LOS ANGELES, Jan. 11 A growing number of U.S. pets and zoo animals are overcoming anxieties and mellowing their behavior with the use of human antidepressants, a report said.The Los Angeles Times said over the last decade, Prozac, Buspar and Amitriptyline have been introduced into the veterinary world to treat cats for indoor spraying, dogs and birds for separation anxiety and self-destructive compulsive grooming.Veterinarians who prescribe psychoactive drugs -- such as Dr. Elyse Kent, owner of Westside Hospital for Cats in Los Angeles -- do not immediately pull out prescription pads. Instead, they do medical work-ups on animals to rule out physical causes for destructive or neurotic actions, and prefer to use behavior modification instead of, or along with, drug therapy.We try to use these medications short-term, Kent told the Times, because they are not without side-effects.The Los Angeles Zoo had a male orangutan with respiratory problems, and -- after consulting with a psychiatrist -- put the primate on the antidepressant Remeron in 2005. The ape's appetite improved, and it fathered a healthy baby in 2005 -- and is being weaned off the antidepressant, the report said.By UPI
