13 Jan 2022
One in every 250 dogs prescribed behaviour-modifying drugs each year, with toy poodle, Tibetan terrier and shih-tzu most likely to be medicated – but researchers fear many cases are missed.
Paul Imrie
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Research on the extent dogs are prescribed medication or other therapy for undesirable behaviours has suggested cases may be being missed.
A team at the RVC has carried out the largest study of its kind into the use of drug therapy for behaviours including anxiousness, dementia-like behaviour changes and nervousness aggression.
Findings showed the three breeds at highest risk of being prescribed a drug to manage undesirable behaviours were the toy poodle, Tibetan terrier and shih-tzu.
The RVC conducted the study using its analytics programme VetCompass, looking at the clinical records of 103,597 dogs in the UK during 2013.
From this, the researchers identified 404 dogs had received at least one drug to treat an undesirable behaviour.
Breeds of a smaller body size overall were no more likely to require medication than larger breeds, but increased age and being male heightened the risk of dogs being prescribed drugs.
The team behind the study said the findings have revealed a need to improve veterinary expertise in prevention and management as only one in every 250 dogs was treated with drug therapy a year – and of those, just 2.2% were also referred to a behaviourist during the period studies.
Annabel Craven, lead author of the paper, said: “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.”
Among other key findings in the survey, undesirable behaviours requiring modifying drugs included anxiousness (11.9%), dementia-like behaviour changes (10.4%) and nervous aggression (8.7%).
Acepromazine maleate, or ACP, was prescribed in 32.1% of cases, diazepam (Valium) in 20.6% and propentofylline in 12.9%.
The RVC study, “Veterinary drug therapies used for undesirable behaviours in UK dogs under primary veterinary care”, is published in PLOS ONE .
