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The doghouse

If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.

Original poster

Dog prescription antidepressants

28 replies

thislittledogofmine · 24/03/2024 02:11

Has anyone tried these for their dog?
I have consulted a dog behaviourist as dog has lots of unwanted behaviours which I felt stemmed from anxiety.
Turns out I was right and behaviourist has given me lots of instructions in terms of modifying my behaviours and how to enrich my dog's environment without over-stimulating him. The behaviourist also suggested asking my vet for anti-depressants to help calm my dog so they can relax enough to take onboard the changes I am making and then in time I can hopefully take them off the drugs.

I know my vet will charge me an arm and a leg for this, anyone had any success with them or will I be wasting my money?

OP posts:
Countrylife2002 · 26/03/2024 08:47

SirSniffsAlot · 25/03/2024 08:21

It would make strong scientific sense to give SSRIs a try and see if and how they may benefit your dog, OP. Particularly if recommended by a properly accredited behaviourist and in agreement with a vet.

Whilst we are obvisously quite different species, brain mechanisms in dogs and humans are very similar. Serotonin levels in individual dogs (as in humans) are - to a large extent - hereditary. Indirectly or directly.

Low serotonin can increase anxiety and aggression.

SSRIs (of which, Fluoxetine is one) prevents the body reabsorbing serotonin quite as quickly, allowing levels to build up to a more healthy level.

Long walks in an anxious dog will likely not increase serotonin because the dog is likely to spend that walk on higher alert so they are likely to increase cortisol. Cortisol will increase the transportation mechanism for serotonin and cause the body to re uptake it more quickly - thus reducing serotonin levels. This is especially true if the walks are varied and thus increase the level of 'unknown' that can also elevate cortisol.

What may help is having 'safe' walks the dog knows very well and is unlikely to meet or see anything worrying, such as other humans or dogs if they worry your dog. Knowing the walk and trusting it is safe may allow the dog to relax more and enjoy it a bit more. But this obviously is very specific to your dog and how they experience the walk - some dogs can be so anxious out of the house that no walk is safe to them. In which case, it's a delicate balance of trying to meet mental and physical needs. And, of course, higher serotinin levels induced by SSRIs can help a dog feel calmer on a known walk and thus help move it from the 'unsafe' to the 'safe' category.

Spot on. I have one safe walk my dog does which takes about ten mins - twenty if he’s relaxed and sniffing. Then occasionally I can take him to a lead on gardens or something. Nowhere else.

i love walking and it makes me sad but it is what it is.

flashspeed · 27/03/2024 11:33

I think it's unethical to give a dog mental health drugs, especially as someone who was given them as a minor and couldn't properly consent. I'd suggest reading into some of the "gone wrong" cases of ssris in humans ie google "ssris ruined my life" before you decide to drug an animal that can't consent to losing cognitive ability or motivation for life.

I've had a few very damaged rescue dogs who would spook at the sound of a car and bite if over threshold and they've all been resolved from hard, breed appropriate exercise in a safe space without crossing triggers on the way to get said exercise. If that means taking a 50 minute detour to get to a quiet field where I won't pass traffic, humans or another dog then so be it. They all came right in the end and I agree with a PP who recommends more exercise for the dog. Something called "drilling" can also help an anxious dog, they thrive off instruction and not having to make their own decisions in life. It involves 10 minute training sessions multiple times a day doing easy commands like sitting at heel and repeated sit/stay quickfire style.

Or you can just drug the poor thing and it won't be able to tell you that the calm it's experiencing is actually a loss of anything at all.

Countrylife2002 · 27/03/2024 12:29

@flashspeed I’m on ads for anxiety and they have changed my life massively. I am a huge advocate and I will never stop taking them. And I have seen how they’ve done the same for my boy and enabled him to learn. I couldn’t leave him for a minute before and now sep training has allowed him to learn that it’s ok to be left. I trained him with exactly the same technique for 9 months before the medication. And not everyone has so much time to train relentlessly - meaning that a dog like mine would be stuck in rescue. Without the drugs, there’s no way I could have kept him. I have to live. I live alone and I simply have to be able to leave the house! I wfh full time so he is only left so that I can exercise, shop, go to medical appts. But the fact he also can’t come with me many places, meant he had to either learn to be left or learn to come with - and he’s chosen to be happy at home.

they don’t take away motivation for life - quite the opposite. If I’m not on them, I can’t do anything. Taking them has allowed me to restart exercise, get back to work, and decorate the house. If I felt my dog was lethargic, he wouldn’t be on them. He never ever played before , now he carries his toys from bed to bed and has mad playing fits occasionally.

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