# anyone used amitriptyline for kitty?



## fluffypechey (Apr 3, 2004)

Hi I have a foster kitten at the moment called Korky. He was feral, he has been with me for 3 months (now 6 months old). He is a very happy cat likes to play with the other cats and will play when I join in. However he will not allow you to touch him at all. You can imagine this makes things very very difficult to worm flea etc etc. After speaking to our vet he said to try him on amitriptyline which is a anti-depressent. Have any of you used this before? If so with what results? You can see Korky at our website Country Cat Shelter
http://www.countrycats.org.uk. Hopefully someone will be able to advise me if I should try this.


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## Misery (Oct 18, 2004)

My last cat had to be put on it because it was thought he was so nervous he was making himself sick all the time. I don't think it did much, as he was still progressively worse each month. Finally decided he was probably terminal and had to be put to sleep. The vet tried all kinds of things, but we never could figure out why he wouldn't pee and his health was declining.

Amitriptyline (Elavil) is a strong tricyclic antidepressant and those kind are usually "dirty". By dirty I mean they effect many different receptor sites in the body and brain. It's an antihistamine and anticholinergic drug with complex actions on serotonergic, alpha-adrenergic, and other receptors systems. As a human, the side effects are often horrible. It's the kind of drug a lot of people can't tolerate. 

As far as cats goes, I have no idea how it effects them, but I'm sure a low dose is okay, as it is in humans. Maybe some others here have a better answer as it pertains to cats. Good luck.


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## emma_pen (Nov 2, 2004)

My late cat was on Amitryptiline for the lasty year of his life, for urine problems. It did work for what it was prescribed, but I do not think it changed his personality much, it was such a low dose. I used it as a very last option, and would not use it lightly. It is an additctive drug, and can affect feline bodily organs such as the liver.
I personally do not think your current cat would benefit. He's still extremely young and frightened, it would probably stress him out more to actually medicate him. My advice would simply be to persevere with socialisation and handling.

Ems x


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## Misery (Oct 18, 2004)

Amitriptyline isn't addictive at all. No antidepressant is. A few of the newer SSRIs are very strong and do produce a withdrawal syndrome, but that isn't the same as being addictive. You won't crave amitriptyline.


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## MurphysMommy (Jan 13, 2005)

Amitriptyline is very addictive.

There are two types of addiction. Psychological and Physiological. Amitriptypline is Physiologically addictive: "...characterized by tolerance and by well-defined physiological symptoms upon withdrawal." It is not psychologically addictive, in such that you "crave" it.


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## coaster (Dec 1, 2004)

I still don't understand why a so-called "happy cat" would need an anti-depressant.


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## emma_pen (Nov 2, 2004)

I guess when I described it as 'addictive', I meant that it has withdrawal symptoms.

Tim, Bumper was a 'happy cat'. He never seemed anxious or upset. He had stress related urinary problems, and the Amitryptiline helped. He was always on a very low dose, 1/4 of a tablet daily. Like I said, it was a last resort, and it gave me one final very happy year with him


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## harley's mom (Nov 29, 2004)

we used Amitryptiline for our cat with aggression problems. It really helped a lot...but it didn't solve the problem. We ended up having to let kitty go live with my mom....no cats to fight with there!


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## Misery (Oct 18, 2004)

Here's why I say amitriptyline is not addictive, and don't think I'm being rude or anything, I just get picky about nomenclature that implies something negative about a drug that isn't true. Not all people or animals who take amitriptyline are going to go through withdrawal symptoms. I've taked a lot of antidepressants, even imipramine which is similar to amitriptyline, and I never had a withdrawal syndrome with any of them except Effexor. These medications are very useful for chronic pain, headaches prophylaxis and several mental disorders, so I don't want people to think if they're offered them in the future for a medical condition that they will get "addicted". It's simply not true.

Here's just four textbooks I have that define the nosology of addiction and how it implies a complete profile of abusive and dangerous behavior, including psychological AND physical dependence:



> The APA diagnostic system uses the term substance dependence instead of addiction for the overall behavioral syndrome. It also applies the same general criteria to all types of drugs, regardless of their pharmacological class. Although widely accepted, this terminology can lead to confusion between physical dependence and psychological dependence. The term addiction, when used in this chapter, refers to compulsive drug use -- the entire substance dependence syndrome as defined in DSM-IV. This should not be confused with physical dependence alone, a common error among physicians. *Goodman & Gilman's The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics 10th Edition, Chapter 24 Titled "Drug Addiction and Drug Abuse" pp. 621*





> Current definitions applied to the assessment of addiction, which have been developed by addiction specialists, characterize it as a psychological and behavioral syndrome in which there is drug craving, compulsive use, and a strong tendency to relapse after withdrawal. In addition to craving, the psychological component, or psychological dependence, often involves rumination about the drug and an intense desire to secure its supply. According to a task force of the American Medical Association, addiction is a chronic disorder characterized by "the compulsive use of a substance resulting in physical, psychological or social harm to the user and continued use despite that harm." Like other definitions, it emphasizes that addiction is a psychological and behavioral syndrome that is characterized fundamentally by (a) loss of control over drug use, (b) compulsive drug use, and (c) continued use despite harm.
> 
> There is great confusion among clinicians about the differences between physical dependence and addiction. Although physical dependence, like tolerance, has been suggested to be a component of addiction, and the avoidance of withdrawal (the sin qua non of physical dependence) has been postulated to create behavioral contingencies that reinforce drug-seeking behavior, most experts define addiction in a manner that fully distinguishes it from physical dependence. Use of the term addiction to describe patients who are merely physically dependent reinforces the stigma associated with opioid therapy and should be abandoned. *Substance Abuse - A Comprehensive Textbook, 3rd Edition, pp. 524*





> The "need" to use or to be dependent on a drug is an erroneous use of the term dependence (withdrawal). To be dependent on a drug in the sense of "needs" is not the same as to be addicted to a drug. An example of being "dependent on a drug" in the sense of need is digitalis in the treatment of congestive heart failure. An individual who discontinues digitalis will suffer from a relapse of the symptoms of congestive heart failure. A usual situation of an addiction to digitalis would suppose that the individual uses digitalis with loss of control that results in toxicity. An addiction to drugs and alcohol is a primary disorder that is positive, self-sustaining, self-perpetuating, and automatic, and probably not dependent on negative withdrawal effects for expression. *Addiction Psychiatry - Current Diagnosis and Treatment, pp.18*





> In much of the world literature on drug dependence, the term "dependence" is used to convey two distinct ideas: (1) a behavioral syndrome and (2) physical or psychological dependence. Physiological dependence can be defined as alterations in neural systems that are manifested by tolerance and the appearance of withdrawal phenomena when a chronically administered drug is discontinued or displaced from its receptor. Because of the dual use of the word causes confusion, the 1980 ADAMHA-WHO working group recommended restricting the term "dependence" to describe the behavioral syndrome and substituting the term "neuroadaptation" for the physical dependence. Such a substitution would have emphasized several points. First, the continued use of many drugs, including tricyclic antidepressants and beta-adrenergic receptor antagonists, causes neuroadaptive changes followed by withdrawal phenomena, but not drug-seeking behavior, on their discontinuation. Second, neuaroadaptive changes begin with the first dose of an opioid or sedative drug, and, therefore, such changes in and of themselves are not a sufficient cause or definition of drug dependence as a behavioral syndrome. *Comprehensive Textbook of Psychiatry, 6th Edition, Volume One, pp. 759*


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