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Hong Kong's dogs may soon join the Prozac generation

WHILE many in Hong Kong wait impatiently for the arrival of anti-impotence wonder-drug Viagra, others hold their breath for another type of miracle pill, Clomicalm, a cousin of the world's most popular anti-depressant, Prozac.

The new drug is not designed for man, however, but for his best friend. Since the United States Food and Drug Administration approved its use on pets earlier this month, the drug has been profiled around the world, giving hope to long-suffering dog owners desperate to curb their animals' destructive behaviour.

But its maker, Novartis, seems almost embarrassed by reports billing Clomicalm as the cure-all for badly behaved pets.

'The way in which drugs react inside the human and canine body are invariably quite different and comparison would be so simplistic as to be wrong,' says a company spokesman. Still, news about the drug's introduction to Hong Kong has caused excitement.

'We have had quite a few inquiries by vets about Clomicalm,' says Novartis' Hong Kong and Macau business manager April Fong Sum-yu.

Veterinarians believe there is a huge market in the SAR because most pets live in small, cramped flats and their owners are frequently away for long hours - causing a clinical condition known as separation anxiety.

The problem may manifest in your four-legged friend chewing up furniture, barking incessantly or soiling your carpet. Apparently leaving a trail of destruction like this is a sign of the animal's affection for you: it is anxious because you are away.

'It's a big problem in Hong Kong: parents at work, children in school and the maid only works part-time,' says Dr Andrew Baker of the Mid-Levels Veterinary Centre.

'The dog could destroy the house, it could bark all day and chew the furniture, being a nuisance generally. Those are the ones to try the drug on. They just want company and the family can't give it to them.' Dr Baker also believes the drug has a huge market in Hong Kong. But, he warns: 'It has to be combined with training, behavioural counselling. You can't just give the dog a tablet and expect to cure it.' Dr Baker is one of the few specialists in Hong Kong who have experimented with psychoactive drugs to modify the destructive behaviour of pets, although he has not yet used Clomicalm.

According to Novartis, about 15 to 20 per cent of the canine population suffer from separation anxiety.

This means about 20,000 dogs in Hong Kong may be turning our flats into battlefields and giant toilets, as the Agriculture and Fisheries Department has recorded about 100,000 dogs in Hong Kong.

The actual number must be higher because not all owners abide by the law that requires registration.

Separation anxiety is common in Hong Kong, says Dr Baker, adding, 'We call the dog being dominant to the owner. The dog runs the house basically.' One reason dogs may react so badly to being alone is that owners mollycoddle them and 'treat them like a child, [allow them to] sleep in the bed', he says. 'The biggest mistake is to let pets sleep in the bed because they are used to human company, the warmth and comfort, and so become more prone to being upset, and develop separation anxiety.' Less destructive than dogs, cats can nevertheless develop similar problems, says Dr Baker, indicating that the problem may be more significant than is immediately apparent.

'Cats have the same problems,' he says. 'They will piss all over the house when the owner is away. They can also have separation anxiety.' The active ingredient in Clomicalm is called clomipramine, which has been used since the 1960s to treat depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder in humans.

An intriguing side-effect is that it has been found to induce spontaneous orgasms in human females though Novartis has redesigned the drug for pets.

Like Prozac, it targets the actions of a brain chemical known as serotonin, linked to feelings of pleasure and well-being, as well as another chemical related to depression.

Novartis has warned that Clomicalm may exacerbate existing health problems in dogs with epilepsy, some heart diseases or glaucoma, but side-effects on healthy dogs are otherwise minimal. The price of the drug has not yet been decided in Hong Kong, but in the US a month's treatment (for a 10-kilogram dog) costs HK$150 to $200 a month.

Though the drug is causing much excitement, Clomicalm is not the first to be prescribed to pets with behavioural problems. For years, veterinarians, particularly those overseas, have been recommending Prozac and other related drugs to help calm upset animals.

'I have used Prozac on occasions in the past and it was always successful to varying degrees,' Dr Baker says. '[And another drug] Selegiline is brilliant at treating aggression, particularly aggression triggers like thunder or the phone, which can make the animal uncontrollable and potentially dangerous.' But Dr Baker insists that behaviour-modifying drugs should be considered the last resort.

'When you are messing with neuro-transmitters in the brain, you never know for sure what will happen,' he says.

'Most behaviour problems have got to do with how the owner relates to the pet and how it's treated. If we can change that, we don't need to use pharmaceutical products.'

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