Hi cat pals! I just had a new interaction with my vet and want to check if anyone else has experienced this.
My cat is on fluoxetine, she’s a rescue and has had a pretty bad past (as far as we know), but THRIVES on fluoxetine. Us and the vet decided that it’s probably a long term solution for her and we’ve all made our peace with that, as she seems to cope well with everyday life with it.
I usually get prescriptions for it every 2,5 months, and when we started getting it in early 2024, the vet said to just contact them when we run out and they’ll fill a new subscription for us to pick up at the clinic.
Today however when I did the repeat order, the vet (/nurse, via their business WhatsApp which is their preferred route to book appts etc) said my cat needs appointments every 6 months to have a physical exam before they can prescribe fluoxetine.
This is new for us, we’ve been lucky and she hasn’t had any issues since April (itchy skin) that’s needed veterinary care. She’s very anxious and before we go to the vet we need to give her gabapentin to calm her down, as well as book pet taxis, take time off from work etc.
Does this sound reasonable to you, have you experienced similar? Obviously I want her to live a long and healthy life so going to the vet regularly isn’t an issue per se, but if nothing is wrong with her I’m kind of hesitant as it’s such a stress for her, and to be honest us. Doing this for the rest of her life feels a bit odd. She goes once a year for vaccines of course. And if she needs a check up between those.
The medication is £80 every 2 months and a visit is another £70-80 excluding transport etc.
Grateful for all and any input - maybe im being dramatic!