Giving our kitty Prozac

[zsanikac]

We've had our kitty for almost 3 years now. We knew she was a little different from the beginning, at the shelter they told us that she didn't like people (and directed our attention to the other adorable kittens) but she chose me and we aren't afraid of working through some issues. We have two other cats (litermates and one has a food allergy and the other an immune disorder) so we've dealt with giving medication and frequent vet visits etc.

Lulu was great and lovey as a kitten but after about 6 months we moved and she has been super anxious since the move. We established a routine where she gets her favorite toy at a certain time and that helped a ton, we also tried various pheromone products, the collar scared her too much, but we have the plugins going, that has also helped. She still isn't happy though, she freaks out so easily and she retreats and shuts down under the bed (which is her ultimate safe spot).
We decided to try Prozac per the vets suggestion. We picked it up on Monday and for 3 days we tried in vain to give her the pill. She goes into life or death fight mode and it's not pretty. We then went to a compounding pharmacy where they made us a liquid form. We have given that to her for 2 days now.

I know that we have to wait to see results and it has to build up in her system but I would love any advice on the following: my hubby and I give her the medication together. I bundle and hold her, he shoves the syringe in her mouth. She blames him. I am okay and I am trusted as her safety human but she doesn't trust him at all any more. If he goes to get off the couch or walk to the kitchen she bolts and hides, if he checks in while she's under the bed (no touching just pops his face by the edge of the bed and says hi) she hissses at him. I don't think she would ever get violent or aggressive, she really is a super sweet girl under her anxiety but the hissing is enough to worry me. Any suggestions, or do we just have to wait it out?

 

[red top rescue]

You might get your vet to prescribe lorazepam 0.25 mg.  That's generic for Ativan, and it's a very good anti-anxiety pill.  Most vet offices use a standard diazepam (which is larger and tastes somewhat unpleasant).  With the lorazepam 1 mg. tablets, which are small anyhow, the cat gets 1/4 of a tiny tablet, it is pretty much tasteless, and you can crush it and wrap it in turkey bacon or something.  That was how I got my rescued feral Grey Boy to the vet every 5 days when he had bandages to be changed.  The vet would give him an injection of something to knock him out at the vet's office, but the lorazepam in turkey bacon made him calm enough to transport in my makeshift double laundry basket carrier hitched with zip ties (there was no way anyone was going to get that cat into a carrier when he was awake!)

See "Grey Boy's Story" under my signature.

Someone else on here has been using it on her cat recently also and says the cat is much calmer.  Also, it works in an hour, you don't have to wait for it to build up in the system like Prozac. 

Although most benzodiazepines are used interchangeably, some are most commonly used for certain conditions. Alprazolam (Xanax), chlordiazepoxide (Librium), chlorazepate (Tranxene), diazepam (Valium), lorazepam (Ativan), and midazolam are used for anxiety disorders.

 

[catapault]

When we had a cat on Diazapam / Valium my local pharmacist would make a chicken flavored liquid suspension. Squirt the dosage over his wet food and he would nom nom nom it right up.

 

[MillieK]

We've had our kitty for almost 3 years now. We knew she was a little different from the beginning, at the shelter they told us that she didn't like people (and directed our attention to the other adorable kittens) but she chose me and we aren't afraid of working through some issues. We have two other cats (litermates and one has a food allergy and the other an immune disorder) so we've dealt with giving medication and frequent vet visits etc.

Lulu was great and lovey as a kitten but after about 6 months we moved and she has been super anxious since the move. We established a routine where she gets her favorite toy at a certain time and that helped a ton, we also tried various pheromone products, the collar scared her too much, but we have the plugins going, that has also helped. She still isn't happy though, she freaks out so easily and she retreats and shuts down under the bed (which is her ultimate safe spot).
We decided to try Prozac per the vets suggestion. We picked it up on Monday and for 3 days we tried in vain to give her the pill. She goes into life or death fight mode and it's not pretty. We then went to a compounding pharmacy where they made us a liquid form. We have given that to her for 2 days now.

I know that we have to wait to see results and it has to build up in her system but I would love any advice on the following: my hubby and I give her the medication together. I bundle and hold her, he shoves the syringe in her mouth. She blames him. I am okay and I am trusted as her safety human but she doesn't trust him at all any more. If he goes to get off the couch or walk to the kitchen she bolts and hides, if he checks in while she's under the bed (no touching just pops his face by the edge of the bed and says hi) she hissses at him. I don't think she would ever get violent or aggressive, she really is a super sweet girl under her anxiety but the hissing is enough to worry me. Any suggestions, or do we just have to wait it out?

I am using the transdermal gel

We've had our kitty for almost 3 years now. We knew she was a little different from the beginning, at the shelter they told us that she didn't like people (and directed our attention to the other adorable kittens) but she chose me and we aren't afraid of working through some issues. We have two other cats (litermates and one has a food allergy and the other an immune disorder) so we've dealt with giving medication and frequent vet visits etc.

Lulu was great and lovey as a kitten but after about 6 months we moved and she has been super anxious since the move. We established a routine where she gets her favorite toy at a certain time and that helped a ton, we also tried various pheromone products, the collar scared her too much, but we have the plugins going, that has also helped. She still isn't happy though, she freaks out so easily and she retreats and shuts down under the bed (which is her ultimate safe spot).
We decided to try Prozac per the vets suggestion. We picked it up on Monday and for 3 days we tried in vain to give her the pill. She goes into life or death fight mode and it's not pretty. We then went to a compounding pharmacy where they made us a liquid form. We have given that to her for 2 days now.

I know that we have to wait to see results and it has to build up in her system but I would love any advice on the following: my hubby and I give her the medication together. I bundle and hold her, he shoves the syringe in her mouth. She blames him. I am okay and I am trusted as her safety human but she doesn't trust him at all any more. If he goes to get off the couch or walk to the kitchen she bolts and hides, if he checks in while she's under the bed (no touching just pops his face by the edge of the bed and says hi) she hissses at him. I don't think she would ever get violent or aggressive, she really is a super sweet girl under her anxiety but the hissing is enough to worry me. Any suggestions, or do we just have to wait it out?

 

[ellenature]

I'm hiding the prozac pill in a soft treat. They really like these treats that look like 'slim jims' and it hides the split pill well enough to get it down.

 

[red top rescue]

We've had luck with the anti-anxiety pill lorazepam. It doesn't take any time to build up in their system (it will work in 45 minutes, and it has no taste), and the cat dose is tiny so they get 1/4 of a 1 mg. pill and its easy to crush it and wrap it in turkey bacon or anything at all they like. We work with ferals a lot and giving them pills is not an option, but turkey bacon or chicken does the trick just fine. This dose doesn't knock them out, it just seems to calm them and make them happy (and hungry). It requires a higher dose if you are wanting them to go to sleep. The vet advised us on getting the doses right for the size of the cat and the amount of calming needed. It's the same family of drugs that vets use (benzodiazepines) but it's much easier to give. The vet pill is big and blue and tastes bad and they wont eat it. This is tiny and white and dissolves instantly in anything wet and they don't taste it. A lot of vets will use human medicines when they work better than the standard vet medicines, they just write a prescription for it and you take it to the drug store. If the prozac thing isn't working or is too difficult, ask your vet about trying lorazepam (generic for Ativan).

PS - Apologies for repeating myself more or less. I didn't realize I had already suggested this back in February at post #2! Senior moment..............