Often I find myself sitting at home trying to spend money on something completely useless. Katie got wise and has somehow managed to get Time Warner Cable to block all the infomercials on our TV's. But I still have the internet, and lots of credit cards (Thanks, Capital One!). Despite this, I keep on running out things to waste money on. But today, I found a new way to completely waste my money.
Without further ado - veterinarians are starting to prescribe anti-depressants to pets because said pets are becoming suicidal. Wait. It gets better. They're suicidal because they don't have anyone to talk to about their many, many problems. And of course, the drug companies are completely backing this up because Pfizer and the lot are very concerned about the welfare of pets, or they really like making money and know that people will pay an obscene amount of money to make sure little Whiskers doesn't try to off herself. I'll let you decide which one is more likely.
From a personal stand point, I once thought Cinder (my dog) was bipolar. She would sit around all day, sleep, not express any emotion. And then, out of nowhere, she'd be bouncing off the walls and barking, playing, having a good time. Initially, I was worried, and when I typed those symptoms into WebMD, bipolar was the first result. Fortunately, I remembered that I was not in a Disney cartoon, and pets are not, in fact, humans in a cute, cuddly form. But I had already ordered a year's supply of Prozac from some company in Canada, so if you need some of that - let me know.
If you actually listen to the mood-stabilizer commercials, you'll hear that most of them have been known to cause depression and suicide in children, teens, and young adults. So unless you're over 30, these drugs are just going to amplify whatever problems you already have. Clearly, science hasn't figured out how to make people feel "normal" all the time. Thus, I find it somewhat disconcerting that we're taking these mood-altering drugs and giving them to household pets. I'm waiting for a dog on Zoloft to flip out and start attacking everything in sight.
Anyway, if you may think your pet is depressed, take them to the vet and get some groovy drugs. Or try giving them a treat and / or toy. It's your money.
