Lucy spits/drools out her liquid meds

81lives

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Lucy was prescribed Prozac because she continued to pee outside her box after having a UTI.  The vet hopes the Prozac will relieve her anxiety over going to the bathroom.

Lucy was very, very shy when I started fostering her, and even though she has come a long way since then (January 2011), she is still skittish by nature.  I put her antibiotics for the UTI in her food to avoid stressing her, and this worked like a charm.  However, she won't eat the food with the liquid Prozac mixed in.

So, I've been trying to give it to her orally, and not only does she fight me like crazy, when I do get the stuff in her mouth she drools and spits so much that I don't know if she gets any of it down.  The worst part is that she gets so freaked out that I feel like I'm chipping away at the trust I've built since I got her; I don't want her to be scared of me or associate being picked up with something scary.

Is there a better, less stressful and more effective way of doing this?  Any advice would be much appreciated.
 

ldg

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Well, she's probably peeing outside of the box because she associates the box with pain and/or she still smells her pee outside the box. This alone can encourage kitty to continue not peeing in the box. :nod: Often just properly cleaning up old cat pee IS the solution to peeing outside the box. :nod:

The first steps you should take are getting a black light, and going through your home to identify where there are pee spots that may not be properly cleaned. Then they should be properly cleaned. If you didn't use an enzyme cleaner, the stains have been "set," and may need several applications. If you did use an enzyme cleaner, you may have missed some spots. Here is a very detailed article that you may find helpful: http://www.thecatsite.com/a/how-to-remove-cat-urine

I'd also consider purchasing Cat Attract litter. It has an "earthy" smell, and is GREAT at helping most cats back to their boxes. :nod:

If you can afford it, I'd consider purchasing entirely new boxes, so they smell different. :nod: I'd even consider moving them to slightly different locations. If she's associating the litter box(es) with pain, these steps should help with that.

Another thing to consider if you can afford it is Feliway. Either the spray, or plug-ins. The plug-ins are expensive, but are great at helping reduce her stress.

You may find if you do these things, you won't need the prozac.

The prozac is very bitter, that's why she foams and drools. I believe it is available in pill form. That would solve this problem. But, quite frankly, if you can avoid medicating her for this problem, you might want to try the alternatives first.
 

sugarcatmom

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I agree with LDG! There are lots of other avenues to explore first before resorting to giving Lucy Prozac (especially since we don't even really know how it affects the cat brain). It would also appear that administering it is causing more stress than it's attempting to alleviate. Kinda defeats the purpose! If after trying LDG's suggestions you find that Lucy still has issues that may indeed be helped with Prozac, then at the very least get it compounded by a veterinary compounding pharmacy into something tasty like chicken or fish. Costs more, but it's well worth it for the ease of administration.
 
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81lives

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Thank you so much for the suggestions.  I'm sorry I didn't reply earlier--I have been swamped with exams and final papers this week--but I did want to update.  I stopped giving Lucy the prozac and tried some of the suggestions listed, and she has been peeing in her box like a good girl!  YAY!
 
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