Posted on 12/24/2008 3:07:43 PM PST by CalifScreaming
We've all seen a dog endlessly chase its tail and wonder to ourselves, why do they do that? Now researchers believe those strange animal behaviors may actually be a psychiatric disorder.
Deborah Santti was worried about her 10-month-old German Shepherd named Lucas.
"It was out of control," she said of his constant tail chasing.
Finally she decided to bring him to Tufts University animal behaviorist, Dr. Nick Dodman. The diagnosis: obsessive compulsive disorder.
"OCD in pets is a real phenomenon," he explained.
It's the same condition that affects millions of Americans who deal with obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviors like constant hand washing or locking doors.
Cats and horses can also get OCD. Dr. Dodman says it can be genetic or it can be triggered by something in the environment. Certain breeds are predisposed to the condition. German Shepherds, for example, tend to chase their tails, while Doberman's are more apt to bite their sides.
Dogs bred to hunt and herd need to burn off energy to avoid problems. That, however, doesn't always work.
"Often times, most times, you do need to use medication," explained Dr. Dodman.
Vets use drugs like Prozac or Zoloft, the same drugs given to humans with obsessive compulsive disorder.
Dr. Edward Ginns of UMass Medical School is studying the DNA of hundreds of dogs with the disorder. He says about 75 percent of genes in their DNA makeup look similar to those in humans.
"Since many of the genes in humans are also reflected in the dog genome, we are hopeful the changes in the dog DNA will lead not only to diagnostic but also therapeutic modalities for both pets and humans," he said.
A lot more research is needed, but Dr. Ginns is hopeful there will be a breakthrough.
(Excerpt) Read more at wbztv.com ...
Sounds like that doggie could use some more exercise. When he’s chasing a Frisbee, he won’t even think of his tail.
Too many puppy uppers. They need to give him some little doggie downers.
Dogs enjoy chasing their tails. For them, it is fun.
If they do it too much, try more exercise. Unlike cats, dogs have massive intelligence and their minds need stimulus else they get bored. Exercise fixes this.
“Too many puppy uppers. They need to give him some little doggie downers.”
That skit was hilarious! As good as the “Bassomatic!”
I had the stomach flu and then with all the Christmas stuff, we had a four-day period when all she got was a quick run in the back yard and maybe a 3-4 block walk.
It was Cabin Fever City. She was driving us all nuts - whining, stealing stuff out of the trash cans, running laps in the house. Just what everyone needs - a 55 pound Lab bouncing off the walls and the furniture.
We went down Tuesday to the farm and trained, and you never saw a dog so happy to be there. She behaved like a perfect princess ("When did you teach that dog to heel?") and retrieved everything, even 100-130 yard marks through heavy cover, heeling and delivering to hand every time.
("Maybe if I'm good, she won't leave me in the house all day . . . ")
Akroid, Balushi, Chase, Curtain, Morris, Murphy, Murray, Radner... gave us some great Saturday Nights back then.
Loraine Newman as well...
BTW, that Bass-o-matic was killer. I can see Akroid’s smirk now...
“Mmmmmmmmm! That’s GREAT bass!” is still a catchword in our family.
In the spring of 2007, one of our cats started licking her belly to the point of removing all of her fur. She also removed much of it from her upper hind legs. I took her to the vet a couple of times. First we tried antihistamine, in case it was a seasonal allergy. When that didn’t work, he suggested Prozac, since it sometimes helps pets with weird compulsions. We tried Prozac for a couple of months, but it only seemed to make her dopey and wobbly on her feet without stopping the over-grooming behavior. Ultimately, we gave up the Prozac and just accepted that we have a silly-looking cat with a bald belly and thighs. It’s otherwise harmless, and fortunately it doesn’t cause her to upchuck hairballs all over the house.
hmm I wonder if that works for people too.
My guess is that it does.
LOL Ben.
LOL We remember the Bass-o-matic, but that’s about it. Just knowing what dropping that bass in the blender must have done to the enviro loonies made my day.
"Oh . . . never mind. . . . " is another classic that has turned into a family catchword.
Well, there was plenty of food for catch phrases, that’s for sure.
I still blurt out, “Oh, Mr. Billlllll, if something looks overly tragic.
They used to call it cribbing.
Usually it means an animal is bored or doesn’t have enough activity.
I have a cat that seems mentally normal. She likes to play with her tail sometimes. She also brings me her toy mouses so I can toss them for her to chase. And a few times a week at about 10 or 11 at night, she likes tearing around the house at about 10 thousand miles an hour.
I tried to find them on youtube, but couldn’t. Then my electricity went out!
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