Overgrooming Cat + BM issues = Prozac

[missdreawrites]

Hi y'all,

For the last several months, since October 2021, my cat has been over grooming her stomach in one spot just between her hind legs. We traced it back to a recent food change, since she and her sister for no good reason suddenly rejected the food they'd been eating for ages. Her sister (literally her litter mate), has a gluten/grain intolerance and won't eat seafood, so they've been on chicken/turkey diets for almost eight years now. This time also coincided with her sister needing a few teeth extracted and being gone from the house for six hours.

Coraline has always been very anxious, and prefers to snuggle with the humans or her sister, but it's always been low key and manageable with distraction, toys, and plenty of hugs and love. Since we noticed the thinning fur on her stomach, she has also presented with the wet, soft poops. It is not diarrhea as it's still solid, just not firm. She often needs help getting it out of her fluff because she is an excessively fluffy cat for being a domestic shorthair. Her sister is half her size and they only have about a 2 pound difference between them.

I took her to the vet when the over grooming led to cuts and hot spots on her belly. They gave her an antibiotic shot that "lasted two weeks" and ProVet Calming Care. They warned me the probiotic could take six weeks to kick in. After about two weeks with no change, I purchased a surgery suit to protect her stomach and she's worn it a majority of the time since, especially as I and my husband work 12hr shifts and will both be gone 3 times a week at night. Now her belly has healed from the sores (though she has some scarring) she is still excessively licking and it's been about eight weeks. She is still eating, drinking and peeing normally. Her wet, soft poops come and go, sometimes she goes days with normal poop then has a week of non normal poop. I've taken to checking her butt floof every time she comes out of the liter box closet.

Vet ruled out allergies and parasites (mostly because the cats share their boxes so if one has a parasite, for sure the other would to) and the vet gave me prozac, 5mg/day. He said that it might take a while to kick in, and Coraline is tolerating the surgery suit well, so I'm going to leave her in it and reduce the time slowly as she gets used to the pill. I heard once that a cat can be weened off the medication (prozac) once the behavior has been eliminated. Is this true? It's not expensive and I can easily afford it but I'm concerned some of her other personality quirks may also be affected. I'm also incredibly anxious (clearly this cat takes after me) that she will all of a sudden stop being my affectionate baby. She sleeps with me a majority of the time, she will break into the bathroom if I close the door with her on the other side. She prefers to lay on the radiator closest to my computer, or on me, or on the desktop tower itself within touching distance, at all times. She asks for kisses, and will press her head to my lips until I make the "muah" sound. I absolutely adore this behavior and I will be devastated if it stops. I'm not really looking for advice, I'm just looking for reassurance.

I gave her the first pill yesterday morning, which she ate in her normal morning wet food and she didn't come snuggle. She ended up falling asleep on the couch in the warm spot I vacated when I went to bed. (I work third shift and usually sleep between 10:30am and 5pm). When I realized she wasn't up on my pillow or down by my knees, I had a total panic attack and went to find her. I found her where I had left her, and scooped her up and snuggled her for a half an hour in bed. She eventually got sick of me and left, but came back twoish hours later to pester me for dinner because I slept past 6. She had eaten most of her dry food by the time I left for work so I'm not really worried about her appetite (and honestly if she had some slight appetite reduction, she'd be fine, she's 13lbs).

As you can tell, I am also an excessively anxious person (where does she get it from I wonder???) and I'm just really worried I made the wrong call with asking my vet about prozac.

Thanks!

 

[GuyandCat]

Looking forward to seeing some responses. I'm confused as to the severity of issues to require a SSRI (Prozac). Weaning off prozac should be discussed with your vet I think. I know with the human species coming off a SSRI can be a rough go.

Hope you find some answers on here

 

[fionasmom]

Fluoxetine | VCA Animal Hospitals(brand%20names%3A%20Prozac%C2%AE,labeled%20to%20treat%20separation%20anxiety.

This is a general overview of Prozac in cats. Remember that your cat is not going to have every single side effect, possibly none of them, so don't become anxious about that. Loss of appetite is one of the more common side effects in cats and does have to be watched. Dosages of any of these kinds of meds has to be carefully determined by the vet and there can be an adjustment period. This may not be permanent and your vet can tell you how to wean her off of the medication if that is the case.

Overgrooming Cats
This is an article about over grooming in cats.

Clomipramine is also used for these conditions. Talk to your vet about any medication that might be useful, ask why Prozac is the choice he is making, and express your concerns to him.

 

[missdreawrites]

Her over grooming has caused large sores and pheromone therapy hasn't worked. He said he had cats with anxiety where prozac worked well to stop over grooming and since Feliway was a non-optimal option, we should try medication as it's been 5 months of overgrooming without stopping. She escaped the cones, the surgery suit did stop her from licking, and her belly healed but she has no fur in the area.

(Feliway is not optimal because my house has very large rooms, and annoyingly, very few electrical outlets. Many of our outlets are outsourced already, and we use surge protectors. Most of Feliway's options looked like they needed to be plugged into the wall and standing straight up and for some reason whoever designed the outlets in my bedrooms made them all horizontal!)

Since we don't know if prozac will do the trick, he didn't want to talk about weening yet, unless I see adverse side effects. So far, after two days, she has definitely NOT had any lack of appetite. She eats all her wet food (with the pill hidden in it) and wakes me up for her dinner every day at 6pm and it's gone by morning. It does seem to make her tired and she tends to bunk down an hour after eating and sleep in the same spot until I check on her when I get up the first time. I brought her into the bedroom the last two days and she slept with me until dinner time when she stomped all over me and meowed until I got up. Which is typical for her lol

It's the weekend now so I'm on my own unless there's an emergency and I'd have to drive her 30m away into another city if that's the case so fingers crossed.

 

[Lulu&Finn]

Are you certain she doesn't have a food allergy? Lulu can't eat anyting with fish or she over grooms and flies around the house back twitching.Cat food labeled "chicken" or "beef" still have fish in them a lot of the time.

 

[fionasmom]

The only Feliway that ever did anything for us was Optimum. The rest was like using water. While I am not a Feliway expert, I think that the diffusers have to be plugged in upright. This was not great for me either as the outlet I really needed for a rescued cat 6 weeks ago was one of the sideways ones.

Remember, many people and many pets never react to medications. You may not have any problems with the Prozac.

 

[missdreawrites]

Are you certain she doesn't have a food allergy? Lulu can't eat anyting with fish or she over grooms and flies around the house back twitching.Cat food labeled "chicken" or "beef" still have fish in them a lot of the time.

We are 99% certain she doesn't have a food allergy. She has been on a chicken diet for her entire life, and while I tried to give them other proteins in their life, Seafood was not popular. Her sister does have a grain intolerance which I understand is very rare however, when we discovered the scabby dry skin on her head, face and neck, she was already over 4 years old and had been on a chicken diet her entire life. Now they're on grain free everything, and her scabs have never returned.

Cora can eat anything, though.

 

[missdreawrites]

The only Feliway that ever did anything for us was Optimum. The rest was like using water. While I am not a Feliway expert, I think that the diffusers have to be plugged in upright. This was not great for me either as the outlet I really needed for a rescued cat 6 weeks ago was one of the sideways ones.

Remember, many people and many pets never react to medications. You may not have any problems with the Prozac.

Every single outlet in my bedroom is sideways. And most of the outlets in the other rooms need the surge protectors. So we decided to give Feliway a miss as it was not optimal for my house. The ProVet Calming Care did not appear to do anything.

What we believe is happening is that she started the habit when we had to change their food and Cora's sister had to stay in the vet hospital for a long time. Then she got so used to doing it, it's become an OCD like behavior. She's been on the prozac for 3 days, and all I've noticed is her tiredness. She hasn't had any of her soft poops in about 24hrs either, though it could just be that now that she's not wearing a surgery suit, she's more able to actually clean her own fur so I'm not catching it.

 

[missdreawrites]

Small new update:
Cleaned their boxes an hour before work which of course made both cats go into their favorite boxes and use them, and Cora's stool was firm and not wet so that's nice.

However, I thought about what Lulu&Finn said, about allergies because they've been on a chicken diet forever, even when I had to change their food, but I looked up the ingredients of the food, and realized the Nulo "Chicken & Turkey Cat & Kitten Food" I've been giving them has Tuna in it! It's not advertised but it's in the ingredients. So now I'm going to go to the store in the morning and get something that's ONLY CHICKEN or TURKEY ffs, hopefully, and start giving that solely. I'm not going to stop the prozac unless I see rapid improvement and hopefully we can get to the bottom of this, I've been agonizing over the prozac decision since it started.

 

[Lulu&Finn]

Small new update:
Cleaned their boxes an hour before work which of course made both cats go into their favorite boxes and use them, and Cora's stool was firm and not wet so that's nice.

However, I thought about what Lulu&Finn said, about allergies because they've been on a chicken diet forever, even when I had to change their food, but I looked up the ingredients of the food, and realized the Nulo "Chicken & Turkey Cat & Kitten Food" I've been giving them has Tuna in it! It's not advertised but it's in the ingredients. So now I'm going to go to the store in the morning and get something that's ONLY CHICKEN or TURKEY ffs, hopefully, and start giving that solely. I'm not going to stop the prozac unless I see rapid improvement and hopefully we can get to the bottom of this, I've been agonizing over the prozac decision since it started.

I was like you and totally disappointed to see that the foods marked as chicken or turkey have fish oil, oceanfish, tuna. It's almost all of them.

 

[missdreawrites]

I was like you and totally disappointed to see that the foods marked as chicken or turkey have fish oil, oceanfish, tuna. It's almost all of them.

So because of the supply shortage, I had to give them something new this morning that has Salmon oil in it, while I order something else online. My hope is that because it's so far down on the list and it isn't actually the meat or protein, there won't be a huge issue. Nothing I can do about it, now, the whole place was cleaned out practically. And I can't give the mince because the pill won't be as easily hidden in it. UGH!!

 

[fionasmom]

You are doing the best you can with food right now. The salmon oil may be a very small amount, as you say. Right now I am having better luck with variety of cat foods online as opposed to the local stores.

 

[missdreawrites]

The new food I got them, neither of the cats liked very much. They didn't eat all of it, and of course the part Cora didn't eat had the pill in it, so I had to pill her traditionally which neither of us liked. That was awful. So I think I'm going to have to give her the tuna until I can get a order in of something that's grain free, fish free, and they actually like. Ugh.

 

[missdreawrites]

So tonight is the first night I've been home since giving her the prozac, and she is definitely extra tired. She has a new favorite spot to lay in that she's never used before. I also noticed her eyes seemed to be watering a lot, it was clear and not sticky, but I have no idea if she got into some dust, or if it's the prozac. I seriously cannot handle any new issues, I'm suffering enough with the prozac. I've been anxious and paranoid for days, which I'm sure isn't helping her any.

Her belly does look a bit better, and other than some mild licking of one spot on it when she was licking her butt, I haven't caught her overgrooming today. I really hope that this will be over in a month.

 

[missdreawrites]

Good morning to me, Cora jumped on my lap and did her daily headbutt for food and I looked down and saw a dime sized circle of raw flesh on her ear which was not there an hour ago. Ear pets are one of her favorite things I was JUST giving her the ear pets. I freaked, called the vet, they can fit me in for 11:30.

Pretty sure after 4 days of prozac this is a kind of allergic reaction, she's never done anything like this before.

 

[fionasmom]

I certainly understand that this has been a very stressful and long haul for you. It has put you in the position of being reactive, which is hard to keep up. You did the right thing...keep this up with the vet and let him know about all issues. Let us know what you are told.

 

[missdreawrites]

I was so exhausted when I got home from the vet that I just went straight to bed but:

Vet took her off prozac and gave her antibiotic ointment for her torn up ear. He wasn't concerned about the goopy eyes, he says sometimes that can just happen especially in cats that had URIs as kittens (she did, just before I adopted her). He said to keep an eye on it in case the goop gets worse or turns a color but her lungs and eyes are clear.

We've decided to do an elimination diet so no salmon oil or tuna foods - thankfully the mince of turkey and duck doesn't have any of that and neither does their dry food. I couldn't give her the mince while giving her the prozac because of hiding the pill. But I ordered more mince and I'm going to donate the other stuff.

Her behavior already has improvement - I just woke up and she was on the bed with me, which she's been avoiding since starting the prozac. She begged for food and pets and has been fine with me putting the ointment on her ear so far.

As for the overgrooming, the surgery suit worked well to heal her stomach lacerations, so we're going to check out Feliway when her ear heals and see if that helps. I may just need to figure out an alternate way to get it in the bedroom properly. Like screwing a surge protector to the wall or something. Until then he suggested putting her back into the suit if she starts getting bad again, and we'll try other pheromone therapy options.

 

[fionasmom]

You are getting some relief, at least! There has been some improvement, so possibly the prozac will now be a thing of the past and you can concentrate on the diet to see what that brings.

Fiona herself had a permanent eye discharge from having had a bad URI as a kitten before I rescued her. We worked with it throughout her life, sometimes a little goopier than other times, and I always watched the skin around her eye for irritation. If that is what it is, it should not get worse, but watch it to be sure.

Keep trying with a safe way to use the Feliway.

 

[missdreawrites]

You are getting some relief, at least! There has been some improvement, so possibly the prozac will now be a thing of the past and you can concentrate on the diet to see what that brings.

Fiona herself had a permanent eye discharge from having had a bad URI as a kitten before I rescued her. We worked with it throughout her life, sometimes a little goopier than other times, and I always watched the skin around her eye for irritation. If that is what it is, it should not get worse, but watch it to be sure.

Keep trying with a safe way to use the Feliway.

Yeah, the goop seemed to have cleared up over night. She had some crusties but nothing out of the ordinary. She and her sister were feral cats that had to be trapped using a safe trap. Both Cora and her sister had vicious URIs, though Cora's cleared up quickly and her sisters very much did not. When I got them at 9mo she was still coughing and sneezing. I vividly remember her sneezing gunk onto my forehead when she was laying with me.

But Cora's ear is looking much better, I've been putting ointment on it, and her behavior has started to return to normal. She's on my chest right now and purring so loud.

 

[missdreawrites]

This is my last update, probably:

Cora has returned to being very snuggly, I just woke up to find her next to me in bed, cuddled up in all my pillows and about an inch from my nose. Her ear still has missing fur but it no longer looks red and bloody, it just looks like skin mostly. She slept on me on the couch this morning for over an hour two separate times. Now she's still on my pillows as I sit up writing this.

The worst appears to be finally over. I've only caught her licking her belly twice (and she was easily distracted from it, and there have been no new lesions, open scabs or red marks.)

And finally: cat tax!