Does My Puppy Really Need Prozac?
Using antidepressant medication for animals was once considered the lazy solution to animal behavior problems. Unhappy, aggressive animals just needed more training, not medication.
Today Prozac is not just for people; Prozac is proscribed for everyone, including pets and zoo animals. But just because a dog can be given Prozac doesn?t mean he should be. Does my puppy really need Prozac?
What does Prozac do?
Prozac is given to animals to help with aggression, separation anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorders. The idea is that once the animal feels more mentally stable, the owner can teach the animal new behaviors. So Prozac and training are used together to help the animal.
However, just like in humans Prozac may cause unpleasant side effects in animals such as:
- anxiety
- lethargy
- hunger loss/weightloss
- vomiting
- restlessness
If you are treating your dog for anxiety-related symptoms, these side effects are troublesome. At least no animal deaths from Prozac have been reported.
How many animals are taking Prozac?
There is no record of how many animals have taken Prozac. This is because some animals take Prozac for a few months to learn new behaviors, while others take it for the rest of their lives. However, Americans have spent a lot of money ? about $15 million - on medication for behavior modification in animals.
Now that drug companies know that Americans are willing to spend money on animals, they are starting to created more medications for pets. Eli Lilly has recently created a chewable version of Prozac specifically for dogs called Reconcile.
Why would giving Prozac to animals be considered a cop-out?
Not everyone thinks that giving Prozac to pets is a good idea. Animal behaviorists, like the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, believe that Prozac only hides the underlying problem and does not cure it. They believe that humans should provide suitable training, care and environment for an animal, and proper behavior will follow naturally.
These animal behaviorists think that medicating animals allows humans be lazy and ignore the animal?s real problems.
Prozac for pets: The middle ground
Some people argue that there are certain, extreme circumstances in which a pet should be medicated for behavior, just like a human. They think that most of Prozac?s bad reputation comes from physicians over-prescribing it and that the same potential for abuse exists for animals. Some humans and animals really need Prozac but millions of others will be prescribed at the drop of a hat.
These people argue that in extreme circumstances the pet should be medicated so it can calm down enough to learn new behaviors. Calm animals learn better than anxious animals.
Alternatives to Prozac for Animals
If you don?t want to medicate your dog for behavioral issues, you have other alternatives to use in conjunction with traditional behavior therapy:
- acupuncture
- chiropractic treatment (has been used for animals since the 1900s)
- electromedicine (microamerapge current is applied to treat animal phobias)
- Scutellaria laterifolia (was once used to treat rabies)
- Passiflora incarnate
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/09/0929_050929_wp_prozac_2.html
http://www.technologyreview.com/Biotech/18463/
http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/features_julieshealthclub/2007/06/pets_on_prozac.html
http://www.healthypet.com/library_view.aspx?id=119