As many of you are already aware via my previous post, we had scheduled our youngest kitty, Leo, for an appointment with our family vet. After a long, in depth consultation with Dr. Hoy, she agreed to allow us to try giving him 10 mg of Amitripyline. Amitripyline is a prescription drug used by many vets to aid in calming down indoor cats who suffer from severe anxiety issues and/or excessive hyper-activity/aggression. Some cat guardians also use this medication when they must travel with their cats, thus reducing the kitty’s stress level.
Unlike some other prescription drugs for pets, this one takes time to build up in the animals system and therefore usually takes a few days or so to see any type of affect or improvement. At this time, we are instructed to give Leo a ½ a pill once per day. Since we are always home in the evenings, we have decided to begin giving him his dosage before bedtime as to get him on a set schedule. Though they are rare, there may be possible side effects to look out for such as vomiting, dry mouth, etc. I, personally, know of a few people who have given their cats this particular medication and their cats have had no problems or medical issues with it what-so-ever. I am told that the only thing about Amitripyline is that you must be sure to be diligent when administering it and not to miss even one days’ dosage. If you do, you must begin the cycle all over again as this medication takes time to accumulate in the cat’s system enough to actually help them. And, as with any medication, the dosage/mg is determined by the cat’s body weight and so on.
As I have said many times in the past, we always try the homeopathic methods first before even thinking about putting any of our cats on any type of medication unnecessarily. And, we are hoping that this option will only be a temporary solution in the long run. In the interim, we will still have his blood work checked periodically for as long as he is taking his medication in order to monitor his liver and kidney levels ~ just to be on the safe side.
In addition to the medication, our vet had also given us the links to some different website address we can utilize:
So far, so good.
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