Obsessive Woof woof!
Yes, we all laughed when Anna Nicole was giving her little dog Prozac. Dogs with mental health issues, who would believe it?
Well, now the madness in my family has even spread to my mother’s dog. At first my mom was concerned by him barking madly in the middle of the night at nothing. Strange indeed. Anxiety maybe? Well, then he started licking all the fur off his leg. Hmm. And everytime I called my mom, I could hear the dog panting in the background. Excessive panting, barking, licking, a little light went on while Mum started dosing him with Rescue Remedy. I looked it up, and it turns out the little fuzzball has many characteristics of a dog with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
He’s got a great personality, he’s just very weird. I mean, you can’t fault him for that. I’ve been doing some more research on it. Selectively bred dogs have a higher incidence of OCD, about 2 percent. Most dogs with OCD are male, while most cats with OCD are female. Large breeds excessively lick themselves, while terriers run in circles. If allowed to go unchecked, the dog may stop drinking or eating, so figuring out a way to treat it is pretty important.
Some of the drugs used to treat OCD pups are the trileptic antidepressants, and they are looking into the SSRI’s too. Right now I think Mum’s going to treat him with natural supplements, but who knows? Too bad no one else in the family has OCD, or we might know more about what he’s going through in his poor little doggy head. Apparently they’re aware that they’re being odd, so they sometimes try to do their repetitive behaviours in private. Other animals usually stay away from them, yes, mental health stigma exists in animals too. I thought the kitties stayed away from him because he rolls them across the floor with his snout.
Anyway, anyone with good tips on OCD in dogs, let me know. And I don’t want tips about Home Loans, or any other spam related “comments” crap. In case you’re wondering why I’ve been deleting comments, it’s because they are worthless spam comments with links to capitalist sites. Go shove it up your ass spam commenters, before I sic my mom’s crazy dog on you!