Cat Not Eating as a side effect of prozac

[charliesmomct]

I recently put my newly rescued cat on prozac to help with aggressive behavior towards my other cats, over the past month that he has been on medication he has become very picky about the food I give him and just picks at it.  I have tries numerous brands and variety of both wet and dry food to get him to eat but he would eat one day and not so much the next.  Over the month I started to notice he was losing weight, which he could afford to lose, but then I went away on business and came back last weekend and noticed he was much thinner.  I immediately called the vet and took him in for a check up (blood-work, urine, physical check up).  The vet determined that there was nothing medically wrong with Charlie but of course very concerned with the extreme weight loss.  Based on the results of the tests and timing the weight loss is a side effect of the medication.  I did not even want to consider a lower dose and we both agreed to take him off the medication immediately.  The problem now is that he is still just picking at food and I am worried.  I know it's just been one day, but how long should I expect it to take for him to get back to his normal eating habits?  Is there anything I can put in his food or special food I can buy that cats cannot resist? I just want to see him eat like he used to before this nightmare started.  Thank you  

 

[mani]

Hello @CharliesMomCT and welcome to TCS!

It really isn't long enough to judge.. that kind of drug takes a while to leave the system.

This is a really good article on how to get your cat to start eating again.

Please do keep us posted.

 

[charliesmomct]

Thank you for the article, it is very helpful.  Just spoke to Vet again and because Charlie's sugar levels were high and they found Keytones in his urine she wants to start insulin treatment, when the other day while in their office she told that this could be a side effect of the medication and could reverse itself once it works its way out of his system.  I am really very skeptical at this point ... the cat was healthy before putting him on prozac, now they want to treat him for diabetes based on one urine test ... who knows what will happen to him if they give him insulin and he doesn't have diabetes?  I really don't know what to do .. any advice?  I just want to do what is best for Charlie.  By the way, he has started to eat and did really well last night and this morning.   

 

[cinqchats]

Fluoxetine can make a cat really nauseous, maybe that's why his appetite is off. Could he be put on a lower dose to see if that will help with his eating?