Elderly and Male Dogs More Likely to Receive Behavioural Medication

The RVC has recently conducted research on prescribed drugs and therapy for ‘bad’ behaviours in canines. The results indicated that the Tibetan terrier, Shih- tzu, and toy poodle are most likely to receive a referral for this. The findings also showed that some cases may not have been spotted by veterinary professionals.

Overall, there was no difference in the chance of prescription based on the size of the dog, however, it appeared that older and male dogs had a higher risk of being medicated for presenting these ‘undesirable’ behaviours.

One in 250 canines receive treatment each year, and less than 3% of those treated were sent to a behavioural specialist over the duration of the study- suggesting that veterinary training and knowledge needs to be addressed, especially for controlling and preventing these problems.

Anxiety (12%), dementia symptoms (10%) and nervous aggression (9%) were three behaviours included in the research.

Lead author, Annabel Craven, explained that “The use of the VetCompass data in this study has provided an invaluable insight into the management of undesirable behaviours in the primary care setting. The relatively low frequency of dogs treated with a drug for undesirable behaviour could suggest that opportunities for useful psychopharmaceutical intervention are being
missed.”

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