In people, the long term side effects of Prozac include fertility issues, sleep disturbance or cognitive issues. Thank God for most of us, will be non-issues for cats! I currently only have one impressively handsome Tom cat that I see in clinic regularly…if he ever goes on Prozac I’ll find out if he has trouble with the ladies or sleeping at night…

We know Prozac is not addicting in cats, and there are no current contraindications to long term use that I am aware of. It’s pretty well tolerated. For most of my patients taking anything long term, the key to success is to reduce the dose to the lowest amount that is successful for treating them, and monitoring their blood at least yearly to ensure 2 things:

  • The medication is being tolerated ok by the organs that have to deal with it.
  • There are no recent changes in their health status that would make them tolerate the medication less!

The second point is an important distinction. Sometimes it’s not the medication. It’s you that has changed and your not a good fit anymore.  

Since you have already weaned the medication to a low dose for Murray, and you are considering checking his blood, you are in good shape to avoid any issues. Great job with him!

On a side note:

The long term side effects of spraying indoors is often euthanasia.

I see so much more euthanasia for treatable conditions than I see drug reactions. This is a reality of life. It really sucks when that happens. But I do understand that nothing ruins a relationship faster than someone peeing on all your stuff every day despite your efforts.

But I also find that many folks are not pro-active with peeing outside of the box issues, from a veterinary perspective. They might try a few things they found online. By the time they get to me, they have had it, they are fed up and they want the cat out of their life. They don't want to hear about litter box aversion, urinary tract issues, diagnostics, treatments or anything else. They might agree to a single course of antibiotics that I know have a good chance of not working. They will tell me that their cat is “unsanitary”. Even if they have had this little guy for a decade before any problems came up. Anything that requires effort is not gonna happen. Cat becomes an issue? Bye bye cat.

#worst-aspect-of-my-job
#i-sometimes-don't-get-people

Dr. Kris