Ask HN: Prescribe a Cat as an SSRI?

Probably effective in many cases, but (A) no way to tell which cases in advance and (B) must consider fairness to the animal. My stepdaughter was prescribed a cat (that is a thing); it wound up being left behind one of the times she was evicted, so that we had to take it in for a while, thoroughly traumatized; eventually it went back to her and was killed by fleas.

No. For a couple of reasons:

- what if you don’t like the cat

- what if you do like the cat, but it doesn’t like you?

- what if the cat has its own mood disorder?

- what happens if the cat spontaneously dies?

- what if the person you are prescribing a cat to is actually a dog person?

My opinion of cats is that they’re selfish, self-centred creatures that mostly sleep. I have (not by choice) acquired a pet cat that for some reason I have decided I actually like because he has cute eyes, but I think a dog would be a way better pet for the treatment of depression. They actually love you, and look forward to seeing you, and even when you’re feeling depressed and moody, they still accept you for exactly who you are and are just generally beautiful animals with the most pure and loving souls. (Except for maybe chihuahuas, which can be loving towards one select human, but can also just be completely demonic to everyone else).

Why do you think a cat would be comparable to an SSRI?

Or do you mean "effective treatment for depression" when you say SSRI (which would be a very questionable equation in my view at least)?

Prefer a cat instead of antidepressants any time though :D

One of my two cats was prescribed 5mg of Prozac per day, makes him much less anxious and allows him to have fun and relax.

My intuition is that dogs and cats greatly reduce one anxiety, but I have no idea if there is a chemical reason for this or if it has ever been studied.

yes