I only sort of regret the day I said "yes"

Twice Ophelia has gotten upstairs in the past two days. Twice she has gone after Lily. I don't know what Lily was thinking, but she was not going to let Ophelia push her around. Both were puffed & their hackles were up. Neither was moving & there was no hair everywhere from a fight.

Twitch & Lily got downstairs last night. Ophelia went for Lily & Twitch wasn't going to have any of that. When Ophelia realized she was up against Twitch and Lily.....she got pretty small.

Ophelia is waaaayyyyy less aggressive. And Lily knows it & will finally stand her ground. I still regret saying "yes" to Ophelia, mostly because I could foster pregnant cats if I didn't have her. Heck, Ophelia even tries to attack Jade, who is 5 weeks. She is due for a re-fill of her Buspar soon, I'm almost out.

And we are also putting a new doorknob on the stair door so they quit getting through!

Hey! This is good news! Sounds like things are progressing from where they were. I'm really glad to hear it. Maybe after a while of toning down the aggression, Ophelia will learn some new behaviors that make life even easier. I truly hope so!

so Natalie, is ophelia on a behavior drug that is helping?

Yes. The Buspar is really working!

Good for Lily hopefully she keeps getting more confidence and keeps Ophelia behaving.

What is Buspar, how much does it cost, where can you get it and do you think it would work for my alpha who is terrorizing the male cat.. I'm trying to find a solution for the two of them...

Ummm....Ophelia gets a dosage of 1 1/2 pills 2x a day. It cost me $20.94(with tax) for 3 weeks worth when I got more. It is an anti-anxiety medication. That's about all I know.

Natalie, I'm glad your girls have made some progress! The new doorknob sounds good, though.

Originally Posted by CatsAreBetter

What is Buspar, how much does it cost, where can you get it and do you think it would work for my alpha who is terrorizing the male cat.. I'm trying to find a solution for the two of them...

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Another option is Prozac. I'm not sure of the technical differences in the effects of the 2 drugs (Buspar vs. Prozac)...I have heard of both for aggression AND anxiety...different vets just seem to have their preferences. My vet seems impressed with the long term safety of Prozac, that may be why she likes it so much.

A month's worth of Prozac pills (for the cat!) costs me about $12, whether I get it from the vet or Walgreen's.

Well, I just talked to my vet, finally, and she does not recommend Depovera, but said pilling might be an option. Of course, then there's the issue of having to do it everyday, so her favorite recommendation was trying a hollistic herbal remedy called rescue or resque remedy, and feliway (or some imitation thereof that might be cheaper). Pills sound like they'd be cheaper..maybe.. I think I'd have to dose two cats, but.. feliway is so expensive.

WCL, glad this seems to be working for you, at least to some degree.. I am feeling your pain, though. Keep me updated on how this is working for you. I think I'm going to buy a single Feliway tonight and see how it works.

Another option is Prozac. I'm not sure of the technical differences in the effects of the 2 drugs (Buspar vs. Prozac)...I have heard of both for aggression AND anxiety...different vets just seem to have their preferences. My vet seems impressed with the long term safety of Prozac, that may be why she likes it so much.

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My vet actually prefers Paxil over Prozac. He said Prozac is normally recommended, but he's found better results (in cats) with Paxil. It sounded like he still goes for Prozac for dogs.

I seem to be having some small success with the imitation spray of Feliway. I have yet to get the plug ins, since they're much cheaper online at Petsmart than they are in the store (by like $20). But the online petsmart is the cheapest I've found.