Cats, like humans, can suffer from anxiety or depression, but often these feelings manifest themselves in behaviors such as compulsive licking, aggression or litterbox neglect. If you find that your feline has exhibited such behaviors and physical causes such as parasites and allergies have been ruled out, it may be time to consider psychological causes. The ASPCA's Pet Behavior Database reveals that compulsive licking and other behaviors can be a result of changes in the cat's life: addition or subtraction of another pet or family member, moving, and home remodeling, to name a few. Pamela Perry, DVM, of the Cornell University Feline Health Center, notes that if your cat is seriously stressed, a form of temporary anti-anxiety drug therapy prescribed by your veterinarian may be in order. Veterinarians have taken to prescribing human-grade Fluoxetine (Prozac™) to felines as an off-label use to treating these symptoms. While this makes for an easily-obtainable and inexpensive treatment, due to its availability in generic form, there is one significant drawback to the pill, and that is its bitter flavor.
Hiding the flavor is extremely difficult. Compounding the medicine into a chicken- or tuna-flavored liquid to mix into food may not be enough to fool most cats. Hiding the pill inside a treat or pill putty can be effective if the treat is small enough and the cat swallows it whole. If the cat bites the treat, rest assured, it will most likely spit it out. Transdermal preparations are possible, but they are also expensive and research is inconclusive regarding absorption into the body. Furthermore, applying a transdermal preparation to the ear, even if ears are alternated from day to day, can still potentially cause irritation to the skin. The only practical solution may be to pill a cat or give him or her the compounded liquid directly. This article is not to instruct the techniques for pilling or dosing a cat; there are plenty of instructions available through doing searches. Rather, this is a discussion of a few additional hints to make easier, whatever method you may choose.
Hiding the flavor is extremely difficult. Compounding the medicine into a chicken- or tuna-flavored liquid to mix into food may not be enough to fool most cats. Hiding the pill inside a treat or pill putty can be effective if the treat is small enough and the cat swallows it whole. If the cat bites the treat, rest assured, it will most likely spit it out. Transdermal preparations are possible, but they are also expensive and research is inconclusive regarding absorption into the body. Furthermore, applying a transdermal preparation to the ear, even if ears are alternated from day to day, can still potentially cause irritation to the skin. The only practical solution may be to pill a cat or give him or her the compounded liquid directly. This article is not to instruct the techniques for pilling or dosing a cat; there are plenty of instructions available through doing searches. Rather, this is a discussion of a few additional hints to make easier, whatever method you may choose.
First, do not administer the pill or preparation during meal times. Kitty may start to lose trust in you if you are repeatedly fouling dinnertime with “poison.” Wait until the cat is settled into another activity, in perhaps an hour or more, before your attempt. Fluoxetine is known to cause poor appetite; making mealtimes unappealing and uncomfortable will only exacerbate the issue.
Second, do not administer the medicine in kitchen or wherever your cat’s bowls are placed. Again, the idea is to separate this activity from normal feeding sessions such that the cat will not associate something traumatic with an essential daily activity.
Third, do not dispense the medicine via any food or treat that he or she is already taking. If the cat refuses the tainted food or treat, it may not return to eating it when the food is not dosed. The distaste may remain a cat’s memory for some time. This is especially important if the cat is already being administered other medications via these routes or if the cat is on a special diet where switching food types may not be possible.
Treating your kitty's illness may be a challenge, and you may feel helpless when your pet is unwilling to cooperate in daily dosing. There are many options for administering your cat’s medication, and it may take much trial and error before finding out what works for the both of you. That said, the aforementioned suggestions can help smooth out the process, keep it from getting more complicated, and prevent resentment on the part of your cat.
