Antidepressant for Dogs
* Your Jan. 11 editorial, “When Bowser Gets Blue,” regarding the new government-approved antidepressant for dogs, missed an important matter regarding canines’ separation anxiety--the very real damage their anxiety can create as they “act out” their worries.
These include the long and mournful whines and cries of a dog separated from its person during the day, when that person leaves for work, and the destruction and soiling of furniture and carpet by a dog terrified at what he/she perceives as abandonment. As far as dogs are concerned, once you’re gone, you’re gone forever. In dogs, as in humans, many behaviors have a psychological cause that can be modified by approved pharmaceuticals.
SHIRLEY D. JOHNSTON DVM
Founding Dean, College of
Veterinary Medicine, Western
University of Health Sciences
Pomona
*
* You are correct in suggesting that potential pet owners do their research. So should your staff. Size is not the only factor in selecting a dog. Breed personality and activity level are just as important. High-maintenance, busy Lhasa apsos crave affection and attention. Shelties may be the right size for a one-bedroom condo, but as high-activity fireballs they need space to run (and bark). Ironically, the best dog for that one-bedroom condo might be a big, but low-activity, Newfoundland. Aside from the drool-and-shed factor, Newfies are gentle, quiet, calm, devoted creatures who adapt well to couch-potato life in confined quarters.
Still, no matter what their breed, all dogs deserve company. Dogs were bred to live with people before they were bred “to do things.” After 140,000 years of intimate contact between dogs and humans, we have no right to expect a pill to turn man’s best friend into a virtual pet.
TERESA MUNRO
San Bernardino