Prozac Nation 2.0

Had a checkup recently. Physical health is good. But the doctor sensed something not right mentally. She picked up on some anxiety, and noted that I mentioned a lack of appetite at times. I saw the her writing something on one of those pharmaceutical notepads. She tore it off and gave it to me: a prescription for Fluoxetine (Prozac). I shrugged and thought we'd give it a try. I had it filled yesterday.

The patient's name on the bottle: Emmylou. I should mention that Emmylou is my dog and the vet wrote the script when she had her shots updated last week.

Crazy.

Technically, Fluoxetine is not a drug for the crazies -- you'd need something a stronger like Thorazine for that.  Prozac is an selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitor (SSRI) that is used to treat major depression, OCD and panic disorders. Apparently, as with humans, it also does wonders on dogs suffering from anxiety related disorders.

Emmy's a very good dog. She's friendly, great around people and other dogs. She's just a little nuts. Oh, sorry: suffering from major depression, OCD or panic disorder.

Whenever I'm around, it's always been "go" time. Wherever I walk, she paces behind me, step-for-step. When I sit, she loops repetitively from the backdoor to me. She just can't sit still. She rarely naps. I used to think she was incapable of napping.  In fact, it wasn't until she was seven years old that I caught her napping for the first time. Actually, I heard her snoring in the other room and when I tried to sneak up on her to catch her in the act, the wooden floor creaked before I could get there. She stood up, shook and kicked off the pacing routine once more.

Lately, she hasn't been eating as much. She's also been moping around the house. I even hear her cry herself to sleep sometimes.

Maybe the Prozac will help?

It's been said that you can tell a lot about a person's mental state by looking into their eyes. I looked into Emmy's eyes and discovered that she's got one of those lazy eyes. But does that make her nuts? A more reasonable conclusion for a lazy eye is that she'd be slothful. We know that's not the case.

I posted this photo on Facebook and mentioned the lazy eye.  Fred pointed out that Emmy has a lazy ear, too.  See for yourself:

So I have a dog with a lazy eye and a lazy ear and is suffering from major depression, OCD or panic disorder.

If the Prozac doesn't help her, perhaps I'll end up taking it instead.