Fluoxetine - Can you share your experience?

[IkeaMonkey]

Hi all!

I took my cat Rocky to his first vet visit (since I adopted him, not ever) about 3 weeks ago. Based on his behavior at the vet and my own concerns I told the doc about, he suggested starting Prozac. The vet proposed it to help him transition into his new life situation and hopefully introduce positive behaviors- said it could be temporary or long term.

So now Rocky has been on 5mg of Prozac a day for three weeks (he is around 11 pounds). His transition has gone well! Doesn’t make a peep at night and doesn’t seem like a zombie either. Normal eating and bathroom habits- maybe just eating a bit less. Still very playful! Normal grooming. I just got a clicker and book to try some training during this time too to supplement with behavior training/building a bond.

He is still having the aggression issues. I know that it will take about a month for the Prozac to level out and really kick in. I am wondering if you could share your experiences? If treating aggression with Prozac, what was your timeline like? And your dosage?

 

[suzeanna]

I adopted a cat in late August 2020 who developed some aggression issues after one incident of redirected aggression. It got bad pretty quickly, and her vet recommended gabapentin. We put her on that, and it helped immediately but wasn't perfect. A couple weeks later, we put her on Prozac and she was on both medications for a couple months. We weaned her off the gabapentin, but she is still on Prozac and doing well (no episodes). She's on 0.2 dose (10 MG/ML strength) given at night.

 

[suzeanna]

I think there are some other posts on this site about people's experiences -- some have weaned their pets off. I haven't, at my vet's suggestion. Searching for the term "fluoxetine" should help find additional posts, too.

 

[IkeaMonkey]

I adopted a cat in late August 2020 who developed some aggression issues after one incident of redirected aggression. It got bad pretty quickly, and her vet recommended gabapentin. We put her on that, and it helped immediately but wasn't perfect. A couple weeks later, we put her on Prozac and she was on both medications for a couple months. We weaned her off the gabapentin, but she is still on Prozac and doing well (no episodes). She's on 0.2 dose (10 MG/ML strength) given at night.

Oh thanks so much for your response! My vet prescribed 10 mg to start, I called and asked if we could start at 5mg in case we needed to bump it up. It’s good to hear that 10 mg worked for your cat- everything else I read, or at least a lot of things, said that might be too much for a cat.

Is there a reason to give it at night instead of the morning?

 

[suzeanna]

It makes them sleepy (and less hungry, at least initially) afterward, I think, so that's nice for nighttime.