Book Review:
THE writers of this book are both directors of the SAFER organisation (Society for Animal Flower Essence Research) as well as regular writers for Dogs Monthly magazine. They are saddened that such a book needs to be written at all, but because of the prevalence of the use of psychotropic medications on animals, especially dogs, they have launched a campaign to educate dog owners about the unhealthy and dangerous consequences often suffered by dogs given such medication by their veterinarians or behaviourists.
The types of drugs they are campaigning against are the anxiolytics, antipsychotics, mood stabilising drugs and antidepressants - a whole heap of them that the pharmacology companies have adapted from human drugs to assure themselves of a few more million dollars every year. And they have been approved by the Food and Drugs Administration of the USA (FDA) through the efforts of such people as Karen Overall VMD, writer of a book recommended by the Association of Pet Behaviour Counsellors and the University of Southampton - Clinical Behavioural Medicine for Small Animals - and the primary clinician in the FDA trials that led to the licensing of Clomicalm, the first of such drugs approved for use on animals.Dog owners are warned not to run to their over-enthusiastic vets to try such medications. Some of the worst offenders and their side effects are:
- Clomipramine hydrochloride (Clomicalm): Used for separation anxiety problems it was adapted from the human anti-depressant, anti-obsessional drug Anapranil. Just some of the side effects in humans are abdominal pain, aggravated depression, aggression, allergic skin reactions, anorexia, anxiety, blood sugar level changes, confusion and disorientation, constipation, convulsions, dizziness, dyspepsia, delusions, diarrhoea, glaucoma, headache, hepatitis, hypotension, memory loss, nausea, muscle weakness, vomiting, manic episodes, weight gain or loss, and even sudden death (not due to overdose). It can also trigger epilepsy in susceptible animals, and causes accelerated dental caries, elevation of kidney enzymes and depressed bone marrow levels. Of course no person or animal will experience all of these side effects, but even one or two of them in an animal that can not inform anyone how it is feeling, can be a disaster.
- Buspirone (BuSpar): A human "feel-good" that has never been tested on animals. Human side effects include asthma, blurred vision, congestive heart failure, insomnia, nausea, numbness, tinnitus, cramp, dizziness, fatigue, urinary retention and a whole lot more.
- Fluoxetine (Prozac): This drug metabolises in the liver to become norfluoxetyne plus other unidentified substances. Human side effects include weight loss, nausea, tremor, urinary infection, headache, fatigue, chills, back pain, bronchitis, agitation, rhinitis, joint pain and dizziness. And these are just a few of the huge list of possible effects.
- Acepromazine and Diazepam are also covered, and their myriad of possible side effects. All considered, having a pet on any of these drugs does not auger well for that pet's long-term health.
Chapter five offers alternatives for your dog in homoeopathy and flower essences along with behaviour work. It would be futile to drug your dog up and expect that after a few months on the drugs the dog would lose a fear of fireworks or thunderstorms or fire sirens etc. You must do behaviour work with your dog and for most there is no need for drugs. For that very rare few that do need some calming while starting on their behaviour programme there are herbal calming formulae that will help.
This is a very specialised book with a large amount of information. For any dog breeder or trainer it would be a valuable tool in their canine library. I recommend it as an easy read, though of necessity sometimes technical in nature, that will be a constant source of information. - EP
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