Puppy Prozac

 

Dogs
George Armfield (1810-1893)
Photo Credit: Glasgow Life Museums [CC  BY-NC-ND]

Vets have reported a surge in the use of "puppy Prozac" as owners seek medication for anxious lockdown dogs.

Research has revealed a ten-fold increase over the past decade in the number of dogs in the UK on fluoxetine, an anti-depressant sold under the brand name Prozac when used in humans.

Fluoxetine increases levels of serotonin in dogs' brains and is licensed in tablet form to treat pets with separation anxiety, or those displaying forms of aggression...

In some cases people wanted their pets to be "fur-babies" that stay quiet, and believed medical intervention was needed if dogs ran around, jumped up or barked too much, vets added. Others were "projecting human emotions" onto their pets, making the mistake of trying to "psychoanalyse" their dogs.

Dr Dan O'Neil, an associate professor at the Royal Veterinary College, analysed data from 2.3 million dogs in the UK. He found that nearly one in 500 were taking fluoxetine for behavioural problems such as excessive whining, barking or chewing furniture. A similar study in 2013 found that only one in 10,000 dogs were on the drug.

In the majority of cases "there is probably nothing wrong with the dog", according to O'Neil. He told The Times: "What is wrong is the owner's expectation. The owners are looking for a perfect animal that plays with them when they want it to, and never barks.

"Over time, since lockdown, people seem to be moving to be treating their dogs like children, there is more pressure on the dogs to behave like mini-humans. Owners call them "fur-babies. It is less acceptable that dogs will behave like dogs, that they run and bark and play and chew. The expectation is that dogs' behaviour will be perfect."...

Dr Julian Hoad, president of the British Small Animal Veterinary Association ... warned against drawing parallels between depressed humans and dogs. "Firstly, we don't  know whether dogs have the same sort of mental health issues as people," he said. "The main use for Prozac in humans is as an anti-depressant. We don't really know if dogs get depressed. We can't psychoanalyse dogs and get them on the couch and say, "What drove you to bite the postman today." People project human emotions onto dogs. There is a need for us to have those emotions mirrored back. But it would be inappropriate to say dogs are depressed.

 (Eleanor Hayward, The Times, 2025)

Yet another example of the woeful ignorance of some pet-owners regarding  their expectation of their dogs. They are not human so do not project human emotions onto them.

Is there a worrying theme here? In this age of overdiagnosis for humans has this also become the same for dog behaviour? Is social  media to be blamed for spreading unrealistic expectations to new owners as to how placid their furry friends should be?

 Also, is veterinary practice, driven more by owners’ anxieties than by genuine animal welfare needs?

" If paranoid owners are really at fault, theories about depressive pets may have the tail wagging the dog."