Cats and Xanax?

[cstanley]

Hi, 

I'm Christy and new to the site....one of my cats Sugar is have some "over grooming issues" to put it mildly and my vet and I have discussed putting her on the same thing (I think)...an anti-anxiety medication like Xanex to chill her out a bit....the vet is still holding off on it for now but it seems to me it is becoming more prevalent...I hope everyone's kitty's do well on it.

 

[tina23]

I can't speak to the xanax but we did end up giving my Tucker Amitriptyline  for his hyperathesia.  It's also an anti-anxiety drug - not sure if it is stronger or weaker than xanax???  He has been on it now for about 1 1/2 years and is doing great.  No signs of him mutilating his tail anymore and he isn't zombied out at all (which was my big fear).  He is back to being perfectly normal now as long as he stays on the meds.  

Having had to diagnose my cat myself because NONE of the vets I took him to could tell me what was wrong with him, I think you are right in questioning the vet on the xanax.  If the drug and/or dosage doesn't seem right to you - trust you gut and ask more questions!!  I blindly listened to 2 different vets (and my husband) tell me that the only way to keep my cat from chewing off his tail was to amputate it.  WRONG  We did amputate and he still persisted on trying to attack himself.  It was absolutely heartbreaking and I still have huge guilt and regret over doing it - even though my cat doesn't seem to care in the least that his tail is gone.  Anyway, the day I took him in for surgery, I knew it was the wrong thing to do and I literally bawled when I got home but I didn't trust my gut and stop it.  My mistake.  

Ask many many questions if something doesn't feel right to you.  Good luck with your kitty!

 

[barbb]

1mg is way too much xanax for a cat. Most people are never given that much in one dose!

Also xanax is only in your system for 6 hours. I don't think this is a safe medication for a cat. It is highly addictive and will cause severe withdrawal when it is stopped. 

 

[finnlacey]

Barb those were my thoughts too. It's way to strong and addictive. 

 

[goober]

My vet placed my 17yr old Maine coon cat on xanax @.50mgs and she staggered around and fell down with every step-that was scary-Now he has now reduced it to .25mgs and she is doing much better. No more yowling for hours at a time when I'm out of her sight! (She also has spinal stenosis and cannot get up the stairs.)

She is suffering from a cognitive disorder similar to human Alzheimers and gets panicky and lost if you're not right in front of her when she awakes.

The vet also said that cats metabolize xanax much as humans do. It has helped tremendously for both Goober and the household.

I'd rather she be comfortable  and stable for the time she has left than in a panicked state for hours on end.

She's even began to play with her favorite bell again which is a blessing in itself. and, yes, it's given her the munchies bigtime so that has to be monitored.

Follow your vet's advice.

 

[barbb]

You could give a cat less than .25 mg and he/she would still be very medicated. Most people will lose considerable stress or anxiety with .25 to .50 Xanax, unless you are close to 200lb, then you would not respond much to the .25 dose- but seriously, a 200lb person would feel fine with a half milligram of xanax. I don't even think they make Xanax pills in doses larger than 1 mg pills. 

Goober, you could give your cat half of that .25 dose, or even a crumb sized amount, and she would feel just fine, seriously! Like the poster above said, humans are started out on .25 mg even with panic disorder.

Also, like I said above, be very careful about not stopping it suddenly or she will experience severe withdrawal. 

I am amazed that vets are prescribing this and in these doses, it is a highly controlled substance for people. I think it is very irresponsible on the part of vets to give it out without more information or instruction. And I strongly doubt this medication is approved for use in cats. I am not saying it doesn't work- I am just saying the precautions for humans are enormous and it is wrong for vets not to use equal or even double caution in instructing kitty parents of its dangers and how to use it correctly i.e. tapering the dose if it needs to be stopped, etc., on behalf of our beloved pets.

 

[hersheys mom]

Update on the Xanax thread. After trying pumpkin, rice, probiotics and everything else we could think of,  I decided to put my Burmese feral on a very small dosage of Xanax. She has had explosive diarrhea for a month, but is too feral to transport. She has had Feliway diffussing in her room, but it hasn't had much effect. So I called her vet and we discussed it. He suggested IF he were to give his 9 lb cat he would give her 1/8 mg for her weight (9 lbs). It is illegal for a vet to prescribe medication for an animal they have not seen here in California, so we were talking hypothetically. After 5 days her diarrhea is subsiding. She is playing with her toys. She chases the mouse on the end of the rope. As long as you don't try to pet her, she acts pretty much like any other inside cat. She is confined to one room, and will not be allowed out until she can be handled, at which time she will meet the "mysterious" cat she keeps smelling under her door.Xanax should not be taken lightly, and not given for long periods of time because it can cause liver damage in cats. Also, you must taper your cat off the drug, not suddenly stop it - to do so could be fatal. At 1/8th mg she functions fine, does not appear to be drugged, just more relaxed around this human creature. Good luck.

 

[mewlittle]

um ask your vet that on there next vet visit you don't want to give them something and end up calling for a emergancy vet appointment

 

[kittylover23]

um ask your vet that on there next vet visit you don't want to give them something and end up calling for a emergancy vet appointment

I agree...wouldn't risk it!

 

[gregr7]

hello i am new to this site and have read your posts on xanex for cats.

first of all, never give a cat a medication that has not been prescribed by a vet.  a low dose for a human is possibly a high dose for your cat.

xanex is what i refer to as a quick fix think about it later medication.  for example if a human has a deathnin the family and is not dealing well usually a doctor will wrire a two week to one month supply so on those days your feeling blue xanex will take away some of that mental pain.

however it is higly addictive which leads me to my statement bout cats.  you can not give your cat xanex for a few months, then when the problem of why you gave it to him in the first place has stopped.

your cat can have withdrawl symptoms such as grand mal seizures and potentially die.

so the better first option is to figure out what is causing my cat to behave in this manner.  try to fix that instead of covering it up with xanex.  if it is something like you bring a kitten into your home and your ten year old cat acts up, he may never stop and they might just end up hating each other.   but giving the older cat xanex because he is not being friendly is not the answer because you caused the issue.

trust me xanex is not something to be taken so lightly.  i rescued a cat today from a famiky whom had a mutual friend drop him off.  well they forgot to mention he is on xanex and just did not gice it to him in the am.  by the afternoon when i got him i said this cat is shaking and looks like he is about to have a seizure.  we gave him a pill and in about 90 minutes he physically was better.

so before you decide to give xanex to your cat it could be life long and under no circumstances do you just stop giving it to him unless under vet care with a process of lowering doses over time.

i am not a vet.  seek knowledgeable advicd from one.  also keep the pills locked up if you have teenage children or even college, xanex is a very sought out drug to be used to get high.

 

[gregr7]

why dont you have the vet come over or contact a traveling vet to give an iv injection of valium that is the safest way

 

[ginncole]

My vet gave these to my cat. At first they were great, but as time persisted side effects came. One thing you have to remember is that there senses will be off such as landing on their feet from a high jump and you have to be very careful because your cat will act like the drunk girl at a party =) Another bad thing is that he is fixed and every time he took them he would try to mate with our female cat, and sit by the door and cry to go "out on the prowl" LOL but like every drug it is going to have it's side effects and different effects on different cats.

Hope that helped.

 

[barbb]

Honestly, even 1/8 mg of xanax is a very large amount. When I was given xanax, at first I got 1/4 mg twice daily and then I was given 1/2 mg twice daily and that right there is a regular dose, and i weigh more than 9 lbs, I am 5'9" and 145lb. To give an equivalent dose to a cat, you would need to scale back and provide 1/16th of the dose I was given, which would be what, a crumb? 

If it were me, I would ask for a 1/4mg dose pill (and with xanax they actually make pills in that dose) and then I would cut off the tiniest amount of that pill that I could manage (use a pill cutter).  1/8 mg would be a HUGE dose and your cat would feel extremely high. 

Also as the other poster said and the OP as well, xanax causes extreme withdrawal if you end it quickly. 

I can see the temptation to give this kind of med to a cat that is anxious, but am not sure why the vet would give a dose so very high. Also be aware that xanax is only in your system for 6 hours so unless kitty is getting it at morning and night, she will feel anxious within a 24 hour period. 

Even hospitals do not generally dispense xanax to patients bc of the short 6 hr span in the body. They use ativan instead. 

And like I said in a previous post, this is such a controlled substance for humans. The vet is being irresponsible to give it this way. I have wished many times that I could find the equivalent for my cats, but as someone who has taken it, and knowing how powerful it is as well as the anxiety if you do not take it a couple times a day, I could never in good conscience give it to my cats, including the pee cat who ruined most of our furniture augh. 

 

[nikitty69]

The reason cats can handle the same dose of medication as a human can even though they are so small is because they metabolize medications much differently than humans do. I had the exact same concerns as you all do and asked my vet the same exact questions and he put all of my concerns to rest by explaining that to me. My just taking the time or spending the money to go to the vet you will find the same thing, I know that isn't always possible and that is why I wanted to put this on here. I hope that helps. 

 

[holly jennings]

Xanax will do that to anyone not used to it. I would cut that in half and see how they respond.

 

[holly jennings]

I have a feral cat in my home about 12 weeks old. She has a very infected eye. I tried to put drops in it and did  that all wrong. It's been 5 days and she's more comfortable if I can get another outside cat to come in. But I'm giving her tiny pieces of xanax in her food when I can manage to,

hoping I can wrap her in a towel and try to treat her. Can't afford a vet. I had to take a little myself just to calm down enough to try this. I'm terrified. But I'm more worried for her. She's about 4 month's old and the runt. I don't think I've ever seen her without her messed up eye. Wish me luck!

 

[bellel]

First, let me start off by saying that I have major anxiety disorder. I take 1-3 tabs (1 mg each) per day. So I understand this drug. Now, my mom can take a baby aspirin and it makes her fall asleep. Like humans, all cats are different.

Case in point: I have 2 cats on Xanax due to stress and behavioral issues. Tater Tot was aggressive, so we put him on Buspirone and Xanax. Let me point out that Tater is also very fat (due to the steroids i just had him on for IBD). The vet's instructions were ".5 mg or less." My cat is a fatty so I thought I'll try the full dose. Big mistake. He came down with dysphoria and lots of wobbliness. So with each dose, I titrated down. He now takes .15 mg and I'm considering going down to .1. With him, he just needs enough to take the edge off. It has been a very stressful 6 months for all of us and this is a temporary solution to help us all get through some major transitions.

Then there's Pie. Pie was being attacked constantly by Tater to the point that he got a UTI because he was afraid of using the potty box (that was Tater's favorite place to attack him). So Pie is getting Xanax as we restructure roles and continue the transition until he and Tater get acquainted again. Pie isn't as heavy as Tater but gets .25 mg of Xanax. That's the dose that seems to work the best with him. It doesn't make him wobbly or give him dysphoria. I also don't give it to him everyday. It's prn (as needed).

Again, all cats are different and you have to titrate to make sure your cat is given the best, lowest dosage for him/her. I suggest getting the Xanax compounded so that titration is easier. That helped me figure out Tater's dose.

And yes, 1 mg is way too high even for the fattest of cats. Even though cats metabolize meds differently from humans, this is one case where 1 mg is a high dose for cats and a lot of people.

 

[darkhorse321]

DO NOT GIVE XANAX TO CATS!!! It's toxic at our levels!!! Please go to a vet and discuss medications with a qualified professional and get the right dose and drug. They have kitty prozac available. Please, you may be doing your cat serious damage right now!!!

 

[bellel]

DO NOT GIVE XANAX TO CATS!!! It's toxic at our levels!!! Please go to a vet and discuss medications with a qualified professional and get the right dose and drug. They have kitty prozac available. Please, you may be doing your cat serious damage right now!!!

edited because I thought Darkhorse321 was talking to original poster: Holly, do not give your cat xanax without consulting a vet!

 

[da hoomin]

I'm wondering if the vet meant POINT one mg?? 

Just 2 more cents - I weigh 190# [unfortunately] and am prescribed for up to two mg of xanax three times a day. Used AS NEEDED instead of as a scheduled medication, I've been able to go up and down on the dose with no ill-effects. Everyone is different - human OR feline.