Anyone have any luck with Prozac for marking?

Hello Everyone,
Jasper is 5 years old. He's always been an indoor/outdoor cat. About six weeks ago he got into a bad fight with a new neighbor cat. He was hurt really bad, with vet bills over $600. Since that time I have been keeping him inside, much to his dismay. He started marking all over the house and hasn't come up for air since. Our vet put him on Prozac 3 weeks ago. We started out with a very small dose and since have doubled it. He is currently on 2 ml once a day.

I'm about at my wits end with the urine cleanup. I've been just about following him around the house twice a day cleaning the stuff up. He does the marking mostly twice a day, early morning and early evening, the times I always let him go out. We are all pretty miserable right now and I'm feeling like a prisoner to cat pee. Aside from the marking he is crying for hours to be let out. I'm about to lose my mind.

I was wondering if anyone here has had any success with the Prozac. Our vet said they usually see some results by now so I'm pretty discouraged.

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

So, I guess there's nobody here that has ever had a cat on Prozac for marking.

Well, no one is posting but someone is reading so I'll give an update.
Jasper hasn't sprayed since early yesterday morning. Believe me when I say that this is progress. That said; I am knocking on wood right now as I know things could change in a blink.. I want to believe the med is working but what I really think is that he hasn't seen the neighbor cat in the past 36 hours. That's the cat that he was in the fight with, right next door. He often comes into our yard and when he does, Jasper goes nuts. So, time will tell I suppose.

I have another kitty so I suppose I should feel lucky that she isn't spraying too.

I purchased one of those kitty pee finder black lights yesterday. Hm. I did find kitty pee that I didn't know about. It's not as easy as it sounds to find the stuff. You really have to look hard. It took me a long time. Then again, maybe the light I got isn't the best. It was the only one the pet store had.

I do chase the neighbor cat out of my yard. Whenever I see him out there. What would you do in place of a medication for your own cat? This was a last ditch effort. My guy has been crazy upset and bouncing off the walls, spraying everything in site and howling day and night. The Prozac was given to him to calm him down, thus hopefully altering the spraying habit in the process.
I doubt anyone would want a cat to spray urine all over their house all the time. I'm thinking giving him a medication is better than re-homing (who would want him?) or having him put to sleep. I do know that people do that.

Look, don't be so quick to say "never" that's all. You can't see into the future. You really cant' say what you would do without living it.

It's ok. I do know that everyone has very different views on every subject pertaining to our babies. My vet consulted with a very good behaviorists before prescribing the med. We had tried all sorts of different things before caving to the med. The last thing I wanted was to turn my guy into a zombie or change his personality. He's ok so far. Today he is not as active and that kind of bothers me a bit. If that continues I will reduce the amount of medication. It's so hard to tell if he is having a crappy side effect or not. He's acting himself (aside from today). He's eating well, playing, still getting on my lap at night and is not aggressive nor lethargic. I was very worried about all of that. I did not make this choice lightly. I would not have done it all all but for the fact that he was so darn miserable and I just couldn't continue to chase him around with a bottle of anti icky poo. Granted, it's not over with. My vet told me it was going to be hard, as Jasper has always been an outdoor guy (he came that way) and he hates being kept inside. But I'm doing the very best I can. If I didn't love this cat he wouldn't be here.

Thank you. I've been reading everything I can find over the past weeks.
I wish the medication would do more to calm him but he's a bit head strong. He's always been a very hyper guy. He used to calm down around 9 in the evening. Now he's crying and running around spraying way after midnight. And he's back up and at it around 4 a.m. I'm tired.

Thank you. I will.

I was outside with a flashlight at midnight last night trying to see what was making my guy go nuts. He was going from window to window crying and in between stopping off here and there throughout the house to mark.

What I don't get is he never used to act like this at night. I never let him out after dark so it's not like he's used to being outside at that time of night. In fact, Jasper only went outside twice a day,early morning and when I got home from work, for about 45 minutes each time. That's all he wanted or needed. He just wanted to go mark his territory and then he would come back in. Now, he's crying to go out all the time. It has to be the new cat. It doesn't matter if the windows are covered or not. He still knows when the other guy is around. If I close the curtains he will just spray on them, as opposed to the window.

The behaviorist told us to use WD40 around the yard to keep the other cat out. We tried it but he was still coming in. I think the spraying occurs much more often when Jasper knows that cat is somewhere around the yard. Last night I couldn't find him out there but I know he was somewhere. I really wish people who have outdoor kitties would keep them in at night. And as much as I wanted and needed spring, I know this would be easier if there was snow on the ground right now.

I thought about introducing these two cats in a proper fashion to see if they might get along better but my new neighbors are not approachable at all.

I haven't slept a whole night in over six weeks. I'm very tired and a bit discouraged right now.

Thank you. Wow, that person had a hard time getting the med into kitty.
We have the liquid form that we just squirt in the back of Jasper's mouth. No foaming, thank goodness. He doesn't care for the whole process but it really only takes seconds and it's over with. I always give him a treat right after, just in case the taste of the medication is yucky to him.

Yes, Jasper is neutered. I don't know about the cat next door. My best guess is no. I can't put the fence up but I'm thinking about one of those "scarecrow sprinlers". I have read that they are pretty good. I think most of the problem is when the neighbor cat is in our front yard. If I can keep him out of there it may help. I'm going to go get the sprinkler this weekend. And keep my fingers crossed.

I don't think I would get a leash on him but I have thought about it. So far, going out with him is working ok. It's just that I don't always want to go out when he does.

The neighbor told me her cat was neutered. It was the first question I asked her. I have used the Feliway. It doesn't seem to work with this guy. He'll spray right in the spot I've used it. He does use the litter box. He's marking all over the house but he'll go downstairs to use the litter box. I have two cats and 4 boxes. I clean them every day.

I set aside time morning and evening for play. He'll play just fine. He's acting "normal" aside from the marking.

The vet told me to cut the prozac dose in half for one week then stop it.

I'm glad that you have success with the Prozac. Do you happen to recall how long it takes to work? Is it just the strays that effect your cats so much or is it something else about Spring?