Dogs being drugged to cope with Covid lockdowns

Victorian vets are prescribing Prozac and Valium to dogs to help them cope with anxiety brought on by constant changes to their owners’ work routines.

Kitty Rodgers’ kelpie Storm that has been prescribed Valium to calm his anxiety. Picture: Tony Gough

Melbourne dogs are being doped up on Prozac and Valium to cope with Covid lockdowns, with vets reporting a spike in the number of scripts being dealt out during the pandemic.

Experts say the medications are sought to help fretful fur babies deal with separation anxiety, resulting from their owners’ hybrid work lives and constantly changing routines.

Animal behaviourist Kate Mornement said Victorian dogs had become so used to their owners constantly offering affection and being around the house during work hours, they had either forgotten, or never learned, how to cope with being left alone.

“I’ve noticed a huge increase in dogs that are experiencing separation anxiety due to Covid,” Dr Mornement said.

“When the lockdowns ease or restrictions ease and everyone goes back to work or school, the dog does not cope very well with that changing routine.

“Some dogs that have more moderate to extreme separation anxiety don’t adjust to that change very well and they really need anti-anxiety medication to help them adjust.”

Dr Melanie Hill, a veterinarian at Richmond’s Swan Street Vet, reported a surge in the number of Prozac scripts she had filled out for highly-affectionate breeds such as kelpies, staffies, poodles and poodle-crosses, as owners spent more time at home.

Findings from Pet Insurance Australia reveal poodle-crosses, including cavoodles and groodles, are among the most popular pups purchased during lockdowns.

“I have a lot more patients on these medications,” Dr Hill said.

“We breed for dogs that are highly-affectionate but that also means highly anxious,” she said.

“A lot of dogs perhaps had underlying anxiety tendencies and that’s definitely been exacerbated with the change in routine.”

The rise in the number of pets needing a serotonin hit follows a nationwide shortage of the relaxation drugs, which saw vets issuing human versions of Prozac to cope with rising demand.

Dr Hill said the spike in doped-up dogs pointed to the need for owners to couple correct dosing of medication with proper dog training.

“I think people are noticing more signs of anxiety in their pets because there’s been a massive surge in attendance for pets as a whole,” she said.

“But it needs to be done in tandem with a good trainer.”

While pooch Prozac prescriptions have risen due because of separation anxiety, Melbourne Dog Trainers director Jonathan Whitlaw said owners also needed to loosen the reins when it came to leaving their dogs home alone.

“People maybe don’t necessarily always know how to understand and how to just sort of set the dog up to be home alone,” Mr Whitlaw said.

“More owners are setting up Zoom and cameras so they’re sort of watching everything their dog does, so they don’t have space to relax and chill and … downtime,” he said.

Kitty Rodgers gives Valium to her kelpie staffy cross, Storm, who suffers from anxiety brought on by storms.

Storm, 12, had become more frightened of thunderstorms as he got older, she said, but the ageing dog’s anxiety had ramped up since the Covid pandemic started.

“Storm has become a little more attached since the pandemic started but I’m not sure if it’s actually related or if it’s just because he’s getting older,” Ms Rodgers said.

“If there’s a storm when we are not home, Storm will stand in the backyard and bark at it like he’s trying to protect the house from the loud noises,” she said.

Ms Rodgers said giving the aptly-named Storm Valium before thunder struck eased his anxiety after being left outside during severe weather while no one was home.

“We came home during a storm one day and saw him in the backyard barking at the sky,” she said.

“It takes the edge off. We can get him to at least stay in one spot and not go looking for a hiding place but he still pants a lot … looking for somewhere to hide as soon as he knows we’re home.”