"Humanizing" Pets

It was a banner weekend for pet-related news, what with the cover story of the New York Times magazine being devoted to the current veterinary psycho-pharmacology trend and the entire issue of the Boston Globe's Sunday magazine being devoted to pets. So what is one to conclude from all this media attention? That, despite the recession, pet-related businesses are booming and the trend is expected to continue for the next five years.

Of course this is probably on the high end of the spectrum. You will still be reading about those forced to make the heartbreaking decision to give their pets up because they can't afford to feed them, but for those to whom $4.00 plus for gas is hardly a dent, the pampering will go on, often to absurd proportions.

But who am I to judge? On Sunday, I took my canine brood for a swim at my parents' pool, where my brother and sister-in-law had stopped by with my two nephews (three and seven months). The dogs had jumped out of the car and were eagerly waiting for me to unlatch the gate, especially when they heard the giggling of children in the pool. As a result, my sister-in-law saw my dogs, who charged through way ahead of me, before she saw me and just burst out laughing. "That's what happens when your kids grow up--your dogs replace them!" was her comment as my brood proceeded to lather hers with total affection.

And she is undoubtedly right. It is no small coincidence that my three kids have been replaced by three dogs, in exactly the same sexes. So when I read about people medicating dogs for separation anxiety with prozac or treating a goose for cancer (could I make this up?) who am I to quibble? Am I so different?

Apparently the rumblings among vets is that the psycho-pharmacy trend is hardly new, so why make such a fuss now? The bigger issue seems to be why are our pets suffering from "human" psychological issues? My guess is that it is probably not because we are "humanizing" them but because they are being subject to the same environmental and social factors that we are--increased isolation, less time to exercise and be outside and greater distance from our shared hunter/gatherer roots. In other words dogs and cats living under the same conditions that humans do will inevitably suffer the same conditions--its just that we see it more clearly in our pets than we do in ourselves.

So short of moving to a farm--which not everyone can afford to do--we opt for the quick fix. Seriously, once you have decided to adopt a dog only to discover that you can't leave it for any length of time without risking total destruction of your house, what are you supposed to do--quit your job? And the truth of the matter is, just like people, not all dogs freak out when left alone. Drugs may not be the ultimate answer but they are better than euthanasia.

The moral of the story is, children or not, once a living being has entered your life it is hard NOT to do everything you can to make their life (and yours) the best it can be. Otherwise, why invite them in? The key may be to remember that there is indeed a difference between what is an optimum "dog's life" and what is an optimum human life. They are not necessarily the same thing.

But go tell it to the guy who is giving his goose chemotherapy...