Dr. Josef Witt-Doerring

And, you know, Ivan, when I was preparing for this, I was looking at, you know, one of those two studies that you had mentioned. And in one of the studies, they have a doubling of aggressive behavior. You know, the dogs who got the drug, the Prozac, aggression as a side effect was seen in 12% of them compared to 6% of them who didn't get it. Now, and so...

And, you know, Ivan, when I was preparing for this, I was looking at, you know, one of those two studies that you had mentioned. And in one of the studies, they have a doubling of aggressive behavior. You know, the dogs who got the drug, the Prozac, aggression as a side effect was seen in 12% of them compared to 6% of them who didn't get it. Now, and so...

I mean, that would just be another thing that people would need to be aware of, um, before putting the, the, the, their animals on these medications is if, if you start to see, you know, a typical aggressive behavior or violence, um, these are potential side effects of the drugs.

I mean, that would just be another thing that people would need to be aware of, um, before putting the, the, the, their animals on these medications is if, if you start to see, you know, a typical aggressive behavior or violence, um, these are potential side effects of the drugs.

It's a great analogy, and we use them in the same way in humans. We will give SSRIs to people with depressed mood, to people with anxiety, to people who have PTSD and trauma. We give it to women who have uncomfortable periods and are irritable around their periods because the drug doesn't work in any specific way. It's a chemical blanket. You know, they wipe out emotions.

It's a great analogy, and we use them in the same way in humans. We will give SSRIs to people with depressed mood, to people with anxiety, to people who have PTSD and trauma. We give it to women who have uncomfortable periods and are irritable around their periods because the drug doesn't work in any specific way. It's a chemical blanket. You know, they wipe out emotions.

I mean so anything that's that that generally tends to make people anxious and and and Irritable it can it just turns the volume down on the on the on your emotions Good and bad ones. It's just like cranking a knob down and it'll work for many different things but not in any specific way the tapering or tapering

I mean so anything that's that that generally tends to make people anxious and and and Irritable it can it just turns the volume down on the on the on your emotions Good and bad ones. It's just like cranking a knob down and it'll work for many different things but not in any specific way the tapering or tapering

Because I do have a... No, I'm smiling because this is like... This is like the greatest question that I've ever been asked before to start talking about antidepressant tapering with dogs. I love it. I love it. It's great.

Because I do have a... No, I'm smiling because this is like... This is like the greatest question that I've ever been asked before to start talking about antidepressant tapering with dogs. I love it. I love it. It's great.

Yeah. Yeah, this is a great question. And so what I would What I would say the most important thing would be is to try and get a sense of the dog's baseline behavior before you taper because you're going to be looking out for withdrawal signs. What do we notice in humans? Humans will start to become more anxious and they might have a hard time sleeping. They can look dizzy as well.

Yeah. Yeah, this is a great question. And so what I would What I would say the most important thing would be is to try and get a sense of the dog's baseline behavior before you taper because you're going to be looking out for withdrawal signs. What do we notice in humans? Humans will start to become more anxious and they might have a hard time sleeping. They can look dizzy as well.

And sometimes they have like brain zaps, although that's really hard to notice if you're configured. It's going to be hard to notice that the dog's having brain zaps. Maybe you'll notice some twitches or some ticks. And this is just assuming that the physiology of the dog will behave in a similar way to the human when you're taking it off.

And sometimes they have like brain zaps, although that's really hard to notice if you're configured. It's going to be hard to notice that the dog's having brain zaps. Maybe you'll notice some twitches or some ticks. And this is just assuming that the physiology of the dog will behave in a similar way to the human when you're taking it off.

As I mentioned before, most people can come off these medications I would say in a couple of months. Honestly, that's way too fast for what I do but I talk to a lot of people and they can come off pretty quickly. The most important thing that you need to be aware of is that if the So if the person starts to look like they're becoming very uncomfortable, you slow down the taper.

As I mentioned before, most people can come off these medications I would say in a couple of months. Honestly, that's way too fast for what I do but I talk to a lot of people and they can come off pretty quickly. The most important thing that you need to be aware of is that if the So if the person starts to look like they're becoming very uncomfortable, you slow down the taper.

And so that might be the same with the dog. If when you're removing the medication, you notice the dog is very irritable, maybe very on edge, you might want to just wait. You might want to wait two weeks or just until the dog looks like it's settled down a bit more and then keep on dropping the dose.

And so that might be the same with the dog. If when you're removing the medication, you notice the dog is very irritable, maybe very on edge, you might want to just wait. You might want to wait two weeks or just until the dog looks like it's settled down a bit more and then keep on dropping the dose.

I'm going to have to rely on you and your community to sort of educate the world on how to do this well, whether it's something that can be done in a couple of months or maybe it takes six months. Maybe for most dogs, it's pretty quick. Maybe for a select few, it takes longer. But the golden rule is to, if the dog looks very uncomfortable, put it back on the last dose where it was comfortable.

I'm going to have to rely on you and your community to sort of educate the world on how to do this well, whether it's something that can be done in a couple of months or maybe it takes six months. Maybe for most dogs, it's pretty quick. Maybe for a select few, it takes longer. But the golden rule is to, if the dog looks very uncomfortable, put it back on the last dose where it was comfortable.