Prozac for cats?

Can anyone tell me about the effectiveness of Prozac on aggressive cat behavior? We have already tried all of the vet's suggestions except for the Prozac, but I think that it is finally time to give it a try.

The Archie man is way too aggressive with Marcie and Darcy to the point of them screaming and blood being drawn. Archie can't wear softclaws for the rest of his life. The vet already tried Depo Provera but it didn't even slow him down. He has been neutered since last October (when he was finally old enough for the animal shelter to do it). I think that part of the behavior is due to him being a kitten on the street until we found him and also he is a teenager now. But he has taken this way beyond play and it is really unacceptable.

No experience on the meds but why can't he wear soft paws?

I've heard good and bad regarding the effects of prozac, so I can tell you my experience, but I know that other people have had different experiences. I put one of my cats on prozac because she was peeing all over the house. The vet ran every test imaginable and checked out everything she could (teeth, possible arthritis, UTI, etc...) and it turned out that she just had a behavior problem. I was leary of the prozac but I was on the verge of losing my mind with the peeing so I tried it. It took about 2 weeks and the peeing stopped.

On top of the peeing issue, I also saw other improvements. Angelina has always been very clingy, and she definitely had separation anxiety, but 2 weeks after starting the prozac, it went away. She is still attached to me, but she doesn't cry every time I walk behind a closed door, or completely freak out when she thinks she's been left alone. Basically, any of the abnormal behavior regarding her attachment to me has disappeared.

And finally, she has been pretty aggressive since the day I brought her home. I thought that it was just her personality, and while I didn't particularly like it, I thought she was just trying to become the top cat in my house. A few months before going on the prozac she decided that she hated one of my other cats, and was VERY aggressive towards him - we had to keep them separated unless we were in the room with them. Now, on the prozac, she could care less that he exists, and her other aggression issues have stopped too (she had some food aggression and had to be separated from the other cats to eat so she wasn't beating them up every morning and night).

So while my initial problem wasn't aggression, the prozac DID stop her aggressive behavior. I noticed the change in everything about 2 weeks after starting it, and I think thats also when I realized that her aggression wasn't just her personality...it was actually a problem.

Yours sounds more aggressive than mine did, but I seriously consider prozac to be my miracle drug right now. I was always against medicating cats, but I was at my wits end with this, so I caved in...and I'm glad that I did. So in my opinion, it can't hurt to try it, but I do know that other people haven't had success with prozac so it may be a hit or miss thing. Good luck with your decision!

Originally Posted by catwoman87

No experience on the meds but why can't he wear soft paws?

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He does wear softclaws, but it is pretty expensive to keep 3 cats in softclaws all the time and doesn't help with him physically jumping on the girls or the underlying aggression.

My experience with Prozac wasn't very good. I originally put my guy on the med for marking. It didn't do a thing for that problem and it actually made him very angry. That said; every cat is different, just like people. I would go ahead and give the med a try. The worse that will happen is it won't work. It could just make a huge difference in your household and be the best thing you've done.