My cat needs Xanax. Is it safe to give without a vet's advice?

In cats, the dose is 0.125 to 0.25 mg per cat as needed up to every 12 hours. This medicine should be used only if strictly recommend and/or supervised by a veterinarian. Please do not hesitate to contact us again on the forum or by requesting a consultation if you have any more questions or to discuss it any further.

It is unlikely that 1/4 of a 0.25mg alprazolam (Xanax) will sedate Pixie much, if at all. Always check with Pixie's vet prior to giving her any medication. Call the vet who will be examining her to ask if more effective oral sedatives (such as trazodone and/or gabapentin) can be prescribed in order to facilitate the vet visit. That said, use extreme caution giving any prescribed oral medication to Pixie since she is a feral cat. I would not recommend attempting to give her a pill if she is not up to date on her rabies vaccine due to the potential that she may bite you, intentionally or otherwise. If oral medication is not an option for one reason or another, you could either look into mobile vets able to come to your house, or expect to have her sedated at your vet if you are able to get her into a carrier. I hope that all goes well!

Actually now the recommend medication is gabapentin. Ask your veterinarian for some and give it before the visit. With this the cats are just mellow, easy to handle and not as drugged as with the other medications. Diazepam is not used much in cats now due to it causing liver problems. Apromazine can make them sedate but doesn’t reduce the aggression. I personally don’t find Xanax effective. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for your cat.

Hello. What you're describing is not uncommon among older cats. It could indicate the type of cognitive dysfunction, vision issues, or even other neurological issues. The dose for alprazolam and other sedatives can range very greatly as well as depend on underlying conditions your cat may have. Generally speaking animals have a higher metabolic rate the smaller they are so smaller animals often require higher dosages of certain medications the bigger animals such as us. Unfortunately we are not legally allowed to approve dosages for any medications we did not prescribe as your veterinarian. However if you contact your veterinarian they may be able to give you verbal authorization for a dose.

It sounds like Bror may have had a paradoxical response after a bit that made him agitated rather than sedate. You could certainly try the full dose as prescribed but I would recommend trying it at home first. You could also let your vet know what happened and see what they would recommend- they might want to try a different sedative.

Kovu really does need a vet visit. It's never safe to give human medication prescribed for you to your cat, especially since cats are so sensitive to certain human drugs. In some cases, giving a cat your medications can be fatal. I would make an appointment for him to get a prescription for sedatives for when he travels. Best of luck.

I'm not sure, you would need to ask the specific veterinarian in question what his/her concerns are. Alprazolam is fairly commonly used for travel anxiety in cats, but there are also other meds that can work well. It may be a question of personal preference for your veterinarian, based on his/her experience.