Animal Welfare Professionals

Hi folks! I've been speaking with our shelter vet about treating depression in long term shelter dogs as it isn't something she is super familiar with despite researching.  She asked me to reach out to you all and see if any of you have any recommendations on medication for depression in shelter dogs. Our behavior and training team, along with our volunteers, have been doing their best to keep them enriched, extra yard time, flirt pole, hikes, field trips, running group, play groups, puzzle toys, you name it, we do it for these pups but some of them are still showing severe signs of depression. Any recommendations or suggestions would be super helpful! Thank you so much in advance!

#Medicine,SurgeryandSterilization

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Rebecca Toltz
Yankee Golden Retriever Rescue
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Hi Rebecca! Long-time shelter vet here. I wish there was a straight-forward answer here as we all want to support and improve the mental health of pets in our care. Unfortunately, most behavior-focused veterinarians and board-certified veterinary behaviorists agree that BM (behavior modification) drugs have limited usefulness in the shelter environment, primarily due to the high level of environmental stressors associated with living in a shelter. A number of shelter studies and surveys have confirmed this conclusion. This is particularly true for anti-depressant drugs like SSRIs and tri-cyclics (fluoxetine, amitryptyline, etc.). One of the reasons for this is that these drugs require several weeks of use, combined with environmental management, before any beneficial effects are evident, even in home environments with committed owners. We use drugs like trazodone and gabapentin (which have more immediate effects) to help with generalized anxiety in our dogs and they sometimes help. I am happy to share our dosing protocols if that would be helpful. 

Ultimately, the focus really needs to be on getting these dogs out of the shelter one way or another (or preventing intake to start with), knowing that behavior will inevitably deteriorate for all dogs, particularly once LOS extends beyond 16 days...when studies have shown indicators of stress begin rising steeply. There are no great answers here and all of us struggle with these issues.

Rachel

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Rachel Powell
Veterinarian
Greenhill Humane Society
OR
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Thanks so much Rachel! That's basically what our shelter vet had said. Sadly some of these dogs get overlooked do to no fault of their own and the LOS gets extended far longer than we would like. One of the dogs in question we pulled from another shelter in the south who had only a couple hours before they were going to euthanize him and we wanted to give him a chance at life. 

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Rebecca Toltz
Yankee Golden Retriever Rescue
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Original Message:
Sent: 11-07-2024 09:27 AM
From: Rachel Powell
Subject: Treating Depression in Shelter Dogs

Hi Rebecca! Long-time shelter vet here. I wish there was a straight-forward answer here as we all want to support and improve the mental health of pets in our care. Unfortunately, most behavior-focused veterinarians and board-certified veterinary behaviorists agree that BM (behavior modification) drugs have limited usefulness in the shelter environment, primarily due to the high level of environmental stressors associated with living in a shelter. A number of shelter studies and surveys have confirmed this conclusion. This is particularly true for anti-depressant drugs like SSRIs and tri-cyclics (fluoxetine, amitryptyline, etc.). One of the reasons for this is that these drugs require several weeks of use, combined with environmental management, before any beneficial effects are evident, even in home environments with committed owners. We use drugs like trazodone and gabapentin (which have more immediate effects) to help with generalized anxiety in our dogs and they sometimes help. I am happy to share our dosing protocols if that would be helpful. 

Ultimately, the focus really needs to be on getting these dogs out of the shelter one way or another (or preventing intake to start with), knowing that behavior will inevitably deteriorate for all dogs, particularly once LOS extends beyond 16 days...when studies have shown indicators of stress begin rising steeply. There are no great answers here and all of us struggle with these issues.

Rachel

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Rachel Powell
Veterinarian
Greenhill Humane Society
OR
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One option we have is "sleepover camp" for our longer term dogs. We don't typically have available pets out in foster, but a long-term dog might do a 1-2 week vacation (or longer!) just to get out for a bit. We've seen them coming back very refreshed and in a better headspace after "sleepaway" camp. 

Plus, it gives us a chance to learn more about them and share stories from their "vacation" to market them!

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Erin Dams
Community Relations Coordinator
Roanoke Valley SPCA
Roanoke VA
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Erin, this is an excellent suggestion! Research has actually shown there is a measurable benefit to even a single night's respite from the shelter environment, so even if a foster can only manage one night or a weekend at "camp" it benefits the dogs immensely. 

I definitely concur that those short-term foster experiences also provide a lot of information about personality, problematic behaviors, habits, house-training, response to meeting new people, etc., all of which help with pathway planning for individuals. It also sometimes helps with making difficult decisions about outcomes...we often tell ourselves that if an animals could just get into [xyz] home, the problematic behaviors we are seeing in the shelter would be resolved. Sometimes that is true and sometimes it becomes clear that management of certain behaviors is not feasible for the "average" adopter in our community...which may lead us to look for rescues, get creative about finding that "unicorn" adopter or conclude that humane euthanasia is the right outcome.

Rachel

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Rachel Powell
Veterinarian
Greenhill Humane Society
OR
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Original Message:
Sent: 11-08-2024 07:13 AM
From: Erin Dams
Subject: Treating Depression in Shelter Dogs

One option we have is "sleepover camp" for our longer term dogs. We don't typically have available pets out in foster, but a long-term dog might do a 1-2 week vacation (or longer!) just to get out for a bit. We've seen them coming back very refreshed and in a better headspace after "sleepaway" camp. 

Plus, it gives us a chance to learn more about them and share stories from their "vacation" to market them!

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Erin Dams
Community Relations Coordinator
Roanoke Valley SPCA
Roanoke VA
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It's great that you're putting so much effort into enriching the lives of these dogs-they're lucky to have such a dedicated team! For medication, you might want to ask the vet about options like fluoxetine (Prozac) or clomipramine, which are sometimes prescribed for dogs dealing with anxiety and depression. These can be used alongside the wonderful enrichment activities you're already providing. It might also be worth reaching out to a veterinary behaviorist for specialized advice. You're doing amazing work for these pups. Additionally, if you’re looking to source medication or supplements for the dogs, Canadian pharmacy can be a great option. They often offer competitive prices on prescription medications like fluoxetine, and many carry a variety of pet health products, including anxiety aids and calming supplements. 

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Tyrone Pierce
Veterinarian
Maryland Hospital
MD
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