? Kitty prozac (?) and pheromone diffusers

[Deborah & Shasta]

I would appreciate any/all advice, help, and input you can give...

Back story (sorry it's a long one): A year ago, I found an abandoned black cat across the street from my house. She was skinny and chatty and friendly. I took her home, fed her, and started looking for her family that had to be super worried about her whereabouts. A few weeks went by and no one claimed the stray cat, so I named her Remi, got her microchipped, and vaccinated (she is approximately 4 years old now). In the midst of all of that, I said a tearful goodbye to my sweet diabetic Shasta. All was going well with Remi, except I noticed that she would growl at the horses in the pasture next door, as well as my little outside feral, Mamacita. I figured that she suffered from PTSD from being dumped outside and fending for herself. Fast forward to May: while helping friends care for an abandoned litter of kittens...I fell in love. I ended up bringing 2 of the kittens home...Linus & Lucy. They've been living in my spare bedroom ever since I brought them home...they are approximately 8 months old now.

I knew that introducing Remi to the kittens would take time and lots of energy, but now I'm starting to wonder if this can ever happen. I've tried several techniques to introduce them...the baby gate with towel over it...feeding them on either side of gate...nothing has worked. I bought the Feliway Pheromone Diffusers and that seems to have calmed Remi a bit, but not enough...she will still charge the baby gate, hissing and growling. Also, she gets a Zylkene capsule once a day...seems to help, but again, not enough.

This past Monday night, my feral cat and either a neighborhood cat or raccoon got into a fight outside my kitchen window. Remi (strictly indoor cat) looked like she stuck her tail in an electrical socket...poofied her whole body. She was crouched, ears back and growling. I ran out to break it up (ended as I ran out...neither animal to be found...Mamacita turned up about 10 minutes later). I have no idea the kittens reaction to the noise as it took me a while to get to them. Since Monday, Remi has lunged at me once in an aggressive manner and bitten my hand once when I picked her up.

The kittens have been different, too...but I think it's due to the diffuser running out of juice. When the diffuser is working well, Linus is chill and a bit standoffish but he doesn't run from me and Lucy is the most amazing snuggle bunny like she was when I first met her. When it runs out, Linus become the snuggle bunny and Lucy is standoffish and afraid of me. This freaks me out so much. I understand how diffusers/pheromones work, but here is my concern w/ regards to diffusers: I fear that it has truly altered Lucy's state of mind. Before I plugged in the first diffuser, she was a happy-go-lucky kitten and now, without the diffuser, she fears everything...noises outside the bedroom, she fears me, etc. I put in a new diffuser last night and this morning she loved on me and by this afternoon, she cuddled me so much I was dying of heat because she wanted to lay on my chest!

I do not know what to do...put the diffuser back in keep buying more and more and be happy that Lucy is wanting snuggles, but knowing that if it runs out...she'll fear me?!?!?!?!?! Or leave it out and see if I can't win her over with love and kindness and treats?!?!?!?!

Kitty prozac: Linus & Lucy have an appointment with the vet on Friday to get microchipped. At that time, I will ask him to prescribe Remi a kitty prozac/anti-anxiety med. Before going there, I would love anyone's input with regards to these meds. Are there any anti-anxiety meds that I should refuse due to long term health problems? Side effects? Are some meds better than others? HELP!

Any other help or advice is truly appreciated. Ultimately, I'm worried that I will never be able to integrate the kittens with Remi. I have feared that she will try to kill them. When my sweet feral kitty comes and sits outside my kitchen window, Remi goes at her (via the window) like a ton of bricks. I'm beginning to think her mental state might be why she was dumped.

Thank you, in advance.

 

[Jess and Marky Mark]

I don't have any advice but just want to offer a huge hug.

 

[Deborah & Shasta]

I don't have any advice but just want to offer a huge hug.

Thank you!!!!

 

[Deborah & Shasta]

Remi


Linus


Lucy

 

[FurBabiesMama]

What a situation! Sorry that I cannot help, but I just wanted to offer you a hug, too.

 

[JanetNJ]

It took a good six months before I could let Julie(a stray) be around my other cats, so I know what you're going through. She also HAS to have a feliway diffuser or she's super reactive. Sent me to the hospital once too. I have three diffusers going. I haven't used Prozac but discussed it with the vet. Fortunately feliway works just enough to take the edge off. She still doesn't like other cats but it is so much better. I can always tell when one runs out. Try the one for multi cats.... I feel it works beget to help them get along. I buy them 6 for $60 from Amazon. Worth every penny. I always have at least three backups.

 

[Tracey&Jones (GA)]

I have a civvie who was a stray for about 3 years before being caught and adopted by us. She started off ok and was introduced to the resident cats and dogs slowly. She slowly integrated and everything was going along fine for about a year. Then "something" happened. Not sure what. She started to house soil. Once discovered we cleaned everything like instructed. Used nature's miracle to soak everything that was marked. Sprayed where she was marking with no spray products. We did introduce the pheromone diffuser - in fact I have 3 in the house. It helped but did not cure the house soiling. We took her to the vet and had 2 tests done looking for UTI issues. Nothing. We ended up using clomicalm. 5 mg daily for about a year. Things got better. She got better and actually started to calm down and mellow out. We have since dropped it to 2.5 mg daily. We did try to do 2.5mg every other day but we had some breakthrough house soiling so we ended up going back to daily.

Overall, the diffuser seem to keep a house of 4 cats in a happier place and I still use them. I can tell when they run out.

Specific to your situation: it sounds stressful for all the kitties. Maybe the diffuser helps Lucy/Linus feel more relaxed about the situation. Some kitties need cuddles to feel better and others don't. Jones is stand offish until his tummy hurts then he is pretty snuggly. Remi sounds like she has been through some drama in her past and things have changed a lot in her world over the last year.

I hope you find a workable solution for everyone.

 

[Larry and Kitties]

I have used generic Prozac on one of my cats because of aggression. It seemed to work since no more biting other cats. After 2 years I discontinued it all all was still well.
At that time generic Prozac was on the Target (and others) $4 prescription list. $4 would get me 2 months/60 days. It takes a month or so to see its effects.

 

[Deborah & Shasta]

Thank you all for your advice and reassurances. I swear Remi would have so much fun with the kittens if she'd just accept them!!!! She hears them in their room, playing and bumping into things and all of a sudden she gets the zoomies!!! Thanks again!