Does Anyone Have Experience Treating Their Anxious Cat With Buspar/buspirone?

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pippapurring

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Just wanted to post a quick update. Ted has dropped down to one pill a day and he hasn't slipped up again. We've found a happy compromise where he's allowed to sleep with us but he's not given unsupervised access to our bedroom. This has been successful so far! We're going to keep him on the once daily dose for the foreseeable future. Once he runs out of the pills he has now (at least another month) we'll speak with our vet and see about tapering him off completely. It might be possible to do this successfully, but even if he needs to stay on the meds forever, I'll be happy as long as his behavior stays at the level it's at now.

For anyone who is considering anti-anxiety medication for their cat but is hesitant, take it from someone who was in your shoes and tried literally everything else over the course of YEARS before trying meds: it's worth a shot. You and your pet deserve to be happy and living harmoniously!
 

RufusGizmo

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Great! We r down to one a day. Doc said two months once a day and then two months every other. Ruffy doing great
 
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pippapurring

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Another update for anyone following this post or who might find it in the future - unfortunately it's not good news.

Ted started peeing again :( It seems as though the medication worked temporarily and then stopped, maybe he built up a tolerance to it. He got a UTI shortly after he resumed the inappropriate peeing which was not caused by a blockage or crystals. The vet said it was due to stress. He did a three week course of antibiotics and is now on a prescription diet to avoid future infections. This is the first time he's ever had a UTI, we ruled out medical issues related to this issue in the past.

The problem now is we've done literally everything we can to make Ted's life as stress-free as possible and it feels like the only option we have left is rehoming him. We've been battling this issue for four years and an environment where he's the only pet is the only option we haven't explored.

I really don't want to rehome him, I love him and I want him in my life. He's never been an only pet and he's had this issue since we got him, though. We have two other cats and a dog. He doesn't seem to have any aggression issues towards them, and he gets along well with our other male cat in particular, but he doesn't care about our dog or our female cat. He is occasionally dominant towards all of the other pets we have.

If I did rehome him, it would be on a trial basis to see if rehoming even addresses the issue. I absolutely refuse to let him end up in a shelter and he has a home with me forever if that's the best option available to him, it just means that he'll never be allowed in our bedroom. We'll get a chip-activated cat door so our other cats can move freely between the bedroom and the rest of the house.

Does anyone else have experience with this complex of an issue? I would be truly grateful for any advice others might have.
 

RufusGizmo

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Sorry to hear that. We tried to wean Ruffy off to once every other day, and had to go back to one a day probably for life. I'm hoping he does not build up an immunity cause he seems better but still anxious. Good luck and I hope everything goes good for you you tried very hard but you can't live like that.
 

RufusGizmo

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this may seem like a stupid suggestion, because I am sure you have tried everything, but do you have the ability to change your bedroom to a different room? One of Rufus's issues is where we sleep, and while I know people like to have their place of retreat, there are days that one of us simply has to sleep on the couch with him on the back of it, or he goes into a spiral. maybe a change in where you sleep will stop him from peeing in your room
 
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