My 3.5yr old boy was put on 5mg of Paroxetine 4 days ago for random aggression between him and another cat in the household. Thankfully, the aggression has fully stopped. BUT, my once overly cuddly, insanely affectionate, happy boy just doesn’t seem himself. He doesn’t seem unhappy, but is just more to himself and not as affectionate. I know behavioral meds can take a while to adjust to, and that is to be expected, but looking for others experiences with them. We don’t intent to keep my cat on meds long term, the goal is to keep it up for a while, sustain the peace in the house, and get the two cats used to coexisting with eachother happily again, and then weening him off the medication. Just wanting to hear others experiences with behavioral meds, and hoping my boys lovey behavior is going to reemerge again.
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Cat doesn’t seem himself on behavioral medication
- Thread starter vsvpflex
- Start Date
Sorry I have no advice, but I just want to chime in that I'm in the same situation. My cat has been on Prozac for 8 days now because of barbering and anxiety from another cat. I know it's early, but he's even more jumpy now than before. He has become anti-social and is no longer interested in playing or cuddling. Not aggressive - just apathetic. His funny little personality is gone. I hope this is just an ugly stage that will pass - for both of us!
Guys, this is not unusual, at all. These medications are, after all, given to alter behaviors. Unfortunately, we can't hand-pick which behaviors are altered. MOST of the time, they do adjust to a lesser or greater degree. Again, unfortunately, how long it takes varies from cat to cat, so we can't even give you a reliable timeline. Hang in there. I'd say, if they haven't adjusted to a observable degree, within 2 weeks, call their vets, and ask if there are other meds to try.
Can you ask your vet if the pill can be halved? Sometimes a smaller dosage can work better. It may also not be the right medication for him but it will take a couple of weeks to know.
Did they put him right away on the full dosage or work up?
Edit: I will just note for others that the reason V vsvpflex put the cat on medication was to help with aggression to another household cat. There is another thread about it.
Did they put him right away on the full dosage or work up?
Edit: I will just note for others that the reason V vsvpflex put the cat on medication was to help with aggression to another household cat. There is another thread about it.
