Cats and Xanax?

[bellel]

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. 

Actually, the amount of xanax in a HUMAN is a great deal longer than 6 hours. 6 hours isn't even the half-life of xanax. The half-life is approx. 11 hours, which means that that single dose of xanax could still show up in the system 40 hours after that dose was given in HUMANS. Xanax is a powerful drug which is why HUMANS feel the change in the need for it in as short as several hours. It is also addictive, so you feel it because of that, too. You can't relate a cat's metabolism to a human's. The cat's experience with xanax could be completely different. I will be calling my vet on Monday to find out what the half-life is in cats because it's pretty apparent that the information produced by vets on Internet sites like WebMD is geared toward laymen and doesn't get as technical as talking about half-lives for meds in cats.

But again, I completely agree with everyone wondering why the vet gave your cat such a high dosage. Normal dosage in cats ranges from 0.125 to 0.25 mg. I think you need to reconsider the vet you are using and also get a second opinion from an unrelated vet. It could be that your vet meant to write down 0.125 mg or it could be that he/she is a complete idiot. Either way, you need to check with another vet.

 

[bellel]

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.
[/body]

This 6-hour span is actually incorrect and you're talking humans not cats. You can't relate a cat's metabolism to a human's. A single pill of Xanax regardless of dosage, has a very slow half-life. That single pill can still have presence in a HUMAN's body 40 hours after taking just one pill. So, no, it doesn't last only 6 hours. It just seems like that if you're taking it. That's because the drug is so powerful in HUMAN bodies that once the half-life starts we notice a little bit of a difference. The drug for humans is also addictive, so again we notice that half-life going down. The half-life is 9-16 hours. Please let me know if I need to explain half-life.

I will be calling my vet on Monday to find out what the half-life is in cats because it's pretty apparent that the information produced by vets on Internet sites like WebMD is geared toward laymen and doesn't get as technical as talking about half-lives for meds in cats.

But again, I completely agree with everyone wondering why the vet gave your cat such a high dosage. Normal dosage in cats ranges from 0.125 to 0.25 mg. I think you need to reconsider the vet you are using and also get a second opinion from an unrelated vet. It could be that your vet meant to write down 0.125 mg or it could be that he/she is a complete idiot. Either way, you need to check with another vet.

 

[maryvr]

This 6-hour span is actually incorrect and you're talking humans not cats. You can't relate a cat's metabolism to a human's. A single pill of Xanax regardless of dosage, has a very slow half-life. That single pill can still have presence in a HUMAN's body 40 hours after taking just one pill. So, no, it doesn't last only 6 hours. It just seems like that if you're taking it. That's because the drug is so powerful in HUMAN bodies that once the half-life starts we notice a little bit of a difference. The drug for humans is also addictive, so again we notice that half-life going down. The half-life is 9-16 hours. Please let me know if I need to explain half-life.

I will be calling my vet on Monday to find out what the half-life is in cats because it's pretty apparent that the information produced by vets on Internet sites like WebMD is geared toward laymen and doesn't get as technical as talking about half-lives for meds in cats.

But again, I completely agree with everyone wondering why the vet gave your cat such a high dosage. Normal dosage in cats ranges from 0.125 to 0.25 mg. I think you need to reconsider the vet you are using and also get a second opinion from an unrelated vet. It could be that your vet meant to write down 0.125 mg or it could be that he/she is a complete idiot. Either way, you need to check with another vet.

That's actually .125mg - .25mg per kg so 1mg is actually a quite normal dose for a cat. Remember, humans aren't cats and because of that, the .25 dosage that knocks you out may do nothing to your cat. Our entire digestive systems are completely different. The fact that humans can and do live healthy lives on a vegan diet shows such. Fun fact: Xanax is actually quite stimulating in some cats.

As for Xanax being addictive, it's generally prescribed for a cat under the assumption that the pet owner will carefully monitor dosing, and side effects and also the process weaning off the medication. Withdrawal side effects during this process are minimal if done correctly and especially if you're only giving it to the cat for 1-2 weeks.

TL;DR: Xanax is safe for a cat, given that you've gotten a prescription from your vet, you follow his/her directions and you monitor your cat.

 

[bellel]

That's actually .125mg - .25mg per kg so 1mg is actually a quite normal dose for a cat. Remember, humans aren't cats and because of that, the .25 dosage that knocks you out may do nothing to your cat. Our entire digestive systems are completely different. The fact that humans can and do live healthy lives on a vegan diet shows such. Fun fact: Xanax is actually quite stimulating in some cats.

As for Xanax being addictive, it's generally prescribed for a cat under the assumption that the pet owner will carefully monitor dosing, and side effects and also the process weaning off the medication. Withdrawal side effects during this process are minimal if done correctly and especially if you're only giving it to the cat for 1-2 weeks.

TL;DR: Xanax is safe for a cat, given that you've gotten a prescription from your vet, you follow his/her directions and you monitor your cat.

Not sure if I'm doing my math right, but that would mean that 2 of my cats', both 20 pounds, initial dosage would be 1.125 mg if we start out on the low end. Way too high of a dose. The higher the dose of Xanax, the higher the chances of dysphoria, aggression, and insomnia. If I'm reading this correctly, this would be a case of the pet owner knowing better than a vet (and yes I did check out your mg/kg recommendations). Do a search on the Web and you'll see many cats being prescribed a dose as high as 1 mg who experience many side effects. What these vets aren't telling people is that you have to titrate the dosage so that your cat gets the benefits of the medication without the side effects and having to be on a high dose. For one of my cats (20 pounds), that's 0.15 mg. For my other (20 pounds) on Xanax, that's 0.25 mg.

And if you notice, I did state information based on HUMAN'S because some posters on this thread were relating their own experiences with Xanax to their cats and if you read my post on 11/11 you'll see I said you can't do that (you can't even do that from cat to cat, because like Humans each cat is different, too).

Xanax CAN be stimulating for cats. But not for all cats and as stated above the higher the dosage the higher chances of excitability and aggression.

So, again, if given a 1 mg prescription, I would cut that pill down to the lowest possible and start there.