Our family adopted a Calico (female) kitten last year to join our pet family of two 10 year-old males. In the ensuing months, our little misfit Calico has been doing what kittens are apt to do – pester (terrorize?) her older “brothers” to pay her attention and play. One of our males has become increasingly reclusive and seems to be losing a little weight. My wife and I joked around about getting him some Zoloft.

Then today I saw this article: Is it OK to give my cat Zoloft? on Paws-and-Effect.com. The long and short of it? No, don’t give your cat Zoloft.

This led me to wonder about giving pets human medications in general. According to the ASPCA, “In 007, the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center received 89,000 calls related to pets ingesting over-the-counter and prescription medications“.  They go on to list the Top 10 Medications That Poison Our Pets. And sure enough, right there at #2: Anti-Depressants.

Over at VetPets.com, I found this article: Human Drugs are for Humans. They list a few that are safe to give your pet but repeatedly emphasize to contact your veterinarian prior to giving your pet any human medications.

I scanned several other articles online that seem to come to the same conclusions – People should not give their pets human meds unless a veterinarian approves of it.