TravelingChris Posted October 15, 2013 Share Posted October 15, 2013 I have a young cat who is about 2 years older or slightly younger. She is a half Siamese and unfortunately, we have found out that she chews and eats inappropriate things like unfortunately is the case with a number of Oriental cats or half breeds. Now I think it has come to the point that we need to get her to the vet and ask for medication. She started with paper and plastic bags and we always stop her when we see it. But we are not always there and we do live in a big house. This week, she chewed through my dd's earbud cord. I am thinking that chewing through electrical lines is coming next. I want her on medication immediately. The question is which one has worked for any of you. Any experiences? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted October 15, 2013 Share Posted October 15, 2013 I've never needed to medicate a cat for behavioral issues, but I know many who have. Success varies depending on the issue, but IMO it's definitely worth trying. I *believe* inappropriate chewing is considered an OCD type issue, and the drugs of choice for that as far as I know are fluoxetine and clomipramine. Be aware that some vets are resistant about prescribing behavioral medications, especially if the pet's owner hasn't tried some training and behavior modification things first. The vet may ask you about what you've already tried (i.e., keeping things picked up, providing more toys, encouraging the cat to get more exercise by playing with her, providing appropriate chew toys, etc.). Your vet may be one of those who'll give you medication w/o hesitation, but I'd go in prepared to be quizzed about what you've already tried, just in case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarkacademy Posted October 15, 2013 Share Posted October 15, 2013 Can't you just spray her with water everytime you catch her? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted October 15, 2013 Share Posted October 15, 2013 Can't you just spray her with water everytime you catch her? That sounds good on paper, but in reality I know only a few people who've ever had true success with it, particularly with cats. Even when it "works," what it really teaches the animal (cat or dog) is usually to not engage in the behavior in your (owner's) presence. They don't generalize well enough to "get" that it means don't do that behavior anywhere, anytime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelingChris Posted October 15, 2013 Author Share Posted October 15, 2013 Yes, she doesn't do it just in front of us. It isn't a thing she does out of boredom or anxiety, as far as I can see. We do stop her doing it when we see her. But she does these things when we aren't there either or when we are in another room. I am going to call the vet staff and ask. I don't mind a blood test to rule out something that may be causing it but I am not doing behavioral modification since that is impossible with what she is doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mergath Posted October 15, 2013 Share Posted October 15, 2013 That sounds good on paper, but in reality I know only a few people who've ever had true success with it, particularly with cats. Even when it "works," what it really teaches the animal (cat or dog) is usually to not engage in the behavior in your (owner's) presence. They don't generalize well enough to "get" that it means don't do that behavior anywhere, anytime. Yup. We tried that with one of our cats for his behavior (jumping onto counters/tables/stovetops and eating all the people food he could find) and all it did was turn him into a ninja. Instead of learning, "I shouldn't eat the people food," he learned "I should only eat the people food when no one is looking and I'm being very, very sneaky." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelingChris Posted October 15, 2013 Author Share Posted October 15, 2013 So I went to the vet and she did start her on medication. We are giving her 5 mg of Amitriptyline this week and if she is not improved, we up it to 10 mg next week. We were told to try it for for weeks and if it doesn't help, we will go to another drug. I am always so amazed that cats and dogs take much bigger doses than we do compared to their size. I used to take this medication for nerve pain and was also given 10 mg. and I weighed then 130 lbs versus the cat weighing 8 lbs. But I checked online with other vet sources, and yes, that is a typical dose for cats. I know that when I had my 15 lb. mini poodle, he would take 25mg of Benadryl which is what I take for a not so strong allergic reaction that needs Benadryl. I take 50 if it is a stronger reaction but I weigh more than 10x what my mini poodle weighed. Now I have a bigger dog, poodle/corgi mix who weighs about 26 pounds. He takes Cephalexin for skin infections at the same dose as children but on the high side, but some of his other medications have also been higher than for humans including tramadol. I also looked at another medication used for cats in this situation (buspar) which one of my dds take for social anxiety and the cat, if she had been given it, would have started on the same dose as my very sensitive to medication dd is now taking. Within a few days, she would be upped to twice the dose dd is taking. I don't know what all this means. Do carnivores just not digest medications very well and therefore need more? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted October 15, 2013 Share Posted October 15, 2013 I think the simple answer is that they just metabolize most medications differently than we do. Their digestive tracts are also much shorter than a human's, so I'm *guessing* that may play a part. I'm glad you got something, and I sure hope it helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GailV Posted October 15, 2013 Share Posted October 15, 2013 I hope you find something that works. We had a cat on thyroid medication at one time; she took pretty much the same dose as a friend of mine on the same medication. It was odd to think of it in those terms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
torikei Posted October 15, 2013 Share Posted October 15, 2013 Have you tried Feliway? It's kitty pheromones that you plug into the wall. It's supposed to be calming. It has helped our cats. We buy it from amazon as it's less expensive than going to vet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jackie Posted October 16, 2013 Share Posted October 16, 2013 We used amitriptyline for one of our cats that seemed to have major anxiety with some resulting behavioral issues. It worked great for him, within a week or so of starting the medication the majority of behaviors would resolve and he would seem much more like a typical cat. With our vat's permission/support, we would wean him off of it after a few months, keep an eye on symptoms, and restart it when symptoms resurfaced. I would say he was taking pills probably 1/4 of his life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs_JWM Posted October 16, 2013 Share Posted October 16, 2013 We used amitriptyline on one of ours, too - just as Jackie did, we would use it when we needed to per her symptoms. It was a great help! She was probably on it for two or three two-week periods over 10 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DianeW88 Posted October 16, 2013 Share Posted October 16, 2013 No, but I have a couple that probably should be. :glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuPanda Posted October 16, 2013 Share Posted October 16, 2013 Thread Title of the Day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lizzie in Ma Posted October 16, 2013 Share Posted October 16, 2013 I have no idea but you might try checking out My Cat From Hell, he has helped with some pretty crazy animals. I got some great ideas from him that helped our tuxedo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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