Kitty tranquilizer advice/recommendations

[yekrats]

Howdy , I'm looking for any advice/ recommendations on Kitty tranquilizers. Long story short, one of my cats we got about 3 months ago, Tubby, 7 - 8 years old, 15 lb neutered big boy has started spraying. We just took him to the vet for his first check up and found really bad gums and possibly teeth problems. He wouldn't cooperate with the vet so he couldn't get any blood or urine for tests. Going back in tomorrow and he will probably have to give him some night-night pills so he can look/ treat his gums, teeth and get blood and urine samples. Anywho, our vet said one of the possibilities is anxiety and one of the possible treatments is tranquilizers. There's fluoxetine, Buspar, amitriptyline and Valium with fluoxetine working on 90% of cats. So has anyone had any experience with these tranquilizers and their cats? Don't know that I'll go that route but thought I'd touch base and see what people think. Thanks

 

[Furballsmom]

Hello
As I mentioned in my post to your other thread, tranquilizing a cat without determining the reason he's marking in a couple places which may be because you have cats or other animals outside, is shortsighted on the vet's part to suggest this.

In any case, this may provide some other information;
Fluoxetine For Cats: Overview, Dosage & Side Effects - All About Cats.

 

[yekrats]

Actually, our vet didn't say we should or shouldn't do anything yet other than the cat tray and kitty litter. He just printed out a bunch of information about possible causes and treatments. Tranquilizers is just in there and that's why I'm asking people's opinions. As I said, it is totally a last resort and if it ever did come to that, it would only be temporary. I guess you just do it long enough for him to get mellowed out in his new home and then you can stop. At least that's my understanding. I wouldn't give it to him forever. I think that would be cruel.

 

[FeebysOwner]

If Tubby only recently started spraying, it could be his teeth. Painful teeth/gums can bring on anxiety too! It's not bad to check into tranquilizers, but that would probably be something to wait on until you get his blood work and urinalysis done, and have his teeth checked out/treated.

The other types of things besides health/teeth issues might be as mentioned above - some sort of animal/stray cat that has come into the area and Tubby can sense them outside.

How is Tubby doing with the other cats in your home? That might somehow also be playing a role in his 'new behavior'.

 

[yekrats]

Hi FeebysOwner and thanks for your reply. We only have one other cat, Patches. They've been together for the Last 5 Years and we adopted them both as a package deal. They get along great. I agree, it totally could be his teeth and gums and I'm thinking that's the most likely explanation. As far as tranquilizers go I only asked about them here because it seems like such a drastic thing to do and to be honest, the vet would have to do some real persuading to get me to agree to it. Maybe as a last ditch effort but even then only for a few weeks and I can't see how that would do any good. We're keeping our fingers crossed that his blood work and urinalysis come back fine. But if it is a UTI problem, at least that's an easy fix. Not that I want him to be sick. And yeah, another cat / animal outside is a possibility I suppose but will cross that bridge when we get there.

 

[Hellenww]

fluoxetine, Buspar, amitriptyline and Valium with fluoxetine working on 90% of cats.

My experiences are human not cat. I've had clients on Buspar and Valium. Each of those made them very sleepy. I was given amitriptyline for pain many years ago. It made me feel like I'd drunk a ton of caffeine.

At Tubby's age and size I'd also wonder about arthritis. Since he needs sedation for appts ask your vet about a full body x-ray.

Gabapentin is a medication I gave to our Yoshi for arthritis and a few yrs later increased for cancer. On his arthritis dose he was less active for about a week as his body adjusted and then was his active self. I've read a lot of posts here of vets having people give it prior to appts with Tubby's reaction to vets. I've also seen many posts of it being used in lower doses for ongoing anxiety.

If you haven't already use an enzyme cleaner on the areas Tubby has sprayed.

Outside Intruder: A black light will show if someone is spraying outside. You can use that enzyme cleaner on those spots also. To discourage them coming close to the house spray some lemon scented furniture polish outside around the house.

I hope Tubby gets some relief today!

 

[yekrats]

Thanks, I just brought Tubby home from the vet and he's on cloud time from the anesthetics and all. The vet gave me a weeks supply of "buprenorphine" in little syringes to give him 3 times a day for mouth pain and anxiety. I know that's an opiate but hopefully that will make him feel better. The vet hoped it would keep him from spraying too and if it does, I guess that would add credibility to him having anxiety problems. I sure hope not but with all the information I'm gleaning about his past life now, I sure can understand him having problems.
Good idea about checking around outside with the black light. I'll do that. We've got some lemon stuff to spray around if we find any evidence of a cat outside.
I think this is going to be a tough road for the poor guy. He had a pretty rough life before we got him. Turns out they were pretty mean to both the cats and the vet thinks it might take quite a while for Tubbs to stop having anxiety problems. Guess we'll see.

 

[Furballsmom]

Oh, Tubbs, honey baby, I'm so sorry.

I'm glad he's with you now.

 

[yekrats]

I forgot to add everything the vet had to say.
Tubby weighs 15 lb. A touch on the heavy side so we'll cut his food back. Tubby had his teeth cleaned and Polished. He has a case of gingivitis and has a sore mouth but it should be okay now with the cleaning. Tubby was given a week's supply of an opiate, "buprenorphine" to help with mouth pain and anxiety problems. Tubby did not have to have any teeth removed (hooray!) but at some point tubby has lost a tooth. Don't know when or how. Tubby had blood and urine samples removed for testing. Tubby is now on a special diet of urinary tract health food. The vet thinks that Tubby's spraying is due to anxiety/emotional problems which may resolve themselves over time with love, diet changes and TLC but if not was prepared to prescribe anti- anxiety medications.

We will do whatever it takes to help Tubby and our other cat Patches to lead full, happy lives.

 

[Furballsmom]

Just a couple notes, if I may; you might not need to put him on the prescription food. Wait 'til the results come back. If his kidneys do show issues, there are less expensive, more viable options. It just depends on what the results show.

When you get the results, you could start a thread in the Cat Health forum, as many of us have walked this path with our cats and you'd get good feedback, information and support.

He wasn't spraying until after he'd been with you for a bit, I think? I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't say this, but that outside cat really does need to be trapped and neutered if he isn't already, even if Tubbs isn't detecting him (although cats always know, they're hardwired for territorial sensitivity) because he's leaving uncared-for kittens in his wake.

Your open hearts and home may feel a bit overwhelmed with how a relatively simple act of kindness, compassion and generosity is turning into something more complicated. You are to be commended for going these extra miles for them. You are their angels.

 

[silent meowlook]

Hi. I didn’t read everything due to time constraints, so forgive me if I am repeating anything. First off, thank you for taking on these two cats.

Tubby is feeling insecure about something and he is trying to make himself feel like he belongs by spraying. If there is no inner cat aggression, and it sounds like they get along well, then it is something else.

An outside cat was mentioned and that could be a trigger. A cats sense of smell is amazing. So if there is another cat anywhere around he will know it, even if he doesn’t see them.

You have already cleaned with an enzymatic cleaner. What I would do is get some feliway spray and spray the area several times a day. The spray is the same smell, to cats, that they give off by rubbing their face on something. It states, this is a happy place. They also make plug in diffusers you could put near where it has been sprayed.

Just to clarify, we are talking about vertical spraying, right? Where does he do this and is it always the same area?

It sounds like he is a bit overweight. Does he eat dry food? If he does, he could be starting to get crystals in his urine that can lead to an obstruction which is life threatening. I know you mentioned a urinary diet. Is it dry or canned? Make sure it is canned. If he doesn’t want to eat the canned there are ways to get him to. With a cat it is different than a dog. You never want a cat to stop eating or they can get a serious disease called hepatic lipidosis. Overweight cats are more prone to get this. A good website for diet information is catinfo.org.

Arthritis was mentioned, if he has arthritis, Adequan is a good supplement to help with that.

The rule of thumb for cats is one litter box per cat + 1. Cats have different preferences when it comes to litter and the depth of the litter in the pan. You have to try different things to see what he likes best. Make sure the box isn’t to tall for them to comfortably get into and large enough for them to use it.

The following is a great site for environmental enrichment. It is written for veterinarians, but it should be fine for you to read.

You can ask your vet about an Rx of Gabapentin to give before your next vet visit. It is usually given a couple of hours prior to the visit and will make Tubby less stressed.

Do you know the results of the urine and blood work?

I think it is great you took these two cats in.

I would only use the Prozac as a last resort, if all else fails.

It’s hard to know what goes on in cats heads sometimes, but if you try to see things from their point of view, not a human point of view, you can figure it out.

 

[yekrats]

Thanks Furballsmom and silent meowlook. This is getting more and more difficult and I appreciate your replies. I'll try and answer your questions as best I can in no particular order.

Here's what we have done so far. We've had two plug in Feliway diffusers running in the house since we got the kitties. We figured it would make the transition easier for them. They seemed much happier after we put them in so I guess it worked. Happy kitties.

Tubbs went to the vet yesterday and so we haven't gotten the results back for his blood and urine samples yet.

We have two cats total and started out with two litter boxes but have now purchased a third on the vets recommendation. We clean all three boxes everyday. We have also switched one to their old cat litter to see if that makes a difference. Fingers crossed there.

Silent meowlook, yes we are talking about a vertical spray. He always does it in the same places in our downstairs living room. Yes, tubby is a little bit overweight and are waiting on the results of his urinalysis.

We feed them dry food and have just changed they're feeding schedule to twice a day instead of leaving it for them to graze on. Patches, our other cat gets the same high quality dry food she's always had and Toby has just been switched to urinary trac health food.

Tubbs does not have arthritis that we know of. Neither does Patches.

Just a quick note here: Tubby and Patches were neutered and spayed when we got them. They also have had their front paws declawed. Just for the record, I do not agree with having cats declawed.

One last thing. As far as prescription food goes we're just going with what the vet recommended for now. Tubbs is on the urinary tract cat food and Patches is not. It would be easier to feed them both the urinary tract food I suppose but patches doesn't need it that we know of and we thought it best not to upset her apple cart at the moment. There's enough problems going on as it is. Haha

Thanks to both of you for your expertise. We'll be keeping on, keeping on.

 

[yekrats]

Tubbs/Tubby not Toby. Is there any way to edit after you've posted?

 

[yekrats]

Also, yes. Prozac (or whatever) would be a very last resort.

I'm going black light hunting for outdoor Kitty signs tonight.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Is there any way to edit after you've posted?

Yes, once you have been a member for 5 days and have 20 posts, you can edit your posts for up to 2 hours. You will see 'Edit' in the bottom left-hand corner of your post.
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[Furballsmom]

Something you might do for both of them is see if they would like pieces of unseasoned chicken, boiled, baked it doesn't matter as long as there is no seasoning at all.

You're making a very big change to their diet by going with meals rather than free feeding, and the chicken as a mid-day and end of the day snack will help the transition so you don't have any vomiting from bile building up in their empty stomachs. Plus it'll add a little moisture to an otherwise dry, in the real sense, diet.

To see how the weight is going, if you have a bathroom scale, step on it yourself and note the weight, then step on it while holding a cat. The difference is what that cat weighs. You want to see if Tubbs is losing (very gradually, that's literally the only safe way for a cat to lose weight) but also I'm guessing you want Patches to remain at her current weight, as far as you know at this point.

Start keeping a log of their weights, every couple weeks or so. It can be a truly invaluable tool to see what's happening with them

 

[yekrats]

Yes, once you have been a member for 5 days and have 20 posts, you can edit your posts for up to 2 hours. You will see 'Edit' in the bottom left-hand corner of your post.
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Perfect, thanks!

 

[Furballsmom]

I was editing as you were reading my post above, ----you're too fast for me so here's the other couple things.

Another possibility for a snack that doesn't have a lot of calories could be Beechnut meat baby food (this brand doesn't have cornstarch). It has a lot of moisture, and many cats really like it.

Going with the thought that cats (with possible kidney issues, crystals in their urine or bladder stones, and also to try to avoid these things) need as much hydration as possible;
this is from todaysveterinarynurse .com.
Making sure all water bowls are cleaned daily may encourage water consumption. Circulating water fountains can be provided for cats that like to drink running or dripping water, and multiple water bowls should be offered throughout the home. Also, the size and depth of water bowls may need to be considered, and different types of water (e.g., distilled, warm, cold) may need to be tried.

 

[yekrats]

Something you might do for both of them is see if they would like pieces of unseasoned chicken, boiled, baked it doesn't matter as long as there is no seasoning at all.

You're making a very big change to their diet by going with meals rather than free feeding, and the chicken as a mid-day and end of the day snack will help the transition so you don't have any vomiting from bile building up in their empty stomachs.

To see how the weight is going, if you have a bathroom scale, step on it yourself and note the weight, then step on it while holding a cat. The difference is what that cat weighs. You want to see if Tubbs is losing (very gradually, that's literally the only safe way for a cat to lose weight) but also I'm guessing you want Patches to remain at her current weight, as far as you know at this point.

Start keeping a log of their weights, every couple weeks or so. It can be a truly invaluable tool to see what's happening with them

Thank you, very good advice. Totally agree with you that changing their feeding schedule is hard for them. They're already giving us the "Hey, where's my food!" looks. Oh well...
On another subject, I'm wondering if giving Tubbs his medicine, buprenorphine on a piece of chicken would be better then squirting it directly in his mouth which he very much doesn't like. It would sure be easier then holding him down. Takes two people to do that.

 

[yekrats]

I was editing as you were reading my post above, ----you're too fast for me so here's the other couple things.

Another possibility for a snack that doesn't have a lot of calories could be Beechnut meat baby food (this brand doesn't have cornstarch). It has a lot of moisture, and many cats really like it.

Going with the thought that cats (with possible kidney issues, crystals in their urine or bladder stones, and also to try to avoid these things) need as much hydration as possible;
this is from todaysveterinarynurse .com.
Making sure all water bowls are cleaned daily may encourage water consumption. Circulating water fountains can be provided for cats that like to drink running or dripping water, and multiple water bowls should be offered throughout the home. Also, the size and depth of water bowls may need to be considered, and different types of water (e.g., distilled, warm, cold) may need to be tried.

Beechnut meat baby food, great idea! That would be much easier than cooking chicken and having to store it, Etc. And thanks, yeah. We got a circulating water fountain for our kitties before we went on vacation and they seem to like it just fine. We also keep a bowl of fresh water, Change Daily for them upstairs. Tubbs is a big drinker and he loves it when you put a fresh bowl of water down. I also tried to do a complete water change in the circulating fountain once or twice a week. It's got a carbon filter in it for freshness but I'm sure it's not quite the same as fresh water.