Prozac Nation

As planned, we took Kitters to the vet today. I LOVE our vet. She listened to our concerns and believed us when we told her about the redirected aggression, even though Kitters spent every second that he wasn't being examined cowering in my arms, one front paw over my shoulder, his head in the crook of my elbow, and his body tucked as close to mine as he could get. He was the very picture of abject pitiful cuddliness. Little shit.

The vet said that our best initial options would be to try Feliway, a pheromone plug-in diffuser, or to start him on Prozac (not making that up, I promise). The two options were close to the same price, with the Feliway costing a little bit more but getting extra credit for not requiring that half of a small pill be crammed down the cat's throat every day. We decided to give the Feliway a try, but went ahead and had the pre-Prozac bloodwork done, in case the Feliway doesn't work. He was going to have to get a slightly less exhaustive blood workup done in July anyway when he goes in to have his teeth cleaned, so we figured we might as well just get the whole screen done now in case he needs meds.

The Feliway diffuser has been purchased and installed, so cross your fingers that it will help Kitters find his happy place. The diffuser insert is supposed to last four weeks, and his dental appointment is in four weeks, so I figure unless he gets really tantrum-y before then, we'll probably just give this a month before we decide about the Prozac. As a bonus, I found out that for an extra $5, the techs will comb out Kitters's coat while he's under sedation for his teeth, and should be able to take care of the mats. Score! That is SO worth five bucks.

Anyhow, many many many thanks to all of you for your well wishes and kind words. They really did help!