Skippy (not his real name) curls up in his favorite armchair and stares out the window. ItŐs been a long time since he's felt good about himself and he wonders, as he looks at the bandages on his leg, if the wounds, both emotional and physical, will ever heal. The doctor says heŐs making progress. The medication is working and soon, he says, Skippy will be able to control his self-destructive desire to mutilate himself.
While great attention is paid to the many people who suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorders, very little notice is given to those who suffer the illness in quiet misery, the victims who cannot speak for themselves-the cutest ones, the dogs.
Fortunately for man's best friend, the world of veterinarian medicine offers the human antidepressant of choice, Prozac, to dogs who suffer emotional and mental disorders. Veterinarians have been prescribing Prozac for pooches for a few years, and according to one canine counselor, Dr. Roger Platt, a veterinarian at Pets Unlimited in San Francisco, the treatment is not cheap. "It can cost $70 a month per dog," says Platt, "but owners who want their dogs to get better will pay for it.Ó
The effectiveness of the drug is largely dependent on the actions of the dog owner. "The dogs who take Prozac or any other antidepressant need at least one pill per day," says Platt. "If the owners forget to give the dog its pill, then the treatment wonŐt work." Platt says he has been treating several dogs with Prozac for at least six months, and none of their conditions are improving because the owners forget and skip the pill.
Good candidates for Prozac are currently dogs who are large in size, (cats and other animals have not yet been studied for the treatment). "I have only treated large dogs with this drug, because small dogs don't seem to suffer from the type of disorder that would require it," says Platt, who adds that he doesn't know why this is the case. "I have treated dogs like Doberman Pinchers, Golden Retrievers and Labrador Retrievers."
Platt says that because of recent media attention given to this treatment, he has had many clients ask about the drug. But it's not for everyone, as San Francisco State University student Jennifer Bond found out when she asked her veterinarian about putting her Jack Russell Terrier on Prozac. "I heard a radio show that talked about dogs with obsessive-compulsions that were being treated with Prozac," says Bond. "My dog was having a really hard time adjusting when I left her alone. She would bark until I came home, and I thought Prozac would help her." BondŐs veterinarian, instead, recommended a dog behavior specialist-essentially a dog trainer.
Platt says the population of dogs in which Prozac would be helpful is small and very specific. "Prozac should only be used on dogs with extreme behavioral problems," says Platt. "It's meant for dogs that mutilate themselves by continuously licking or biting their body. ItŐs a chemical imbalance.Ó
Although Prozac and other antidepressants are not FDA approved for pets (they require only the permission of the veterinarian and pet owner), the treatment has run into no public resistance, including from those active in the protection of animal rights. "We would hope that discretion is involved when using these types of drugs on animals," says Kathy Savory, a spokesperson with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. "We want to do more research on this subject. Hopefully these drugs really are helping and not hurting the animals. If a drug brings the animal comfort, we think that's a good thing."
Soon Skippy will be able to go out and play with the other dogs. He will no longer be a threat to himself, and maybe he can even stop taking the medication. As he looks out the window and sees his rubber football lying in the yard, he hopes that soon life for him will once again be a walk in the park.
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