paxil experience??

[jamd1]

Hi all -
After many months of trying to resolve redirected aggression between our 2 cats, our vet started our younger cat on Paxil last weekend. She's had 2 days on paxil.

Any stories out there of using paxil?

So far, one big change is that our little cat is less affectionate. She used to come up in the morning and purr and be so excited to see us. Now she doesn't seem to care much.

I can't decide if she's less anxious / aggressive or not. We still have not let the cats together much - only for brief periods with us also there supervising. Today they "wrestled" - didn't seem too aggressive, but ended with one getting spooked and running away. But they were both distractiable with treats (which they weren't when the aggression was really bad).

Stories and advice welcomed!

 

[jamd1]

Could paxil cause INCREASED anxiety at first?  Today, day 5, she seems totally wigged out - even more than usual.  ???????

 

[aislinn]

I have no experience with Paxil in cats, unfortunately. My two are on Elavil due to redirected aggression. It's only been a week, but the event took place in March. They've been separated ever since and I don't know how long it will be before they can ever be together, if ever. It's very discouraging.

 

[jamd1]

Aislinn, so sorry to hear you are going through the same thing.  I agree that it's very discouraging.  I'd love to hear how it goes for you.

We have also plugged in some Feliway in 2 rooms in the house.  The cats had been doing sorta ok with short supervised visits with lots of treats, but we couldn't leave them unsupervised so it took a lot of energy.  Yesterday the little cat was TOTALLY wigged out.  Today she might be a little better?

I've now read that, at least in humans, Paxil can make you more anxious for the first couple of weeks, so you have to wait a couple of weeks to see if it's working.  I'm hoping that's true and she chills out more.

 

[aislinn]

Keep us posted!

 

[katiekat89]

This is a VERY old post so I am guessing you won’t see this - but wondering how this turned out for you?

 

[silent meowlook]

Didn’t read replies.
My concern with Paxil is that it is no longer used for people due to some serious side effects and drug interactions.

At the cat hospital where I worked, we had good response to Prozac in cats. But there would have to be a washout period switching meds. You might want to bring this up to your vet and see what they think.

As I am sure you know, behavior meds are a last resort thing after all other modifications have failed.

 

[katiekat89]

Didn’t read replies.
My concern with Paxil is that it is no longer used for people due to some serious side effects and drug interactions.

At the cat hospital where I worked, we had good response to Prozac in cats. But there would have to be a washout period switching meds. You might want to bring this up to your vet and see what they think.

As I am sure you know, behavior meds are a last resort thing after all other modifications have failed.

Oh interesting. I did not know that. We tried Prozac for my cat and he became constipated/didn’t pee for 24 hours. It may have been too high of a dose though.

 

[silent meowlook]

Well, not peeing and constipation are not good. Maybe cats don’t have the concerns with Paxil that people do. If anything medical has been ruled out, perhaps a visit with a board certified veterinary behaviorist would be in order?