OK, maybe some cats do need Prozac...
Posted on 01/29/2007 10:43:54 PM PST by Slings and Arrows
It was a classic case of clinical depression.
The patient would not go out for fear of being bullied, moped around the house and sought comfort in eating.
Eventually there was nothing for it. Twiglet the cat had to be put on Prozac.
The 12-year-old grey tabby, whose weight had ballooned to 15lb, became one of the first pets in Britain to be given anti-depressant drugs, on the advice of a vet who said she had 'anger management issues'.
And the results have been dramatic. Five months later, Twiglet has lost almost 7lb and is roaming around the back garden without fear.
"She became just like any depressed person," said owner Jackie Martin, 28, an office administrator from Brighton.
"She became so frightened she rarely ventured out and put on weight because she wasn't getting any exercise.
"I had to take out the cat flap and fit a bigger pet door because she couldn't squeeze through it any more."
The problems began last March when Twiglet came home with a broken tail and clumps of fur missing.
A ginger tom had chased her and even jumped through the cat flap to attack her in her own kitchen.
"When I took her to the vet I was told she had anxiety issues and depression brought on by the stress of being bullied by other cats," said Miss Martin.
Twiglet was prescribed the Prozac-like drug amitriptyline, to be taken once a day.
The vet also put her on a strict diet and Miss Martin sent a a note to her neighbours asking them not to feed her pet.
Despite her weight loss, however, what has cheered up Twiglet the most is that the ginger tom and its owner have moved away.
OK, maybe some cats do need Prozac...
Well, as there's nothing to the story that harms the realm [it is in Great Britain], or harms anything or anybody else, one could suppose that there's nothing wrong with this picture.
So it wasn't the drug so much as the tomcat removed from the tabby's life.
Yep. I strongly suspect that the drug could have been dispensed with altogether if the owner had 1) Kept her cat inside, and/or 2) Given the tom a good thumping when it came inside to assault her cat.
I wouldn't be too excited to go back out for awhile either. Sounds like ole' Twig got the slapdown. If this happened to my cat you can bet we would do everything as a family to build her back up and get her back on the saddle. Sounds like it is a good thing the Tom left. They can really screw with even the most confident of cats. A broken tail . . . dang, who wouldn't be a bit down for awhile? We've all had minor incidences similar to this. I think it is called character building in humans.
I was encouraged by the article until I read that...since I have a terrorized indoor cat...a sweet Ragdoll...being harrassed by my girlfriend's Bengal.
The Ragdoll had been de-clawed...I didn't do it...was like that when I got her. The Bengal is very sweet by very aggressive...a sweet juvenile delinquent.
I would love to sneak Prozac into the Bengal's 'fud'! ;^)
So far I've missed everytime I try to throw it at it. ;^)
Sounds like they were drugging the wrong cat.
Maybe I'm reading too much into this story, but it sounds like a parody of the British attitude towards crime and self-defense: Rather than fight back or go after the perp, they give therapy to the victim.
Agreed. Please see post #10.
If the bully cat moved away, they can take the poor kitty off of this prozac now....
I treat a good many cats with amitryptyline. It really helps when a cat is territorially marking when an outside cat is threatening them and/or their territory.
I had to put my aggressive female on Elavil so she would quit attacking my other two cats (one of which is a rescue with a back leg amputated)
The aggressive one (I'll call her "Princesssss") would attack when the others were sleeping! A little Elavil and the attacks have stopped.
We have an alpha cat situation in our home. The cat that sleeps on my chair and gets the food first is the alpha. Our tabby was older and took the title. She is sweet and cuddly. Meanwhile the siamese is gorgeous, aloof, and very aggressive by nature. We decided to lavish her with the attention. A fight ensued over the next few days and suddenly the siamese was on my chair, etc. Unfortunately the tabby was unable to give us love because the siamese would not let her. So finally, we gave the title back to the tabby by simply kicking the siamese off the chair and giving more love to the tabby. She regained her title as alpha cat and the house has been at peace ever since.
Our vet said that amitryptyline can harm the cat's liver...any other suggestions?
Arrrrrrrrrgh! Where's my Prozac!??!!?! Oh hell, the cat's got it!!!!
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