Prozac Nation...Psychopharmacology vs. Shock Treatment

I'm not exactly sure what is going on here, but my neighboring nuisance has become an almost tolerable neighbor. Of course he still barks at my cat, but as soon as I move the cat out of his view he stops barking, which is uncharacteristic as he used to bark long after the cat was out of sight, and I have spent many hours in my yard since the weather has warmed up and he has not barked at me nor at anything else very much at all. In fact today I glanced over and noticed Harley's side kick, Cherokee, sitting at the fence watching me (kinda creepy the way she sits there and stares at me but she doesn't bark...yay) so I walked over and petted her on the head over the fence and told her she was a good girl. Harley was in another part of the yard and had not even paid any attention to me until he heard me talking to Cherokee at which time he trotted over for some attention. He did not make one peep so I petted him on the head also, and told him I was very happy that he was learning to be a good dog. Of course when he saw the cat, who had followed me, he began barking but stopped as soon as I scooted the cat our of his view. Strange.

There was, however, something else very odd about Harley. Not that I'm complaining because at least he is finally being quiet (most of the time), but he has changed in other ways, too. Not only was he very loud before but he used to look like a total psycho, jumping around, doing this weird thing with his mouth, making weird moaning sounds between barks, twitching his head, practically running in circles trying to decide what to bark at next, barking at the wind, barking just to bark, or so it seemed...I mean totally wacko...but he seems so calm now, and looked sort of normal in his dirty mop looking way.

I suspect he might be on drugs. I mean, drastic personality change, etc.

Although I'm in strongest favor of dedicated training and behavior modification techniques, I realize that some dogs (and cats) need something to take the edge off before they can learn or relearn and so I have to admit here that I am an advocate of using drugs, such as Prozac (fluoxetine) and similar drugs, for animal behavior problems. I'll tell you why, but first I must annouce that I am not a veterinarian nor an animal behavior specialist and my suggestions are based on my experience, observations, research and common sense, and if you are truly dedicated to changing a behavior in your dog (or cat) you must gather info, and consult with experts. Please do not try to drug your pets without consulting an expert, and don't give your pets your own antianxiety or antidepression meds, please.

But anyway, a few years ago I was one of those nasty detractors who criticized giving drugs like this to pets, and you could not convince me that putting an animal on antidepressnats was a good thing. I felt that doing so was a sign of laziness on the part of the owner and that it was detrimental for the animal. At that time, my own experience with antidepressants consisted of my observations of their lack of effectiveness in people (e.g., my sister for one), and it seemed that they were way over prescribed in lieu of trying to teach a person to change their thinking and become an effective problem solver, or even in lieu of trying to discover something deeper such as hormonal or nutritional imbalances that might be contributing to a brain imbalance and thus the erratic behaviors. In fact, 2 of my own doctors tried to talk me into taking antidepressants, however I declined first of all because of my psycho sister and secondly because I knew my "issues" had to do with thyroid and other hormonal, and probably nutritional, imbalances and I worked to successfully resolved my "issues" by tuning up my body through the use of natural methods (diet, supplements, herbs, acupuncture, etc.) through research and consulting with experts.

Back to the subject and to make a long story short, because I can ramble on, one of my cats had a serious spraying issue. Not only was he spraying but he was aggressive toward the other cats to the point that a couple of them became very fearful, he'd stare aggressively at and start fights with my older male cat, and he ran around the house making a bleating meow sound like a goat cat...he was affectionate and never aggressive toward me, but he looked and acted like a psycho with the other cats. I mean, after 2 years of this, I was ready to have the cat euthanized (save your nasty comments because if you have a nasty comment about that then you've never had a pet with a serious behavioral issue) because he was ruining my house and making me and my 4 other cats crazy so in a final fit I took him to the vet and presented the ultimatum. The cat was already neutered (when he was 6 months old) and the vet had known us long enough to know that in the last 2 years I'd tried everything possible to resolve the issue: behavior modification, enriching his environment, more play, more affection, Feliway, calming herbs, flower essences, dietary changes, consulting with an animal behaviorist who told me the cat wanted to be an only cat...and if I could have found the right home  for him I would have gladly let him go to make us all happy but who the hell is going to adopt a cat that sprays was my question. I wasn't willing to pawn him off on someone else and I wasn't going to dump him off at the shelter (where he would have been gassed to death the same day). So the vet said, "Let's try Prozac."

I'd known about the veterinary use of Prozac for quite sometime but I was reluctant to put my cat on drugs even though I was desperate, prefering to work things out and/or use natural methods. Of course, if I still got high I probably would have tried giving the cat of hit of a joint, but smoking weed is no longer in the picture here. Anyway, not really wanting to admit defeat and loathing the idea of euthanizing the cat just because he was marking his territory (and if I had a cat proof yard or lived in the country I probably would have just let him go outside to mark his territory, but I live on a busy street not to mention all the stray dogs that pass through our yard...sigh...) I decided to give him the Prozac. Best decision I ever made. He stopped spraying from day one, even though the vet said it might take a couple weeks. I've attempted further behavior modification and have tried weaning him onto lower doses so as to possibly get him off the Prozac altogether, but on any dose lower than 1/2 pill every other day he starts getting wacky, attacking cats and spraying again. He's been on Prozac for 2+ years now. He seems to be in good health and his bloodwork has not shown any abnormalities. He still bleats like a cat goat occasionally, but I can live with that.

So that's why I am an advocate of giving animals these drugs. BUT, and this is a big but, the cat or dog cannot tell you what it's feeling so you have to familiarlize yourself with the drug and the side effects and carefully monitor your pet, and adjust the dose if necessary. I had to do this with my cat, but the only reason I knew this is because the vet tech, who has one of her cats on Prozac, told me she had to reduce the dose for her cat and the vet concurred that I should lower the dose if it seemed necessary. Of course, my vet knows me well enough to know that I'm capable of doing this without running to the phone to call her to see if it's OK, and you have to be aware that some vets do not work outside of standard and conventional doses and ideas so you might have to use your power of observation and make a decision yourself to lower the dose on your own (or find another vet). Initially, my cat was prescribed 1/2 of a pill everyday, but I noticed even though he was not spraying he had become agitated and showing other signs of overdose so I reduced his dose to 1/2 pill every other day. This has been the magic number. My cat stopped spraying, he stopped being aggressive and provoking fights with the other cats, he's active, playful, affectionate, has a good appetite but has not gained weight, and all my other cats have relaxed as well now that my psycho cat is easier to live with.

"But," you say, "were talking about barking dogs and you are talking about cats." Yeah, well, the point is that these drugs might calm your dog's brain long enough for it to focus and learn a new behavior (like not barking at everything). Do I like having my cat on these drugs? No. But it's better than the alternative which was either euthanization or continuing to let him ruin my house and making me crazy and my other cats fearful. Will it work for every cat (or dog)? I don't know, probably not, but I think it's worth a try (especially if you or your neighbors are being driven batty by your dog's barking) if you are dedicated to helping your dog change his/her behavior (which, of course, unfortunately, eliminates many of the owner's of the barking dogs that are driving us nuts).

So the thing here is, a lot of people, including several dog trainers I've consulted with about my loud neighbor, suggest using a bark collar which consists of a device attached to a collar that delivers a shock to the dog's neck, via a couple of metal prongs, when it barks...is it just me? or does this sound somewhat sadistic? The theory is the negative feedback will teach the dog not to bark, as he will associate barking with a very unpleasant sensation. In theory it sounds good, but in reading further about these devices, and using common sense, the dog needs to be monitored for signs of shock trauma... Apparently these shocks can really freak some dogs out (no fucking shit) and some dogs might become fearful, nervous, maybe even aggressive or maybe even bark more (yikes) from these shocks. Personally, and this might sound a little odd to some of you more sadistic folks, I would not want to subject my pet to being shocked over and over again despite the success of negative feedback in behavior modification. But that's me. By the way, don't hit the dog or scream at it either. We're trying to help the dog become a better citizen, not make it more antisocial.

The success of any of this, of course, depends on the owner's dog savvy when it comes to the way they interact with the dog, and their powers of observation and deduction, whether you use behavior modification alone or with the aid of drugs or shock collars or whatever. Well, this brings us to somewhat of a delemma now because if we were dealing with dog savvy folks we wouldn't be having barking dogs, now would we? I mean, some folks actually inadvertantly teach their dog to become a barker by giving it a treat and/or attention when it barks, in an attempt to try to get it to stop barking...thinking that the dog is upset and needs to be comforted, or that the distraction will make it stop barking, I suppose, which it does as long as the treat and/or attention lasts...however, in the dog's brain this is a reward for the action and thus actually encouraging the undesired behavior...duh... But then again, some of you folks have inherited, or rather adopted, barking dogs that were damanged by the sub savvy previous owners who couldn't deal with the product of their own ignorance and decided to pawn it off on someone else (and who, by the way, might have been smug and felt oh so superior because they could claim that were finding the dog a better home...) and so now you have to deal with it.

Moving on...if I had a barking dog would I rather shock it into submission or put it on drugs? Quiet frankly, since excessive/inappropriate barking is usually a sign of some deeper, darker psychological thing going on with the personality and in the brain (I'm talking about the dog here, not the human although the human who created the barking dog is usually rather dark as well) logic tells me that the drugs are the better way to go so as to attempt to calm any anxieties and balance out brain chemicals and thus be better able to learn the new behavior. A shock collar focuses on one thing, the barking, but does not address the psychological/brain issues that might actually be causing the barking. But hey, what do I know. I was a detractor of drugs and now here I am promoting their use.

So, for those responsible dog owners who are trying to get their dog to stop barking inappropriately/excessively and conventional training methods aren't producing the desired effects, I suggest talking to the vet about using Prozac or a related drug in conjunction with continued behavior modification training. Your vet should give the dog (or cat) a complete physical to make sure there is not some medical condition contributing or causing the offending behavior, including blood tests which will have to be repeated periodically to make sure the drugs are not affecting the organs. Along with a prescription your vet should also give you instructions for behavior modification and you can contact outside specialists for this as well. Of course, you have to be really dedicated because it takes a lot of time, patience, and work to retrain pets with behavioral issues, but if you are one of those folks who really cares about your pets you'll do it.

You can get Reconcile which is the more expensive dog version of Prozac, or use the generic Prozac that you can get from Walmart for $4 for 30 pills. My cat is on the generic. Of course, Prozac (fluoxetine) is not the only drug given to animals with behavioral issues as there are a number of other antidepressants and antianxiety (like Valium/diazepam) medications that can be/are used as well. Just make sure you read up and learn everything you can about the drug before giving it to your pet. Don't just take the word of the vet because a really good vet is just as hard to find as a good people doctor.

Here are some links for further reading:

The Use of Prozac in Animals for Selected Dermatological and Behavioral Issues by Dr. Steve Melman, DVM - written in 1995 before these drugs were approved for use in animals, but an excellent article, mainly about using  psychopharmacologics for obsessive compulsive grooming disorders, but touches on other behaviorl issues and very informative.

neurophilosophy.wordpress.com - a short blog entry about Reconcile, which is Prozac manufactured by Eli Lilly and marketed just for dogs. The reason I've included this link is so you can read the comments from dog owners about all the dogs that have been given Prozac as a last resort for behavioral issues with successful results. You'll also notice a number of comments made by nasty detractors but just ignore them as it's obvious that a number of pets and owners are much happier thanks to drugs.

Animal Behavior Associates, Inc. - I think this is an old article but here's a few more comments about Prozac and dogs, and do visit their web site at www.animalbehaviorassociates.com for info about training and behavior modification.

National Geographic News - note: I do not approve of keeping wild animals in zoos or cages, therefore I do not condone the use of Prozac in such animals. I've included this article merely to demonstrate the effectiveness of Prozac in different animal situations.

Behavioral Medicines a list of drugs at veterinarypartner.com (I found this through Cornell U Vet Med)

Cummings School of Vet Med, Tufts U - a couple of case reports.

Finding Veterinarians & Clinics - a link to other links...

UC Davis Vet Med Pharmacy Toxicology Report - not much about Prozac, but some other useful info.

Some other interesting stuff from UC Davis Vet Med - Behavior - fact sheets/brochures/newsletters

Too Much Puppy Love - by Nicholas Dodman, DVM, Cummings School of Vet Med, Tufts U. Infromative article about how we contribute to our dog's undesireable behaviors.

Whole Pet Vet - holistic veterinary practices, acupuncture, chiropractics, etc. I'm a firm believer in holistic/alternative medicine, and I do believe that alternatives will help some pets as well. In fact I'm thinking about taking my cat in for acupuncture so as to maybe get him off drugs. I found this site through the Cornell U Vet Med library.

I'll add more links as I find useful info about psychopharmacology, behavior modification and training, and dogs.