Dog-owners to be offered beef-flavoured Prozac for their depressed pets

13 April 2012

When a dog is looking a little down in the mouth the traditional remedy is to take it for a walk.

But the makers of Prozac reckon some dogs are so depressed they need to be medicated to get them through the day.

They have now launched a special canine version of Prozac on the pet market which comes in a chewable form and tasty beef flavour.

A special canine version of Prozac has been launched on the pet market which comes in a chewable form and tasty beef flavour

It is the first drug to be marketed by a new division of Eli Lilly, which is to be devoted entirely to pet pharmaceuticals.

The reformulated form of Prozac, called Reconcile, is aimed at dogs suffering from stress and separation anxiety from their owners.

The symptoms include the dog going berserk, barking, howling, ripping up furniture and carpets and incessant scratching at the door to get out.

A tendency is urinate in inappropriate places is another hallmark of the condition.

Clinical trials showed that the drug significantly reduced the symptoms of separation anxiety in dogs estimated to affect between 10 to 20 per cent of domestic dogs.

This not the first time anti-depressants have been given to family pets in the UK.

A few months ago a 12-year-old grey tabby called Twiglet hit the headlines after being prescribed anti-depressants for her "anger management issues" by a vet.

The unhappy cat's weight had ballooned to 15lb last March, but the results of her treatment and strict diet were dramatic.

After five months, Twiglet has lost almost 7lb and was roaming around the back garden without fear.

"She became just like any depressed person," said owner Jackie Martin, 28, an office administrator from Brighton.

"She became so frightened she rarely ventured out and put on weight because she wasn't getting any exercise."

There are several complementary products targeted at depressed pets are already on the market, although experts claim they have not been a hit with British pet owners.

Dr Roger Mugford, a leading animal psychologist, said: "There are already two well publicised drugs on the market in the UK, but neither of them have found a market.

"The British are a lot more sensible than people in some other countries if their animal is unhappy."

He said that medicating dogs was not the solution to behavioural problems.

He added: "Most dogs do not suffer from cognitive learning disorders.

"It is mostly a matter of lifestyle, genetics, diet and the skills of the owner to keep the dog healthy.

"There is certainly no market for curing anxiety in cats."

He said there are also concerns that Prozac has some unpleasant side effects in humans, which could suggest that some dogs might become aggressive when taking it.

This was also the view expressed at a recent meeting in Birmingham of the British Small Animal Veterinary Association.

Most drugs used for companion animals, as the pharmaceutical companies refer to pets, are human drugs that vets prescribe off label.

The cost of drug development is so high that companies are willing to spend the money it takes to develop a canine-specific drug, or run clinical trials testing human drugs for dogs and cats.

But drug companies believe that as more Europeans and Americans view their pets as family members a new market for reformulated in drugs in animal-friendly forms is opening up.

Drugs that never made it though the human testing process are being revived. One of the pet drugs approved in America earlier this year is the diet drug Slentrol.

Dirlotapide, the generic form of the drug, was originally tested for human use , but its side effects were deemed intolerable in humans.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in