Side Effects of Prozac in Cats

Side effects of Prozac® include: shaking, hyperactivity, restlessness and vocalising more than usual, loss of appetite and aggression, gastrointestinal upsets. Overdosing can lead to feline seizure¹.

Prozac® is Fluoxetine, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI). It is prescribed to people for depression. In cats it is prescribed for what we consider to be behavior disorders such as not using the litter box appropriately². I would be very cautious about going to a vet to ask him or her to prescribe this drug. Other more practical and common sense reasons for "behavioral problems" should be explored first. It may be a simple case of misplaced human expectations.

Note: (1) Dr. Jon on Petplace.com. (2) Cat Owner's Home Veterinary Handbook ISBN 978-0-470-09530-0.

How common is feline diabetes?

In the USA feline diabetes is very common. It is ranked in the top five most common feline disorders probably. It mirrors the situation with humans, incidentally. Is there a connection?

Dr. John Heinerman in his book Low Cost Natural Cures for your Dog and Cat Your Vet Doesn't Want You to Know refers to a conversation he had with the owner of a veterinary hospital in Las Vegas (Animal Kingdom Veterinary Hospital), Dr. JoAnne Stephanos. She says that birds get diabetes too, to an increasing level. She puts it down to the food they eat. Commercial bird seed is sugary and contains preservatives.

Modern cat food is convenient for us and the manufacturers but inconvenient for the cat. I am talking about dry cat food, called "kibble" in the USA. It too has a high sugar content as the manufacturing process demands it. Cats can't taste sugar. Dr. JoAnne Stephanos says that the cat's body reacts against the unnaturally high sugar content setting up an autoimmune disorder that destroys pancreatic insulin producing cells. Dr. Elizabeth Hodgkins (Your Cat), argues along the similar lines (feline diabetes). People also give cats sugary treats for reward. This is inadvisable as the cat becomes dependent on a sugar fix.

Cats that are predisposed to getting feline diabetes might suffer the condition if consistently fed sugary food. It is unnatural for a cat to eat sugar in these concentrations. The high level of preservatives are an unknown danger too. The answer is to feed wet cat food and or carefully prepared and stored raw cat food.

Feline IBD might also be linked to modern unsuitable cat food. Some dry cat food is regarded as better than others.

What does 11 11 11 mean?

It means nothing as far as I am concerned if the last 11 signifies a year. Today is the 11th day of the 11th month of the 11th year of the 21st century. It is just numbers. This sequence happens every 100 years apparently. That does not make it special. People like to place significance on numbers. We are essentially superstitious and fearful. We seek comfort in the meaning that we give to numbers. It is all rather sad for me. Although I totally respect other people's thoughts about this sequence of numbers.

I remember when the second millennium came around, the year 2000. Before that date people were predicting melt down and Armageddon. They were saying that computers couldn't count beyond 1999 and there would be chaos. Many bought a year's supply of backed beans and Heinz tomato soup and headed for the hills of Montana whereupon after 2000 arrived and become history without so much as a ripple of distruption, they returned home with their tails between their legs.

It's just the human condition. 11 11 11 means precisely nothing if as I mentioned the last 11 signifies a year. However, the 11th day of the 11th month does mean something in the UK. The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month marks the signing of the Armistice, on 11th November 1918, to signal the end of World War One. Evert year we have a 2 minute silence at that time to remember those who gave their lives.

Bobcat Description

Two fine bobcat photographs accompanying this bobcat description. I really like these photographs. The smaller one is a bit different. The photographer has the Flickr username of mikewiz. The original photo on Flickr is a lot darker than my adjusted version. The larger photo is very good for supporting a description of the bobcat.

The bobcat has some other names: bay lynx, lynx cat and pallid bobcat to name three. This medium sized to small wild cat is the size of a cocker spaniel. The largest male was recorded as weighing 26.8 kilograms and the largest female weighed 15.9 kilograms. Bobcats in the north are larger than those in the south of their range. The size of the bobcat's skull is similar in size to that of the domestic cat.

The legs are long and head relatively small. The tail as we know is short. In fact it is about 14 inches long, with white fur underneath and banding on the upper surface. The ears have classic lynx tipping - tufts of black fur growing out of the end of the ear flap. The back of the ears are black with a white eye spot, which can be seen in the photograph.

Male Bobcat - Photo copyright Tory - see in large format on Flickr

These photographs are published here with the photographers' express permission. Please ask the photographer if you wish to use either.

Bobcat - protected by copyright
Please ask photographer for permission
to use.

The bobcat has a ruff growing from the cheeks and neck. The quality of its fur is the reason why it is hunted and trapped. It is thick and soft. The cat's eyes are ringed with white fur ("spectacles" in cat fancy language). The chin is white as is the belly and the insides of the limbs. Dark spots and bars overlay these areas. The coat varies in color: buff to light grey and yellow/reddish brown.

Melanistic bobcats have been recorded. These cats are black with ghost markings. There have also been albino bobcats. The Canada lynx is similar in appearance to the bobcat. The bobcat has smaller and less hairy feet than the Canada lynx indicating that the Canada lynx is better adapted for traveling in snow.

Associated pages: Mexican bobcat, Florida bobcat.

Bobcat Picture

This is a camera trap bobcat picture from siwild on Flickr. This sort of wildcat picture is not pretty in the conventional sense. This is because the camera trap camera is less sophisticated in terms of its ability to create high image quality. However, being motion activated it captures the kind of image that you don't get with human operated cameras. They are wilder, more real. You get a real sense of what it is like in the wild for the wild cats.

Bobcat Picture - in the wild - camera trap image - by siwild - see it on Smithsonian Wild

I have improved the image quality slightly although there has been no adjustment to the content.

You can see the moon above the bobcat. This bobcat picture was taken in the state of Virginia, USA. The words on the lower RHS of the photograph is the name of the manufacturer of the camera.

The bobcat is the most common wildcat in the USA. It occupies areas in the east of the US from where the puma (cougar) has been removed or extirpated. The bobcat is part of the lynx genus. In Canada the Canada lynx is that country's version of the bobcat. The Eurasian lynx is the biggest of the lynx cats.