# Blood work to be put on kitty prozac?



## KatBudz (Jun 18, 2009)

Ok so here is the story,
I went with my 5.5 year old female Kiichi to the vet about two months ago for peeing outside her LB. Did a urinalysis (she does have FLUTD and is prone to them, I feed only canned food with extra water), and it came back negative. The vet gave me 14 days of clavomox anyway(sp?). My vet said he suspects it is behavioral this time because we did get a puppy in february and the cat doesnt like the puppy yet (puppy gets really excited everytime the cats come around and she starts chasing them). So since he said it is most likely behavioral, if she did start peeing again he said i could just come back without the cat and he would perscribe a months worth of the kitty prozac without seeing her again.Anyways, the past maybe 3 weeks, she started pulling out some hair around her stomach and the pulling spread halfway down her inner right leg, its not bald yet, but hair is missing, which has me VERY worried. I called the vet today and explained to the vet tech how my vet said he would give me the medication without having to bring my cat in again because she gets even more stressed when I take her there. She talks to the vet, and he claims he doesnt remember saying I could just get the medication, and that i would have to bring in my cat to get blood work done before she can go on the prozac. Is this true? I feel like they are just trying to get more money out of me, because last time he said she didnt even have to come in because he already assumed it was behavioral. I cant keep bringing her in, and I dont want to have to pay the 65$ just for her to see her, then the fee of drawing the blood and then the fee of testing the blood, and THEN the fee for the medication, that is ridiculous and it would cost me well over 200$ which makes me angry. So can anyone tell me if she really does need a blood test to go on the medication? Because my friend, who took a university course about animal healthcare and nutrition a few years ago said that a blood test is not needed and that they are just trying to get as much money out of this as they can. So I would love a second opinion from anyone here. Thanks in advance, I *really* appreciate it!


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## laurief (Jun 22, 2008)

First of all, any competent vet will NOT prescribe Prozac or any anti-anxiety med without both a clear understanding AND commitment on the part of the owner to adhere to a consistent program of behavior modification in addition to the med. These meds are NOT silver bullets, and they do NOT work independently of behavior modification in effecting positive change in an animal's behavior. In the case of your cat, it seems a good bet, in light of your explanation, that her behaviors are stress-related due to your puppy being allowed to chase and harrass her. If you want to help Kiichi recover from her stress, take control of the pup and don't allow ANY MORE CHASING.

That said, Prozac should not be given to animals with liver disease, kidney failure, hyperthyroidism (or taking thyroid medication), glaucoma, seizures, heart failure, or abnormal heart rhythms. So it is prudent for your vet to, at the very least, run basic bloodwork to check her liver and kidney health. You're lucky he's not insisting on a full cardiac workup, as well. Prozac is not a benign drug and should be treated with a great deal of caution and respect.

Laurie


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## KatBudz (Jun 18, 2009)

Thank you for your reply Laurie. She had blood work done last year in February, and everything came back fine, but I guess I should get it done if I do put her on the prozac. I have tried several different options to relieve her stress, I have purchased 4 extra scratching posts so she has more places to escape to, now I have 8 posts in total, one being 8 feet tall, and the others between 4 and 6 feet tall. I have tried both feliway plug-ins and herbal plug ins, I stop the puppy right away when she starts chasing the cats, I put in extra play time to let her run around and relieve any stress, I scoop the litter boxes twice a day (I have 3 very large ones for my two cats), and give her hiding places like cat tents and stuff away from the dog. I have one more thing I can think of trying, a pet store by me sells a herbal anxiety oil or something that you drop into the cats mouth 3 times a day. I am going to buy it on friday and hope she lets me give her the right dose, its 5 drops 3 times a day, so i will have to see if she will allow me to drop it in 15 times lol. Thanks again for the reply


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## jusjim (Jun 30, 2009)

How does the puppy start the chase? Does it put its paws forward and nose to the floor? If so, it just wants to play, so its not a cat chaser (although some dogs are). I doubt Prozac will do the cat any good unless you remove the stressor. An anti-anxiety drug will probably be better but they are in a resticted catagory. But even then you'd still have the puppy problem.


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## catzkc (Feb 17, 2009)

I have a kitty that we put on Prozac last fall. I had been reluctant to go the medication route, but after I did it I wished I had done it sooner. Yes, the vet did need to do preliminary blood work to check liver function, kidney function, etc. I expect we'll need to do that again at about the 1yr mark. Laurie's explanation for the need of the bloodwork was right on, I can't put it any better!


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## dragynflye (Jan 28, 2010)

you need to train your puppy. PREVENT it from chasing the cat, not just stop it once it starts. until you train your puppy that chasing the cat is not acceptable, your cat will be constantly stressed. your puppy needs to be supervised at all times. when you are not actively watching him, give him a safe space (such as a kennel or puppy proofed room) and confine him. keep him leashed to you while in the house (especially around the cat). this will help him learn all kinds of appropriate house behaviors, as well as allowing you to be more aware and able to curb unwanted behaviors (such as cat chasing) faster. don't allow the puppy to become too focused on the cat. when the puppy and the cat are in the same room, get the puppy to focus on you. use treats and lots of (calm) praise when he is calm, and simply say "uh oh", and walk away when he gets too excited or tries to chase. leashed to you, your puppy learns to look to you for guidance, left to his own devices, he has to learn on his own. you can't expect the puppy to just suddenly learn "chasing cat = bad!", it will take work on your part. stopping him *after* he starts chasing is just teaching him it's ok to chase for a little bit, but *then* he has to stop. that's not going to help your cat's stress level at all.


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## laurief (Jun 22, 2008)

BRAVO, Nikki!!! You are absolutely, 100% correct. You typed almost exactly what I was about to type myself! The problem here is not Kiichi's behavior; it's the puppy's. Kiichi shouldn't have to "escape" from an unruly, undisciplined pup in her own home, and she shouldn't have to worry about being ambushed while trying to use the litterbox (which is an extremely vulnerable position for a cat). Knowing that this pup has had the opportunity to chase and intimidate the cats, it's perfectly understandable that Kiichi is avoiding the litterbox now.

The answer is not drugging the cat; it's training the pup. And at this point, it's likely to take a significant period of time to regain Kiichi's trust that she will be protected and safe in her own home. Until and unless she believes that the pup is no longer a threat, it's unlikely that her litterbox avoidance will resolve, drugs or no drugs.

Laurie


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## KatBudz (Jun 18, 2009)

I live in an apartment, and I have a very large living room. I bought two baby gates two weeks ago so I can close off the living room from the rest of the apartment, and put scratching posts on both end of the entrance to the living room from the kitchen so the cats can easily jump in and out of the living room when they want. The puppy does not chase my younger cat because he does not run away from her. She only chases kiichi because kiichi runs when the puppy gets too close. Kiichi still uses the litterbox to poo, and the puppy has never ambushed kiichi while using the litter box. I have never let the puppy run around without my supervision, and I do distract her and play with her whenever she is out in the living room. The puppy is 7 months old now, and from the time I got her home (when she was 9 weeks old) to when she was around 5 or 6 months, I did the umbilical leash training where she was always tied to me when I was around the house and outside for walks. I hired a professional dog trainer for a two hour session when she was 3 months old, which is where i got the umbilical training from and i learned to gain the puppies trust and respect. The trainer worked with Brad Pattison, the popular trainer from the tv show At the End of my Leash. She is a very well trained dog, just she gets too excited when she sees the cats, only the younger one plays with her and they run around playfully in the living room, while kiichi does not want to play with the puppy. She is not chasing kiichi out of being mean, she wants to play with her like she plays with my younger cat. And yes, the puppy does start jumping around and puts her butt in the air and her front of the ground in the playful position, and tries to interact with kiichi, but kiichi doesnt like it. Sometimes the puppy does get really focused on kiichi when she sees her on the opposite side of the baby gate, and she starts whining, but then I quickly distract her by getting one of her squeeky toys and then she just plays with me again. And its not that im thinking of just drugging the cat for an easy answer to her peeing, I just dont want her to be stressed out. I will try that anxiety/stress herbal dropper from the petstore though to see if that might help.


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