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my cat is catatonic on elavil

post #1 of 4
11/9/10 at 7:12am
Thread Starter 
one of our male cats has just started on Elavil this weekend to stop him from bullying another newish male in the household. He's been on it 3 days and now he seems noticeably dopey. He is eating and sleeping but that's about it. Waving a string toy in front of him isn't eliciting the usual response, just a lot of staring. He isn't playing with the other cats as he is wont to do, either.

He is still energetic when it comes to feeding times, so I think the pills are working ... just a little too well. I'm going to check with the vet but do you think we should be splitting the elavil pills in half for him?

We haven't even tried reintroducing him to the bullied cat as this sort of drug can take a while to take effect. But it sure seems like it's working, but I just wanted to take the edge off him, not blunt his personality! Any experience with dosage for elavil? He's an 18 pound cat, btw.
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post #2 of 4
11/9/10 at 7:53am
Yes, elavil makes cats dopey. Our experience with Spooky was that after about three weeks or so, she started to come back to life, and shortly was back to her normal, perky, playful self.

Others have not experienced that, and their cats remain dopey.

I've not heard of elavil being used for aggression. I guess if it makes the cat dopey, they're not aggressive though...
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post #3 of 4
11/9/10 at 8:36am
I know a kitty taking this for aggression, but his people keep starting and stopping the medicine, so it's not clear whether it is helping at all, as they never give the cat's body a chance to get used to it.

As LDG said the dopiness is normal, and with luck, your boy too will adjust and get hisownself back.

Check with the vet before messing with the dosage, splitting it into two daily doses might be a good idea, but don't do it without taking to your vet first.

And never just stop this medicine. It has withdrawal side affects, and must be tapered off slowly.

Please do keep us posted on how things are going.
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post #4 of 4
11/9/10 at 8:55am
Thread Starter 
thanks, i'll let you know what the vet says. the idea of using elavil for his bullying is that the other male is causing him anxiety, making his territorial urges kick in incorrectly. we have other male cats but for some reason he has singled this one out for abuse. he's always been high strung so we're hoping it makes him able to cope with the other cat just enough that he doesn't try to beat him up all the time.
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