Amiltryptiline withdrawal? Also, Rescue Remedy.

Has anyone weaned their cat off Amil?

My kitty had been on Amil for about two years in an attempt to combat what my vet thought was stress-related cystitis. I'm not sure if it helped the cystitis or not, but she was much calmer and not so nervous - once the initial two week zombie-cat side effects went away,

I've weaned her off it due to too many negative interactions with other meds, which she may be needing soon - I may have weaned her off it too quickly, but she was on a tiny dose - 1/4 of a 10 mg pill once a day. So, she's pretty much off of the receiving end of it - I'm not sure how long it stays in her system.

Has anyone experienced taking a cat off of it and having an adjustment period (like when I put her on it)? It's nowhere close to the same symptoms - or their severity - she's not a sleeping while awake zombie cat - but after she eats in the evening, she will jump onto my lap and hang out there most of the night, but doesn't purr - which is odd for her. She wants to be there, whenever she gets up and takes care of some business she comes right back to my lap, but the lack of purring is unlike her. Usually the lap time also means purr-like-a-madcat time.

Last night I ordered a Feliway bottle for my diffuser and some Rescue Remedy - I've never used Rescue Remedy before.

She has been sick but is getting better and almost her old self again -  she purrs in the morning, in the evening when I get home, before I feed her... but after she eats, she insists on being on my lap - yet silent as a statue, even when I scratch her behind her ears. Maybe it's nothing, or maybe she's miffed about just having had fluids (but that never stopped her from purring before). I don't get it.

Anyway - just a strange occurance, coincidentally timed. Wondering if the two could be related?

Also if anyone has yays or nays on Rescue Remedy, techniques, tips, etc... I'm all ears!

Thanks

My cat is on the ami. I tried taking him off of it and he started having accidents everywhere! I was ready to throw him outside as he was so bad. He even stood on my computer desk and sprayed the wall.
Needless to say he is back on it and will stay on it for the foreseeable future.

I was afraid he would hit an electric outlet and start the house on fire!

The accidents have completely stopped.

Good luck. Since ami makes you feel good the lack of purring may be because he doesn't feel as happy without the drug.

I'm not convinced the ami works to relieve stress alone. Antidepressants effect many different body systems. I noticed my boy does not strain as much when urinating and seems to be less painful while on the drug.

I tried it several years ago at the urging of my doctor and it made my ears ring terribly ! I couldn't stand it. It did help with sleep though.

Drugs are funny things. Melatonin puts me straight to sleep at night, yet the few times my mother tried it, it gave her horrible nightmares.

It is great if your cat can do well without it. I read somewhere that ami is generally considered safe for long term use in cats and at much higher doses than your cat is on. My boy is also on 1/4 tablet a day but was prescribed 5mg morning and night!

The vet also wanted me to try combining the ami with an antihistamine for my cats allergies. It made him too dopey.

I have no experience with cats and ami. However, I took it years ago and had difficulty coming off even though I was doing it slowly. I had headaches and nausea for months.

Probably moved too quickly with the withdrawal, but patience is not one of my virtues I really wanted to get it out of her system because she may need other painkillers, I think she could have arthritis in her back legs unless the antibiotics are giving her a very mild case of ataxia.

@Sarah Ann, she's been peeing everywhere for a long time now because of constant recurring urinary tract infections. So I don't think the amil was helping with that. Actually now that the main infection has been isolated I'm being treated, she's getting a lot better with litter box use *crosses fingers* I am glad that it is helping your boy with his litter box issues though! I think one quarter of a pill is plenty too, 10 milligrams a day is a lot.

It's very strange with the purring though, because it's only in the evening after she eats and after she gets her fluids. Now that she is feeling better, I think maybe she's getting too many fluids because afterwards she used to sit on my lap and purr with no problems, now she kind of sits there to let me know that she is annoyed. She purrs in the morning, she purrs when she is getting fed, she purrs when I come home and she first sees me...

I think maybe I will call the vet and see about giving fluids once every 3 days rather than once every other day, I think the infection in the kidneys is getting better - but I don't know if we still have ecoli present in there or not.

Cocheezie, Sorry you had such a hard time coming off of them, I think they're like old school tricyclic antidepressants. Maybe TMI, but I can't take antidepressants of any kind - Doctors have tried me on just about everything and I feel like my head is going to explode, even on tiny doses.

I am glad that she's off them though, ami has a lot of bad interactions - possibly even with herbal remedies. I'm going to talk to the vet about possibly putting her on Cerenia because I've heard a lot of good things about it, and it seems to touch upon a lot of her issues.

Thank you for your responses.

I just got the Rescue Remedy... we'll see how that goes, I still have to figure out how I'm going to get it into her. .

For Rescue Remedy, you can just rub it on the back of her ears. It will absorb through the thin skin there. I've had excellent results using it that way. When I take it myself, I put it on the inside of my wrist for the same reason.

momto3cats said:

For Rescue Remedy, you can just rub it on the back of her ears. It will absorb through the thin skin there. I've had excellent results using it that way. When I take it myself, I put it on the inside of my wrist for the same reason.

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Really, it's that easy? And you notice a difference in both yourself and your cat?
I thought I had to get her to ingest it in some way. I should have ordered two, I didn't know people could use it too! I'm a total stressball.

What is the effect on the cat? Just calming and not so nervous? That was the one plus with the amil, she has always been an anxious cat. The Med helped that a lot.

Wasabipea said:

Really, it's that easy? And you notice a difference in both yourself and your cat?
I thought I had to get her to ingest it in some way. I should have ordered two, I didn't know people could use it too! I'm a total stressball.

What is the effect on the cat? Just calming and not so nervous? That was the one plus with the amil, she has always been an anxious cat. The Med helped that a lot.

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Yup, it's that easy! It doesn't work the same way as traditional meds though, it doesn't last more than a few minutes. For me, it just makes me momentarily calm and able to think clearly, so I'm better able to deal with whatever is going on. I've used it on cats and dogs that had been scared or upset by something, and I've seen them go from frantic to calm and normal instantly.

You can also put it in her water so she'll get a little dose with every drink. Just make sure she has plain water too in case she doesn't like the taste. (You can also take it in water or any drink, just sip slowly for a longer lasting effect.)

Thanks for the tip! I think I'll be giving it to her before her fluids... she's been a little feisty with them lately
Maybe I'll road test them on me first. And that's good to know that it has people use, sometimes at work I'll get hit with something that sends my mind into a quick spin out, and I can't think straight.

Very intriguing, thanks again!