders for Paige.  She is much calmer and her "tics" do not happen nearly as often. 

 

[betsygee]

I haven't used anything like that long term but short term, I had one of my cats on acepromazine.  It worked wonders to chill him out without making him 'dopey' or spacey.  

Sweet kitty--glad to hear she'll be getting a quieter place to live!  

 

[tdonline]

Argh, I was just finishing up a post when I wiped it out. I can't write much more but in summary, prozac did work for my cats.  They were on it for about 7 months.  They have been off of it for about 6 weeks now and things are still okay. 

There are side effects (severe constipation was our issue) so I'd start off at the lowest dosage possible that works.  My vet prescribed 5mg daily and that was way too much.  For the most part, prozac worked for my cats at 2.5mg and 3.3mg every other day.  Towards the end, they were both on 1.6mg every day.  From there I tapered them off at that dosage from every 3rd to 4th to 5th days before stopping altogether.  If you'd like more details, check out my posts from November to July.

 

[kaitie09]

I just wanted to give an update. She has been on a 3mg dose for two weeks now and the peeing and spraying has completely stopped. I don't know if it the pill, or the fact she is getting more attention and wet food each night. She is much more relaxed around the dogs too. The only changes in behavior I have noticed is that she cleans herself a little more, plays more, and her meow has gotten louder (but she doesn't meow all the time). I'm hoping after her 90 day prescription I can take her down to 2.5 mg, and slowly get her off of it. 

 

[mani]

That is wonderful news!  Good for you, and for your kitty. 

Did the vet suggest the weaning off at 90 days?

 

[kaitie09]

She did not, but the pills are costing $95 for a 3 month dose, which is too expensive to keep her on long term. It works for now, but I would like to get her to the lower dose so that I can split a 5mg (which the vet suggested doing to cut costs.) Even if she has to stay on that forever, I'm fine with it.

 

[betsygee]

 
I just wanted to give an update. She has been on a 3mg dose for two weeks now and the peeing and spraying has completely stopped. I don't know if it the pill, or the fact she is getting more attention and wet food each night. She is much more relaxed around the dogs too. The only changes in behavior I have noticed is that she cleans herself a little more, plays more, and her meow has gotten louder (but she doesn't meow all the time). I'm hoping after her 90 day prescription I can take her down to 2.5 mg, and slowly get her off of it. 

That's great news.  

 

[tdonline]

Where are you Katie?  Generic prozac really shouldn't cost that much.  I'm going to pick up 120 10mg pills today and it's going to cost about $35.  

Unfortunately, my reactive skittish kitty had another freakout and started attacking her sister again.  So back on prozac they go.  I'm doing 3.3mg every other day and frankly, it's not making much of a difference.  I may have to go up to 5mg but fearing the constipation side effect.  

 

[kaitie09]

Located in South Central Pa. It was compounded in capsules, which it probably why it was so expensive. I told the vet I could do one more round of these, and then I need to think about something else to make it cheaper. I had been expecting tablets, which I know are a lot more affordable. 

 

[tdonline]

Yes, I'm using tablets.  Can your cat use the tablets instead?  I cut the tablets and place them in tiny gel capsules which mask the bitter taste of prozac.  The gel capsules are kinda pricey initially as a bag costs about $35 but each bag has 1,000 capsules.

 

[mani]

 
She did not, but the pills are costing $95 for a 3 month dose, which is too expensive to keep her on long term. It works for now, but I would like to get her to the lower dose so that I can split a 5mg (which the vet suggested doing to cut costs.) Even if she has to stay on that forever, I'm fine with it.

Sounds brilliant!

Let us know how you're going.

 

[kaitie09]

She'll be able to use the tablets. Right now all I have to do is place a capsule on top of wet food and she eats it without a problem. The one thing I was suprised about was that the vet told us not to let her out anynore. She said the medication messes with their sense of location and she could just walk off and get lost. Luckily she has never really liked going outside anyway, now she doesn't even go near the door and prefers to just sit on her chair and look out the window.

 

[mani]

She'll be able to use the tablets. Right now all I have to do is place a capsule on top of wet food and she eats it without a problem. The one thing I was suprised about was that the vet told us not to let her out anynore. She said the medication messes with their sense of location and she could just walk off and get lost. Luckily she has never really liked going outside anyway, now she doesn't even go near the door and prefers to just sit on her chair and look out the window.

     I'm one of those people who likes to keep cats indoors, so I think that's great.  Just make sure she has vertical space, playthings, spots to hide.. you know the drill

You may even find that being inside will make her less anxious.

 

[tdonline]

She'll be able to use the tablets. Right now all I have to do is place a capsule on top of wet food and she eats it without a problem. The one thing I was suprised about was that the vet told us not to let her out anynore. She said the medication messes with their sense of location and she could just walk off and get lost. Luckily she has never really liked going outside anyway, now she doesn't even go near the door and prefers to just sit on her chair and look out the window.

Yep, that's what I do with my cats.  I just save money by buying the tablets, cutting/crushing them and placing them into capsules.  I plop the capsule on top of a wet food/kibble snack.  I hope this works for you as $95 every 3 months is expensive!