Americans have begun to medicate their dogs, cats and sometimes other pets much as they medicate themselves.
They routinely treat their pets for arthritis, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, allergies, dementia, and soon maybe even obesity. They pick from an expanding menu of mostly human pharmaceuticals like steroids for inflammation, antibiotics for infection, anti-clotting agents for heart ailments, Prozac or Valium for anxiety, even the impotence drug Viagra for a lung condition in dogs.
Increasingly, they buy at people pharmacies or online and sometimes pay with health insurance.
Until recent decades, American veterinarians still concentrated on care that reflected the country's agrarian roots: keeping farm animals healthy to protect the human food supply. Instead of being medicated, a very sick animal was quickly sacrificed to save the herd. Pets were typically kept outside with the cows, chickens and pigs. A dog was lucky for a dry place in a crude shelter; a cat, for a warm spot in the barn.
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3 comments:
Up until very recently, I didn't know that animals could get diabetes or cancer. I think it was Wendy that told me that they do.
M~
I'm not sure how I feel about this... I love animals and of course, like the fact we can care for them better than ever. On the other hand, I think we already over-medicate humans, and I'm not sure it's good for us in the long run. Might not be for critters either.
In the big picture, I suspect it's a symptom of the surplus wealth available in Western society. Seems odd when there are people around the world (and even in our own cities) that struggle to obtain the most basic medical care.
lol at John....
Over-medicating, not so good.
But like Gandhi said.. you can tell a lot about a culture by how they treat their animals.
~S
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