My Dog Takes Prozac

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My Dog Takes Prozac-and It’s Ok 

I have a little dog, named Charlie. He just turned 15 years old. He is a Bichon Frisé. Bichons love people, are lively, and considered a small breed. Charlie is big for his breed and topped in at 25 pounds in his heyday. Now he is about 21 pounds due to age.

We have been through thick and thin together, Charlie and I. We took care of my Mom and Dad on weekends, cried together when my daughter moved to Germany, prayed when my son had surgery for his brain tumor and packed up our house and his toys when I moved two years ago.

Charlie never really adjusted to apartment living. He had lived in our house for the first 13 years of his life. After we moved he did learn to handle the elevator and the lobby and adjusted to seeing so many new faces and other dogs. He loved walking in the park and sniffing all the new plants and walls and trees. 

Then one day, he got old.

I used to walk my dogs three to six times a day. Charlie loved to go out and see the world and especially loved the mail carriers who gave him treats. His little muzzle was always nosing in the grass. Up until six months ago we were walking daily, taking the elevator to the park until- severe anxiety started. He would start off doing OK on the walk but towards the end he would suddenly start panting and running and pulling on the leash so I had to run to keep up with him, pulling Presley, my 13-pound Chin-Pin along with us. Not the easiest walk for a 67-year-old woman and two small dogs, one having a meltdown.

The turning point came a few months ago.

I had met my daughter in London for a long weekend. Right before the COVID lockdown that has changed our lives and the world. I had a wonderful college student staying with Charlie and Presley, and she took care of them beautifully.

When I came back I started noticing a change in Charlie. His anxiety was getting worse. Our vet suggested he was losing his vision, due to cataracts. We were walking once a month across the park to the vet for nails, ears and anal gland maintenance. His age and vision was making it harder for him to make the short trek. Even though he was getting a Trazadone for anxiety, two hours before our vet appointment, it didn’t seem to be helping that much.

And then one day, after our last nervous walk, I decided we couldn’t do it again.

Charlie couldn’t handle the outdoors anymore. He could walk but he was so nervous and unhappy I had to change our plan. I also couldn’t leave the apartment without a lot of intermittent barking. I worried that my neighbors would hate us, even though we lived on a dog floor.

 I found a wonderful home vet in Chicago, Dr. Cook, who works exclusively with geriatric animals. Did I learn a lot during his first visit with Charlie!

As we age, both humans and animals can develop problems, syndromes and the usual aches and pains of aging. Charlie has arthritis in his back legs and shoulders, Dr. Cook diagnosed, and also has canine cognitive dysfunction which is a very nice way of saying doggie dementia. As he loses his vision, his anxiety is increasing. Loud noises, a stiff wind in his face, a hand reaching out to him, scares him.

I was never one to take a lot of medication, although my Mother took quite a bit during the last ten years of her life. So, it is not unknown to me, bottles of pills on a countertop. I have been lucky, in that I have been fairly healthy.

Charlie is now taking Novox and Garbapentin for arthritis, and Lorezapam and Trazadone for his anxiety. It has made a huge difference. We do get outside, three times a day, if only in front of the building. Still, it is a great delight to see him lift his little face to the sun and sniff the air without fear. 

He has stopped leaping up on the bed and sofa, which is a good thing. I was always worried that he would hurt himself and sometimes he would fall backwards in his attempts. I think the medication has slowed him down both emotionally but also physically. There is no perfect solution.

He still barks when I leave the apartment. He used to sit in the window of our house and wait for me to come home. Now that window is gone. Instead, he sits by the little dog gate, I had installed by the hallway, so he wouldn’t bark by the door. So many little plans and adjustments to try to make his old age comfortable and to make it as stress free as possible for us.

I do walk Presley alone twice a day. She loves to sniff in the park. It’s our time together, a little Mommy and me time for my 11-year-old Chihuahua mix. She’s a trooper and a bit scrappy; she barks at smaller dogs and can be quite testy at times. She has little bat ears that stick out and people say she’s very cute. I agree.

But when I take her out alone or go shopping, Charlie isn’t happy. He barks, and I worry that he might be disturbing my neighbors. The medication has helped a little bit, he might bark every 5-10 seconds, but sometimes it’s more. How do I know that? I leave my iPad on record occasionally and then I can listen. I also stand down the hall and count the seconds between barks. I am a very responsible dog owner, but an unhappy one if I think he can’t stop barking because of his intense anxiety.

Our vet suggested we try Prozac. Prozac? The medication that has been the subject of many an article about human depression and anxiety, I was a bit taken aback. My little old dog on Prozac? At first, I was fearful but then I thought, why not give it a try?

He has not had a week yet of Prozac, so I am waiting to see if it makes a difference. I hope it does. I am so happy to see my little friend, more lively and happy and ready to sniff the planet. Now I am waiting to see if he can calm down more when I leave him. That would be another great gift to us as we both navigate his final years with the help of our wonderful vet, modern medical science and prayers.