As some of you know, Puck developed a bladder issue a couple of weeks ago and started peeing at random places throughout our house. He has poopd outside the box, on and off, for over a year but he settled in on pooping in front of the litter box which was easy to deal with. Now he is pooping all over the house too.
My wife wanted to put him on Prozac a week ago but I hate the idea of giving a long-term medication to any our cats. I was pretty certain that what started as a physical problem had now morphed into a mental problem and I wanted to try every possible solution I could think of before resorting to drugs.
I mentioned a few things I tried in previous posts, like buying another litter box and putting it here, there and everywhere around the house. We bought a water fountain so he would drink more water. We bought a refill for our Feliway plug-in. I bought a calming collar. We sprayed areas with orange essential oil. I used oxy cleaner on the pee spots. I put him in the box when it looked like he had to go. I’m sure there were a few more things that I can’t remember but you get the idea.
Last week I noticed Puck put his front paw in one of the litter boxes and then run away from it like he stepped n the Lake of Fire. I then saw him squat to poop and I picked him up and put him in the box. He quickly pooped and then jumped out so quick that some of the poop came flying out of the box.
I then thought maybe he suddenly had an issue with the litter so I decided to buy something different. I tried World’s Bes Cat litter several months ago but our cats rarely used it, if ever. This time I bought Blue Buffalo Naturally Fresh Cat Litter. It is made from walnuts and it seemed like a great idea for litter so I bought a bag and put it in the middle litter box. If it was our brand of litter that was an issue, Puck would have another option.
After a week of zero usage, I had to throw it out and replace it with our normal brand.
We saw some progress with Puck this last week. A couple of times he went more than a day without pooping or peeing outside the box and then he would do both.
Rose wanted to bring him back to the vet to make sure his bladder was no longer the problem. If it wasn’t, that would open the door to a Prozac prescription. Since I had done everything I could think of, I could not argue with her. I did say that if he returned to litter box use, I wanted to reduce his dosage and then take hm off of it to see if he continued to be good.
I made an appointment for Puck at the vet for 8:00 Saturday morning. We were packing that morning for an overnight trip to Anna Maria Island for my birthday. Rose wanted to use her girly, designer suitcase because it is pretty and because it has two sides, one for her and one for me.
I packed my side that morning while Rose was getting ready. I talked to her about how Puck was better this last week than the week before and he may be on the road to recovery. A few minutes later he jumped on the bed and started exploring the suitcase. Then he squatted on Rose’s side of the suitcase and started peeing. I immediately pushed him off but now the lining of the suitcase was wet with pee. He couldn’t pee on my side where I could have just washed the top layer of clothes. Rose was very upset because now she had to throw away her good piece of luggage and buy another.
Waiting for trash day
I took out the other suitcase which is a perfect claw sharpener.
After bringing Rose’s suitcase outside I brought the cat carrier inside. Of course, Chris had to get inside.
We brought Puck to the vet which he wasn’t too happy about. Chris or Frankie would have been our exploring the exam room but Puck was content to stay in his carrier.
Eventually, the vet tech came in and put him on the table. She held him while she waited for the vet who was taking longer than she had anticipated.
I told her she didn’t need to hold Puck, he wasn’t going anywhere, so she let him go and he stayed put.
They didn’t do any tests and the vet agreed with my wife and gave us a prescription for Prozac. She said she wanted to start him at a low dose and told us to give him a half of a 10-milligram pill once a day. Considering that the10-miligram pill is considered a low dose for a human, wouldn’t a low dose for a cat be something like one tenth of a human pill? Perhaps someone can explain how that works.
I gave Puck the first half of a pill Sunday evening. I crushed it and put it in his food. Unfortunately, he only ate half his food and I had to throw the other half away before our other cats ate it. The same thing happened Monday evening.
Monday morning Puck peed on the living room floor after I went to work so Rose had to clean it and was not very happy with him. We have tried just about everything so if the pills don’t help I don’t know what we will do about Puck.
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Bad Cat Chris 
Poor Puck…….you certainly can’t go through all that agony forever – it seems like something is very wrong doesn’t it?! You’ve told us all the things you’ve tried – none of which work – moving the boxes around to different locations in the house rather than lined up in a row usually works from what I’ve read but not in Puck’s case I guess………even new types of litter, calming collars, and even kitty prozac. It’s a big mystery but one that needs to be solved that’s for sure!
Pam
maybe the Prozac will work after some time. The problem is that I put it in his food and he suddenly becomes a finicky eater.
They just seem to “know” things like that don’t they!!!
It is such a tiny amount that I can’t see how he can taste it but maybe he does.
I’m sure it takes some time for the medicine to get into his system – in humans it’s sometimes 2 weeks. I am hopeful…
I hope it is sooner than that.
I’m so sorry that not even the prozac could do the trick… and I’m sad for the suitcase accident…. we hope there is a way to help Puck…
Thanks but the Prozac takes time so we will see.
you’ve probably tried this already, Charles, but when you clean litter trays, do you clean with bleach? Normal household bleach, no fragrance added. Cat love the clean smell of bleach, and are usually drawn to it like bears to honey.
No I haven’t tried that because I remember Jackson Galaxy saying not to clean your boxes too often or too good because cats look for the familiar smell… Or something like that.
never heard of Jackson Galaxy ^^ but it might be an idea to give it a try. Just some diluted bleach on a sponge, and a quick wipe around the plastic (above litter level and without changing litter) on one of your litter boxes. What have you got to lose at this point? It might work lol.
It couldn’t hurt to try at this point. I will definitely do that. Thank you. By the way, Jackson Galaxy is the star of the show called My Cat From Hell on the Animal Planet. It is worth checking out.
yeah, I googled, because I don’t like to be ignorant lol. I understand he’s a specialist in animal behaviour, especially cats, but you’ll find a lot of other specialists who are for the diluted bleach method.
It is worth a try.
The Prozac should work in a week or two or maybe with a higher dose. Have you tried isolating Puck in the bathroom with his very own litter box?
Prozac takes time to work. It can take 4-6 weeks for it to reach maximum efficacy. Zoey was put on 5mg initially as well. That is a typical dosage. We weaned her down to 3mg and now she takes even less. You’ll need to pill Puck to make sure he’s getting all of the med. If that is difficult to do, you may want to look into getting the med compounded into a flavored treat or liquid. And honestly, prozac might not be the best med to use. Every cat is different and sometimes you may need to experiment with what will work. Do you have an veterinarian behaviorist available in your area? You may need a consult with a animal behaviorist. Many regular vets aren’t educated enough on this.
You may also want to experiment more with the litters. Many cats don’t like litters made out of things like corn, wheat, walnut shells, newpaper. You may want to try some different clay based litters. Definitely unscented ones.
I don’t know of any cat behaviorist around here. I do think you may be right about the litter. Perhaps a regular non-clumping litter in one of the boxes might do the trick. I don’t know.
So, your news are not very good, poor Puck. I really hope he will stop that peeing and pooping.
Thank you. I hope so too.
puck…dood….we R troo lee sorree yur goin thru all thiz N wish ewe nothin but de best… N we wish yur mom N dad a SOLUTIONZ thatz gonna werk…..
short oh everee thing men shuned heer both in post N commentz, we haza suggestionz for box “litter” that may ore may knot help….why knot try one mor thing ….and it’s plane ordinaree …dirt…..
we haz sum barn cat palz who live both inn and out ….and de ONLEE thing their folkz can put in de box that they will use iz soil….pottin soil, dirt, sandy soil….soil…otherwise de box does knot get used
they put old nooze under de box ta help with de mess, but therz knot az much ….mess…as ya think…
sounds sillee we noe, but mite be werth a try ?? ♥♥
Thank you for your concern in the dirt might not be a bad idea. I would try it but my wife would not want dirt tracked around the house.
I agree with what the Island Cats human said about having to pill Puck (or use one of the compounded options) instead of putting the meds in his food. He needs to be getting the full dosage to give it a chance to work.
Also regarding the litter… keep trying different things. Isn’t there a litter called Yesterday’s News that’s made of paper that is more gentle on kitty paws? Anything you haven’t tried yet, do try.
My wife’s sister, he works for a vet, is concerned that forcing a pill down his throat would add stress to his life. As far as the litter, I have seen yesterday’s news and I’m willing to try it next time I change a litter box.
Please don’t give up on Puck. Could he have a room to himself so he is stress free?
Our house is very small so unfortunately that is not an option.
I”m so sad to hear this… I sure hope this works! I can’t remember reading about the household, how long the three cats have been together? Just that in a lot of Jackson’s shows the cat ends up being happier when he’s higher up and has his own space especially if it is a smaller area? Just desperately trying to come up with suggestions… I was so worried about our cat situation, so I relate to the frustration and concern but yours is on a much larger scale… at airport security the man broke my suitcase and I still love and miss that one! so I feel for your wife there… Get better Puck!
Thank you. We have four cats. Chris has been with us the longest and then Puck followed by Frankie and Floki is our newest addition. He’s been here about a year.