Dog Prozac???

I just read this article about how Prozac has been approved for dogs. It sounds to me like a major excuse not to do any training.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18311226/wid/11915773?GT1=9303


I could see how it could assist in some cases...but very few would actually have legitimate reasoning to medicate their dog for seperation anxiety.

First they convince the American public to drug their children, now they want them to drug their dogs. More Americans than any other country's citizens take prescribed anti-depressants. The drug companies want higher profit margins.

I agree, this is the kind of thing that could be so easily used where training and a better/calmer home environment, one or both, are probably the issue. At the same time I can imagine very distressed dogs that might benefit from using a medication as well especially to relax the dog to make training more welcome and rewarding. I remember reading some celebrity chihuahua that was put on Prozac a while ago. Yeah I just bet it was the dog...

I know a depressed dog on Prozac. I took it when I had my divorce. It made me VERY short tempered which wasn't nice for my kids then aged 4 and 5. People have got off with murder because they claimed Prozac made them aggressive. The side effects on the instruction leaflet of human Prozac are possible anxiety and depression, bulimia or anorexia...the list goes on.

Dogs (and cats) have being put on this type medication for a long time and it has been useful in most cases. IMO Prozac got a bad name from a few bad situations that made the news, all the comedy acts started talking about it, etc.

I really don't see it as a bad thing - depending on the situation. When Sasha is on one side of the desk and I'm on the other and she screams her head off when she can't see me I can't help but wonder if something like tihs would help her. Sometimes she screams while I'm in the shower. She has some definate separation issues and I know it's no fun for her.

Hi, my name is Donna and I once took Prozac.

Within days of starting the medication I felt as though a huge rock had rolled off of my shoulders and that I felt like a "normal" person again. The downside was that once I had been on Prozac for a while it no longer worked and I had to change to other anti-depressants.

I had a lot of "shame" issues because of the tirade of comedy skits, etc., associated with the drug. I wouldn't admit that I took it, but it was insulting to hear people make fun of something that they knew nothing about and I knew that it was doing me so much good. Not everyone has the same reaction, I realize that, but if you are someone who is bothered with depression there is a proper drug for you.

I don't believe in handing them out willy nilly to children, but I do know that some children need this medication - usually on a short term basis.

Pauline, I also suffer from chronic headaches. I think every medication I have ever been given for headaches list "headache" as a possible side effect. That's really encouraging! I'm sorry that the prozac didn't work for you; another drug may have made all the difference in the world.