Why your dog needs PROZAC
Dushka was a two-year-old Alaskan Malamute: strong, broad-shouldered and bred over centuries to pull massive loads over long distances on snow and ice.
Yet, instead of giving this once placid and affectionate 40-kilogram working dog plenty of space and exercise to suit his size and temperament, his owners-more interested in Dushka as an inner-city fashion accessory – kept him confined to a backyard measuring just three metres by three metres.
Not only was it illogical, it was the beginning of Dushka’s descent into hell. With little exercise or attention, he became increasing aggressive and dangerously unpredictable.
says veterinarian and specialist in animal behavior, Dr Kersti Seksel, who was called in to treat Dushka after the owners began to fear their pet.
Yet, until the past few years, few in the scientific mainstream believed it possible for animals to feel
“We now know that animals experience a full rang of emotions similar to those experienced by humans,” She says. “They show love, fear, annoyance, frustration and happiness just the way we do. And when we take them into our homes, or put them away in environments that are divorced from the worlds they are meant to inhabit, then that’s going to give rise to problems that we have to be aware of.”
Treating these illnesses is not always easy. In some cases, the anxiety is so entrenched that only drugs can help. Anti-depressants such as Prozac, the same drug used in human anxiety therapy, are used to combat panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, separation anxiety and a wide range of other conditions.
Yet, say experts, there are no recorded cases of mental illness among animals in the wild. “It only happens when animals are confined in some way and that usually means through their interaction with human beings,”