Can we talk about kitty Prozac? Ugh :-(

[MtyMax]

As a followup to my previous thread on “Male cat not using litter box”…

The vet did not find anything physically wrong with the foster and he is now taking 1/2 tablet (5mg I think?) of generic prozac every night before bed. Poor guy looks rather stoned :mad: And I found some kitty pee in the bedroom which I am going to assume is his as I saw the female use the litterbox earlier that day.

So, now I have a doped up cat that is still spraying. I’m working with the rescue that we foster for to try and find him an outdoor home. This cat hates to be inside and doesn’t really like people either.

Any experiences with Prozac? Any tips on pilling a cat that is already unfriendly?

On another note, I switched the kitty food to Meow Mix (I know, I know…its bad stuff) right before this problems popped up. The fosters weren’t on great food before (Purina 1 Indoor Formula)…could this be an issue?

Thanks, this is frustrating and I’m not so excited about cat pee. I’m worried that every foster after this is going to mark after the current foster’s “area”:o

[Simkie]

If he’s hard to pill, ask your vet about transdermal gel. It is applied to the inside of the ear flap.

And yes–the food could definitely be playing a roll. ALL of the (infrequent) peeing issues I had with my cats totally cleared up when I switched to a high quality wet food, never to return.

[Lori_B]

Me me me!

I have been giving my female DSH prozac daily for about 8 months or so, to try to address inappropriate peeing. It is working! Only one accident since started it.

I would recommend the following:

1. At the same time try a pheromone collar. My cat loves hers, and it’s supposed to soothe them and aid in addressing these behavioral problems, where the peeing is thought to be an anxious thing.

2. To pill: I bury the tiny prozac half-pill in a glob of petromalt or similar hairball remedy. My cats love petromalt and will lick it from my fingers, and burying the pill in a glob of it makes it easy to catch and pill her. I also always pill immediately before meals, so that I can find them and they associate getting a pill w/ happy dinnertime.

Good luck. Now that I have the hang of it, it’s not too bad, even every day. But I do have to hire a real petsitter when I go out of town, cuz amateur family members are not really able to do it.

[MtyMax]

Can you get pheremone collars at Petsmart? I’ll give it a try.

We’ve tried hiding the pill in a small piece of a pill pocket but its a no go. Any treat given during pilling is no good the next time around…joy:lol:

[AllWeatherGal]

My boss had a cat peeing problem and solved it … by moving the litter box to where the cat insisted on peeing.

Voila, no more peeing outside the litter box.

[Whyevernot55]

If the prozac isn’t working and it’s making him really dopey, there are other options for pills to try - Amitryptilline and Paxil are the other two I’ve used in the past. Different kitties respond differently to drugs - one of the girls I work with had a MAJOR problem with her male cat peeing outside the box. Tried everything in terms of behavior modification and drugs to find a combo that worked for them - kitty is now on Paxil and she has Feliway diffusers strategically placed around the house, and no issues.

You van get Feliway diffusers (the kitty pheremone) at pet stores - they’re expensive - I buy my refills on ebay or Amazon and pay MUCH less. Typically diffusers work better than collars with cats because of the type of pheremone it is and the way it works, but I’ve known people to have success with the collars as well. My old vet clinic had an office cat who peed on the counters if the Feliway diffusers were empty for more than a day.

[Marshfield]

As others have said there is the transdermal gel. It can easily take 4 to 6 weeks to see full benefit from the medication. I’d also get the cat back on a higher quality food, ideally canned.

[AlmostDun]

I had one on kitty Prozac for a while. He turned into zombie kitty. He would just veg out on the floor of one of the closets. We found we really missed his spark - silly things like him jumping up on the counter to watch the water running down the drain, or chasing moths, or greeting us at the door after work. We took him off the Prozac.

[MtyMax]

Good News! Foster Kitty is going to a new foster home where he can be an indoor/outdoor kitty. In the meantime, I’m introducing higher quality food and going for the feliaway diffusers.

I really really miss this guys spark. The only attention he enjoys is playtime, and he is not interested in playing thanks to the Prozac.

How hard is it to wean him off of this? I’m going to drop down to 5mg every other night instead of everynight. After he’s transistioned to his new foster home, we’ll try to wean him off completely. I think it would be bad news to have a dopey outdoor kitty.

Keep your fingers crossed that he is happier in his new foster home!

[Lori_B]

Glad you have a plan. My kitty was a bit zoned out for a few days on Prozac, but is pretty much herself again and has been fine for months. What I used to think was affectionate behavior, I now think was anxious and insecure behavior.

[KateKat]

I crushed the pill up and mixed it in with some super smelly wet food. Worked well, and I didn’t have to put the cat through the trauma of getting pilled.

Glad you found a new situation for him though! Sounds like he’ll probably be a lot happier

[_Teddy]

Medi cal has a new calm food