Clarita Posted April 11, 2023 Share Posted April 11, 2023 I couldn't find my original post. After trying more different litter boxes, shutting her in our shower, etc. we went to see the vet about a month ago. The vet checked the cat all out including looking for urine crystals. The vet ended up prescribing Prozac for the cat. Sorry for dismissing the person who suggested anti-anxiety medication, because 2 days after we started her on Prozac she started peeing in the litter box. Not only peeing in the litter box but also reduced the number of bathroom trips. She used to go 4x a day and the vet said that was a little on the high side and now it's 2x a day (like our other cat). Other things in her behavior that we thought were just fine have also changed for the better. So whoever needs to hear this yes Prozac for a cat not using the litter box. To us it was her only issue, but she is also getting along much better with our other cat (they had spats occasionally) and screams at us less during her dinner time. The other cat is also hiding less now (she used to come out during certain times of day so we just thought she was hiding from the kids). 22 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amy in NH Posted April 11, 2023 Share Posted April 11, 2023 I'm so glad to hear this positive update! We had litter box trouble a while back, and I tried Feliway, but that only seemed to make it worse. It took locking the cats in a bathroom with their food, litterbox, and cat-tree for two weeks in order for them to use it again when given free-reign of the house. Our anxious boy-kitty might benefit from some Prozac... hmmm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarita Posted April 11, 2023 Author Share Posted April 11, 2023 I did not feel like there were any other obvious signs she had extra anxiety other than the litter box thing. Hindsight is 20/20, but the other improvements without the litterbox issue to me were just cats being cats. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wintermom Posted April 11, 2023 Share Posted April 11, 2023 Thanks for sharing. It may be useful for dd's cat, who is going to be mad when dd moves out and can't take the cat along. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbollin Posted April 11, 2023 Share Posted April 11, 2023 We had a cat that needed prozac. Very thankful for a local compounding pharmacy that gave us a topical version. glad the vet figured out kitty's needs and cat is doing better. yeah!!! happy kitty 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El... Posted April 11, 2023 Share Posted April 11, 2023 What a good outcome! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stephanier.1765 Posted April 12, 2023 Share Posted April 12, 2023 Our cat, who've we had for a number of years, all of sudden started peeing on my bed and the peeing was almost a constant until she could pee no more. We thought for sure she had an infection and tried antibiotics but when that didn't work we tried amitripyline (an anti depressant). It's been a miracle worker! I hate forcing her to take medicine every day but it's either that or being forced to put her to sleep. So I totally get your relief over the effectiveness of Prozac. I am thrilled that your baby is back to her best self! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mindinggaps Posted April 13, 2023 Share Posted April 13, 2023 This is extremely curious and interesting to me. I had no idea they used Prozac for cats and that it can have such profound effects in animals. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarita Posted April 13, 2023 Author Share Posted April 13, 2023 On 4/12/2023 at 6:29 AM, stephanier.1765 said: We thought for sure she had an infection and tried antibiotics but when that didn't work we tried amitripyline (an anti depressant). It's been a miracle worker! I hate forcing her to take medicine every day but it's either that or being forced to put her to sleep. Same here because I know the medication is not without side effects for her, but when conversations of whether we should keep the cat or not. The answer feels clear. (Sure there are other non-medicine things we haven't tried but getting rid of our kids was not on the table.) 16 minutes ago, mindinggaps said: I had no idea they used Prozac for cats and that it can have such profound effects in animals. They are cautious about it because it is not without side effects and in an animal as small as a cat those really come into play. I guess they don't always prescribe it for life in cats for that reason as well. Also because cats are different than humans sometimes they need it to get over some mental hurdle and after you've successfully overcome that hurdle with the cat then they can go back to being un-medicated. (If their issues stem from a traumatic experience or a trigger that has been removed.) I just mention this in case your husband reads something about people taking their cats off of Prozac. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CindyH in NC Posted April 13, 2023 Share Posted April 13, 2023 On 4/11/2023 at 7:08 PM, wintermom said: Thanks for sharing. It may be useful for dd's cat, who is going to be mad when dd moves out and can't take the cat along. When our daughter moved to college 4 years ago we had to put her cat on Amitriptyline, and it made a world of difference for the poor kitty. It's so hard not to be able to explain things to the pets, isn't it? Dd's cat was so depressed that it broke my heart. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fraidycat Posted April 13, 2023 Share Posted April 13, 2023 4 hours ago, CindyH in NC said: When our daughter moved to college 4 years ago we had to put her cat on Amitriptyline, and it made a world of difference for the poor kitty. It's so hard not to be able to explain things to the pets, isn't it? Dd's cat was so depressed that it broke my heart. This is all good to know because DD is going to school in the fall. We have 7 kitties, but 1 (possibly 2, he loves everyone) of them have claimed DD as their person, so we will need to keep an eye on the for depressive or anxious behaviours. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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