# Anyone ever used anxiety Meds for their cat?



## Kattt (Dec 20, 2008)

I'm curious to know if anyones ever put their cat on any anxiety meds such as prozac or anything similiar, and if it had any effects.. and what the effects were, good or bad? And if it helped or not.

My 7 year old female has been a scaredy cat all of her life. And when I say scaredy cat, I don't mean a mild case - I mean scared of EVERYTHING. And its progressively getting worse. 

During storms she used to only be afraid of thunder. But now she's even afraid of rain, and she'll hide under the bed. I let them out on my screened in porch, but she only goes out for a split second, and darts inside if a person so much as walks by, or a car rides by. I have to close my windows when the neighbors mow their lawn or if their dog barks, because she gets scared. She's terrified of my male cat that she's grown up with since they were both 6 weeks old. They have fought since about 2 years old, but the past couple of weeks she's so scared of him that she hisses and growls if she even smells him coming into the room she hangs out in. He doesn't even have to go near her - she has a fit just at the sight of him. She's not confined to the upstairs, but stays upstairs 95% of the time, because she's scared to go downstairs. On the rare occasion that she does go downstairs, she tip toes like somethings going to jump out and grab her. She's scared of most people, aside from the ones she see's on a regular basis. She'll actually growl and hiss, then run and hide when she see's someone she's not familiar with. She's hangs out with me in the computer room while I'm working all day, and then sleeps in the bedroom with us at night. Always by my side. 

And she's fine as long as I'm right there with her. But it worries me to think what if something ever happened to me, she would be so lost and scared since I'm the only one she lets touch her. We live in a calm, quiet house. 2 adults, and just the 2 cats. Yet she seems to live in fear of everything. I feel bad and don't know how to help her. She's mean too, and doesn't like to be touched or pet for the most part. And don't even think about picking her, up, she'd tear me up. She always wants to be in my face or right next to me, but yet has the "don't touch me" attitude. The shelter never told me she was feral as a kitten, but I'm certain she was. She has a severe wild/evil streak in her. One minute she'll be loving up to me, then the next she's viciously attacking my arm and biting me. She's bit me pretty hard many times, nearly breaking the skin. It's almost like she has a split personality, and just snaps for no reason at all out of the blue.

I've discussed this with my vet, who said she hates to put cats on anxiety meds, but will for extreme cases. And I've always been leery because of the addiction those meds cause. And she's already on daily meds for chronic constipation, which I half wonder if its caused by her high anxiety.

I've tried Feliway plug-ins, sprays, rescue remedy, etc etc. Nothing works. And since she seems to be getting worse instead of better, I'm really considering trying anxiety meds. But I don't want something thats going to zone her out into an oblivion, just something that would calm her so she's not so scared of everything. I love her to death, despite her meaness. But I don't like seeing her scared of her own shadow. It can't be fun for her living in fear of every little movement/noise. 

Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to give a full picture of how she lives, to see if anyone else has ever had a cat like this?! And what type of meds you would suggest, thats safe and wouldn't cause any health issues?! Any advice/suggestions would be appreciated.


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## marie73 (Jul 12, 2006)

I had Gigi on Prozac for 6 weeks. It was for aggression, and it did help some. The downside was no purring, no playing, no affection towards me. She was on a very, VERY low dose, too.

Now that she's off, she's SO affectionate and purrs when she sees me and wants to snuggle all the time. 

That said, every cat is different, there are different meds and doses.


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## Kattt (Dec 20, 2008)

Thanks for the reply Marie. Prozac is what my vet mentioned she would probably want to try her on first. I did read your other post about having to rehome Gigi. So sorry the Prozac didn't cure the problem atback As I previously mentioned, my 2 fight on a daily basis, so I know all too well about the daily stress of living with that situation. 

I believe my cats whole issues of constant fighting probably stems from my females fear of everything. She's aggressive to protect herself from whatever she's scared of (which is pretty much everything!). I can't even cough or sneeze without scaring her under the bed. She rarely ever purrs and isn't an affectionate cat as is. But she is quite playful at times, so it would be sad to see the playfulness drained out of her with drugs. 

I don't get it. She's lived in the same house her entire life, and has been extremely loved and spoiled. So no idea what she's so scared of. I guess I'll discuss all medication options with my vet and see what they can do for her. I don't want her to continue living in fear of everything, but I also don't want to turn her into a drugged out zombie either. So hopefully my vet can come up with a happy medium for her. It would be so nice to see her walk around fearless for once.


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## marie73 (Jul 12, 2006)

It may not take the playfulness away, I think every cat is different and you could probably work with your vet on the dosage or even drug type. It definitely sounds like it's worth a try, though. She's quite the enigma, isn't she?


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## doodlebug (May 13, 2006)

I wonder if it's just unexplained fear or since you mentioned that it's gotten worse...something medical. Since she has constipation issues, it's not far fetched to think that maybe she has some sort of regular pain, gas, digestive upset that is causing her to feel vulnerable.


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## Sinatra-Butters (Aug 9, 2010)

My mom has a cat like that - Rajah.

Rajah has been with us for almost 18 years and was brought into my mom's home with her sister, Meeka, and my mom later got Reese. Rajah was so scared of everything for so long that she hid under the bed almost her whole life, only coming out to cuddle at night, eat, and use the litter box. This happened to the point that our family friend who would take care of the cats when we went on vaca claimed that she didn't even exist. She never seemed very unhappy and the vet always told us that that was just her personality, very loving, but very afraid. Reese died about two years ago and Meeka died this spring. We were going to get a new friend for Rajah because we thought her sister's death might send this scaredy cat off the deep end since she has never been alone, but to our surprise, she changed. Since her sister died she has become fearless, rolling around on the ground, cuddling everyone, playing with toys, asking for people food, and chasing around my sister's weiner dog when she comes to visit. She really is acting like a kitten. Now, she may just be senile, considering her age, but we really think she was afraid of Meeka and Reese, even though Meeka was her litter mate and they were never mean to her. After almost 18 years we found out that all she wanted was to be an only cat, she just couldn't tell us. Maybe that's what happening with your girl. I'm no cat expert, just a cat lover, so I wouldn't take my word for it. The Prozac may help but I probably wouldn't get my hopes up for her becoming a fearless lap cat from it. I really hope you find your solution.


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## diamondpaws (Jun 27, 2010)

I made a thread about my cat being on anxiety meds a couple days ago, here it is
http://www.catforum.com/forum/38-health-nutrition/136553-anyone-have-there-cats-clomipramine.html

My cat is on Clomipramine, its an anxiety medication that I give my cat once a day and it takes about 3 weeks to kick it. 
My cat has been on it almost 2 weeks now, and I dont like what its doing to her so far..... But my vet said its ok, its normal, its the medication slowly kicking in and adjusting to her. 
But right now my cat wont purr, shes grumpy, lazy, and I have to drag her to go on a walk, and when she does she is slow lazy and wont go far. Shes just not herself  I am giving the medication 1 month, then if she is still like this we will adjust her dosage or pull her off and try something else..... But I am crossing my fingers it works in the end 

I did have a cat on Valume many many years ago and it worked AWSOME!!!! It was a shot and it lasted quite a while


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## Kattt (Dec 20, 2008)

Thanks for the replies. Diamond, thats sad about your cat, and similiar to Marie's experience. So it sounds like putting them on anxiety meds isn't a very good solution.

She was just checked out thoroughly by the vet, from bloodwork to xrays and ultrasounds, and they can't find anything medically wrong. The vet claims she's in excellent health. They even said her constipation is unexplainable, since she doesn't have megacolon. 

I just chalked her constipation up to the fact that she's a dry food junkie. I got her transitioned half way to a wet diet, and her constipation is completely under control now. So progress there.

I always feel so bad taking her to the vet, given her high anxiety. Poor thing had to have 3 enemas back in June. She cries and freaks out all the way there, and then pukes for up to an hour after getting back home. Makes me horrible! Unfortunately there are no home vets in my area, or I would have them come here. So I only take her when absolutely necessary.

She doesn't ever appear to be in any discomfort or pain, and runs around playing on a daily basis. Just stops dead in her tracks at any little noise or movement, and darts under the bed, sometimes for hours at a time. Couple examples - My cordless phone died, so I bought a new one. Everytime it rings she darts under the bed because she's not used to the new ring. If I set anything out of place, like something as tiny as the tv remote.. when she see's it she'll jump 10 feet in the air and dart under the bed, because it scares her to see something where it doesn't belong. Such simple life things, scare her to death on a daily basis. My male cat, nothing phases him. He's the complete opposite of her.

Sinatra - I have often feared what you said about your moms cat is the case with mine. She would definitely be happier as a one-cat household. I could never get rid of her though, because shes too attached to me, and a change in scenery would terrify her. And my male has FLUTD, so I would not trust anyone else to take care of his health needs like I do. Not to mention after 7 years, I'm too attached to both of them. So getting rid of one is not an option for me.

As long as we don't make any sudden movements around her, keep my male away from her, keep the windows closed, keep the storms away, don't move anything in the house, don't buy anything new and don't cough or sneeze... she's content and happy. Thats not too much to ask of us, right?! LOL She's unique, thats for sure. Gotta love her though.





I really need new pics, but here's little miss scaredy cat: 









And my sweet baby boy:


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## Sinatra-Butters (Aug 9, 2010)

They are too cute!! I really hope you find a solution that works for you!


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## Olivers-Slave (Jul 25, 2010)

I was giving anti depressants to my new kitty for a week to get her to eat and drink water and calm down. She was extremely skittish and freaked out over everything. Now a days she still runs if you startle her and she just was zoned out or something. But I repeatedly do things that startle her till she realizes nothing bad is going to come of it. (took me 3 weeks but I finally got her to be secure in eating out of her food dish in the kitchen where ronaldo and I walk by and make alot of noise) 

as for the bitting and such thing, oliver was a feral kitten, doesn't purr still, doesn't like to be touched but always wants to be where you are. He now a days is trying the idea of petting and trying to follow what my new cat does. How long have you had your new kitty? maybe she will calm down as she sees your other cat being calm around things that would otherwise scare her? **** oliver even tried purring the other day (it sounded like a serial killer breathing down my neck but lol he tried!) 

Another thing is how did you introduce her to the house? maybe a reintroduction (one room at a time) would be a nice thing to try to get her used to the house and noises of the world while in it. just ideas to help not really pertinent to the anxiety meds but maybe just different things to think about to help along with those meds.


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