# Howling and Zylkene help!



## JordanRose (Mar 10, 2012)

Me again with a couple of queries 

Query 1

Last night, despite having a good long play before bed, Spooks howled all night long- he yowled at the window a few times and walked around wailing for hours!!

I can't work out why- couldn't see anything outside that could be upsetting him- he also had plenty of toys out to play with and physically seems A-OK - so was hoping to get people's ideas on why he might be doing this incessant howling once again?

It's been MONTHS since he last did it 

Query 2

As a result of said howling, I gave him some Zylkene today- just a small pinch of the powder mixed in with his food. He ate the lot :thumbsup:

But was just wondering how often you give it to cats, generally? I have Feliway plugged in most of the time as it seems to really help him, but is Zylkene the same?

Do you give it daily or only when you feel they're stressed? I don't want him to become dependent on it!

Thank you in advance


----------



## jaycee05 (Sep 24, 2012)

Just looking at the leaflet I have, it says up to 5kg, [11lb] in weight of animal]1 capsule a day, are you giving him the whole capsule
between 5 and 10 kg [ 11-22lb] weight of animal] 2 capsules a day
Hope this helps, pets behaviour should be re- evaluated after 16-30 day course, daily intake can be modified, up to period of use is 1-2 months, repeated according to veterinary advice


----------



## JordanRose (Mar 10, 2012)

jaycee05 said:


> Just looking at the leaflet I have, it says up to 5kg, [11lb] in weight of animal]1 capsule a day, are you giving him the whole capsule
> between 5 and 10 kg [ 11-22lb] weight of animal] 2 capsules a day
> Hope this helps, pets behaviour should be re- evaluated after 16-30 day course, daily intake can be modified, up to period of use is 1-2 months, repeated according to veterinary advice


Thanks Jaycee!


----------



## jaycee05 (Sep 24, 2012)

You are welcome I give mine a whole capsule when needed,


----------



## JordanRose (Mar 10, 2012)

jaycee05 said:


> You are welcome I give mine a whole capsule when needed,


I think I'll do that as well- see if it helps him at all. He's such an anxious little thing (bit like me, I suppose  )


----------



## carly87 (Feb 11, 2011)

Jordan, you need to give him a full course to start off with, not chopping and changing when you give it, otherwise there's no point! Zylkene is a mind treatment as much as a body one, as this extended period of calm gives them time and headspace to re-evaluate their environment and come to terms with it.


----------



## Lilylass (Sep 13, 2012)

Tbh that sounds like pretty standard Siamese behaviour (certainly the ones we've had / known)

Archie does it all the time!

Mia was on zyklene for around 3 weeks (2 tabs daily)

Weaned her own to 1 & have now stopped as she seems cslm & happy & really want it there should she get stressed again

Its fab istuff


----------



## dougal22 (Jun 18, 2010)

carly87 said:


> Jordan, you need to give him a full course to start off with, not chopping and changing when you give it, otherwise there's no point! Zylkene is a mind treatment as much as a body one, as this extended period of calm gives them time and headspace to re-evaluate their environment and come to terms with it.


I agree with Carly. My understanding is that Zylkene doesn't work as a one off dose. My vet confirmed this too. It has to be taken as a course and then if there is an improvement in the 'adverse' behaviour, the dose can be reduced gradually.

For example, one of my cats has feline hyperesthesia. She has been taking Zylkene for a year now. For the first couple of months or so, she was on the recommended dose every day, then dropped to every other day whilst evaluating her behaviour/condition and now she takes the recommended dose once every three days. This is now enough to keep her condition under control.

Zylkene is nicknamed 'kitty Prozac' and if it works on anywhere near the similar principle of an anti depressant type drug, a one off dose here and there wouldn't work.

BTW - I've just read another post on the thread, about the howling being 'standard Siamese behaviour'. None of my cats howl, none of my family or friends Siamese cats howl, nor do my breeder friends cats howl  They're chatty, very talkative, but howling how you describe, no. TBH the howling and behaviour you describe, I'd be concerned enough to seek advice from a vet. Apologies if you already have, I'm not up to date with stuff on here.


----------



## JordanRose (Mar 10, 2012)

carly87 said:


> Jordan, you need to give him a full course to start off with, not chopping and changing when you give it, otherwise there's no point! Zylkene is a mind treatment as much as a body one, as this extended period of calm gives them time and headspace to re-evaluate their environment and come to terms with it.


Righteo! A full course it is then- thanks Carly!

Cookieandme kindly gave me some 75mg tabs to try with him- will one of these daily be enough for a small 3kg cat?

(Websites confuse me so I'd rather have the go ahead from first hand people before buying more!)



dougal22 said:


> I agree with Carly. My understanding is that Zylkene doesn't work as a one off dose. My vet confirmed this too. It has to be taken as a course and then if there is an improvement in the 'adverse' behaviour, the dose can be reduced gradually.
> 
> For example, one of my cats has feline hyperesthesia. She has been taking Zylkene for a year now. For the first couple of months or so, she was on the recommended dose every day, then dropped to every other day whilst evaluating her behaviour/condition and now she takes the recommended dose once every three days. This is now enough to keep her condition under control.
> 
> ...


Thanks, Dougal! 

As for the howling, he didn't do it last night, but he is due his boosters any day now so will mention it when I book him in for those just to be sure!


----------



## Paddypaws (May 4, 2010)

JR....if you are planning on using Zylkene for any length of time I would strongly suggest you buy the 450mg size capsules (labelled as for dogs, but is the same as for cats) and then divide up as needed.
Zylkene is NOT a drug so it is safe to do this with this product and the dog version is exactly the same as the cat one, so again it is safe. 
Obviously you know that this advice only refers to this product and not other drugs.
Zylkene Capsules - Priced Per Tablet - 75mg - Animed Direct


----------



## JordanRose (Mar 10, 2012)

Paddypaws said:


> JR....if you are planning on using Zylkene for any length of time I would strongly suggest you buy the 450mg size capsules (labelled as for dogs, but is the same as for cats) and then divide up as needed.
> Zylkene is NOT a drug so it is safe to do this with this product and the dog version is exactly the same as the cat one, so again it is safe.
> Obviously you know that this advice only refers to this product and not other drugs.
> Zylkene Capsules - Priced Per Tablet - 75mg - Animed Direct


Thanks, PP- looks an awful lot cheaper to do it that way!! Will get some ordered


----------



## carly87 (Feb 11, 2011)

Has anyone ever used the horse one? Comes in 1G sachets, and would be even more economical. Assuming it's the same stuff.


----------



## jaycee05 (Sep 24, 2012)

Sorry if I didn't make clear that zylkene needs to be a course of it,, but as it says on leaflet, for maybe a couple of months 
I give mine a whole capsule, when needed, but didn't just mean the 1 capsule
A course of a whole capsule a day for a few weeks,,never needed to give 2 a day


----------



## havoc (Dec 8, 2008)

> Has anyone ever used the horse one? Comes in 1G sachets, and would be even more economical. Assuming it's the same stuff.


Never even known there was a horse version. Can you post a link and we can check if it's the same.


----------



## Paddypaws (May 4, 2010)

havoc said:


> Never even known there was a horse version. Can you post a link and we can check if it's the same.


I did look in to the horse sized sachets....can't remember why I did not buy it. I _think_ the version I saw had some kind of apple flavouring added, and it was only available in big boxes.
Edit.....it does not actually work out cheaper than the 450mg capsules. Viovet price it as £2.78 for 1g whereas Animed sell 450mg for 99p


----------



## carly87 (Feb 11, 2011)

Ah, well that's that then.

Now just need to work out a way for me to divide this powder up as I'm still having to buy the smaller capsules. Can you overdose them on the stuff?


----------



## sarahecp (Aug 22, 2011)

carly87 said:


> Ah, well that's that then.
> 
> Now just need to work out a way for me to divide this powder up as I'm still having to buy the smaller capsules. Can you overdose them on the stuff?


I don't think you can, I remember Moggybaby asking the same, I'm sure it was Merson that had extra.

I give the powder of 2 capsules to Frank, but takes a while for it to kick in with him.


----------



## JordanRose (Mar 10, 2012)

jaycee05 said:


> Sorry if I didn't make clear that zylkene needs to be a course of it,, but as it says on leaflet, for maybe a couple of months
> I give mine a whole capsule, when needed, but didn't just mean the 1 capsule
> A course of a whole capsule a day for a few weeks,,never needed to give 2 a day


No, it's me that got the wrong end of the stick- sorry! 

He's eating it with no problems when mixed with his food so that's good- it was the fact you had to sprinkle it on food that put me off trying it with him as he's got a low appetite at the best of times.

Hopefully it'll help him a bit when I'm out at work


----------



## JordanRose (Mar 10, 2012)

Just ordered some of the dog sized capsules from Animed- looked elsewhere but you can only order at least 20 and I didn't want quite that many as I'll be splitting the dose.

Anyway, I needed a pet registration to buy it so had to make up that I had a 30kg dog called Doug! :lol:


----------



## havoc (Dec 8, 2008)

Zylkene is not dose critical so you needn't worry about giving a bit too much. If you wanted to get really picky I *think* the stated dose is 15mg/kilo so the cat sized capsule would strictly only be correct for a 5kg cat if it really mattered.


----------

