Appetite Stimulants

[TheFloofAbides]

Hey hall, my old gal Lita (aka the floof) has kidney failure and IBS. She struggles from appetite problems of course and for the past several years we've had her on Mirtazapine. It was working relatively well and she had few negative side effects, but she still wasn't eating anywhere near enough. Recently I decided to try switching her to cyproheptadine since I can give it more often without running the risk of serotonin syndrome that comes with Mirtazapine. Overall cyproheptadine just seems like a much more benign drug.

She is eating much better, on cyproheptadine but her mood has declined severely. She spends much more time hiding now and just seems overall quite droopy and melancholy. We miss our happy go lucky floof! I can't decide if the improvements in her appetite are worth the decline in her mood. Sure, she looks sad to us, but maybe she's just relaxed/tired more than sad. It's hard to tell with cats overall. I don't want to put her on a medication that is more dangerous to her physical health just so she can seem "happy" to us. But if she is actually miserable, I want to restore her old routine. I so wish I could just ask her

Also has anyone tried BOTH meds? I read that cyproheptadine can be given as an antidote to serotonin syndrome, so I'm guessing the problem is they cancel each other out, but I'm having trouble finding a straight answer about this online. Any help or insight is appreciated!

 

[TheFloofAbides]

Meant to share a picture as well!

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

Hey hall, my old gal Lita (aka the floof) has kidney failure and IBS. She struggles from appetite problems of course and for the past several years we've had her on Mirtazapine. It was working relatively well and she had few negative side effects, but she still wasn't eating anywhere near enough. Recently I decided to try switching her to cyproheptadine since I can give it more often without running the risk of serotonin syndrome that comes with Mirtazapine. Overall cyproheptadine just seems like a much more benign drug.

She is eating much better, on cyproheptadine but her mood has declined severely. She spends much more time hiding now and just seems overall quite droopy and melancholy. We miss our happy go lucky floof! I can't decide if the improvements in her appetite are worth the decline in her mood. Sure, she looks sad to us, but maybe she's just relaxed/tired more than sad. It's hard to tell with cats overall. I don't want to put her on a medication that is more dangerous to her physical health just so she can seem "happy" to us. But if she is actually miserable, I want to restore her old routine. I so wish I could just ask her

Also has anyone tried BOTH meds? I read that cyproheptadine can be given as an antidote to serotonin syndrome, so I'm guessing the problem is they cancel each other out, but I'm having trouble finding a straight answer about this online. Any help or insight is appreciated!

Hello TheFloofAbides ! If Lita has been using Mirtazapie for several years, her body has gotten very used to it. I wanted to check if you (working with a vet's input/advice/care?) slowly weaned her off of it prior to using the cyproheptadine? If not, she could be experiencing the feline version of withdrawal symptoms, and issues with that.

 

[TheFloofAbides]

The vet did not tell me to do this... It's a bit late now. She's been on cyproheptadine for about two weeks now.

 

[TheFloofAbides]

Any idea how long withdrawal symptoms would last?

I'm so sick of these vets who give out medications with almost no instructions. This is a vet have really liked in the past but this last time I saw her she just seemed to rush through our appointment, it's almost like because she's so old she doesn't care anymore. Like I understand she's not going to live forever but I want to make her as comfortable as possible while she's here.