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Comment by orf | Hacker News Reader

Is feeding cats antidepressants a usual thing in the US? I've never heard of such a thing in Europe and to be honest I think it's a bit barmy.

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Friends of mine feed their cat prozac in response to him peeing everywhere; it seems to work.

My partner's cat had a urinary blockage that caused him to pee everywhere for several months before it was figured out that it was a physical issue (it coincided with moving to a new place, so it was assumed to be stress). They pee everywhere because it's painful to urinate, so they hold it until they can't anymore. It can be a life-threatening condition. But, it's also thought to be exacerbated by stress, so maybe taking Prozac reduces the stress and prevents the blockage from progressing.

Don't know about cats, but I've had a dog that we fed doggie Prozac in an attempt to help with behavioral issues. Seemed to have a positive effect (unfortunately, not positive enough; had to eventually put him down). We volunteer at an animal shelter, and there are occasionally particularly anxious dogs that get a prescription. Works well for a lot of them, it seems, or at least takes enough of the edge off that they can be worked with and trained.

Not sure of the colloquial meaning of "barmy" (and the Mac OS dictionary is no help), but if it's a negative term, I'd argue that observation says it can help in some situations.

If I were cross-pond translating I'd probably swap in "nutty" for "barmy"

Oh, well in that case, I can't argue much. I fed the dog canine Prozac, but not without first thinking, "I already feel that antidepressants are overprescribed, and I'm going to feed some to the dog?"

My sister and her husband had two dogs for a long time, when one of them died, the other got very depressed. So they put her on anti-depressants for a few months after that.

My last dog was blind for a few years before she died and eventually seemed to be in a fair amount of pain, all of which resulted in very anxious behavior. The vet prescribed alprazolam (Xanax), which was quite effective.

I adopted a poorly socialized dog and Prozac has done wonders in the sense that she's more calm more often (and therefore easier to train).

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