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Zyprexa for Swamp Monkeys
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Here's the text, just in case. Surely someone must have an opinion about psychiatrically medicating swamp monkeys and wildebeests.
Zoos using drugs to help manage anxious animals
Toledo has wealth of success stories
By JENNI LAIDMAN
BLADE SCIENCE WRITER
Johari the gorilla is on antidepressants. It eases her PMS.
When the Toledo Zoo needed calm zebras, it used an antipsychotic medication to quiet their jitters. Zoo staffers tried to soothe wildebeests with antipsychotic medication for eight months last year, and even occasionally this year. A swamp monkey was dosed with the antipsychotic, but it didnt help her get along with her daughter. It wasnt much good for ostrich aggression either. Yet a little Valium calmed the silverback gorilla when one of the females had a doctor visit. And Prozac helped a female orangutan negotiate life in her group.
Now that humans have warmly embraced citizenship in the Prozac Nation, zoo animals are making tentative gallops, flights, and knuckle-walks into the world of psychotropic pharmaceuticals.
In the last decade, zoos across the nation have turned to antidepressants, tranquilizers, and even antipsychotic drugs such as haloperidol, sold as Haldol, to ease behavioral problems in zoo denizens.
Theyre definitely a wonderful management tool, and thats how we look at them, said the Toledo Zoos mammal curator, Randi Meyerson. To be able to just take the edge off puts us a little more at ease.
Klechka was 300 pounds of sinewy orange ferocity. Then keepers hung shade cloth in the Amur tigers enclosure to keep him out of the sun. (Amur tigers are also called Siberian tigers.)
That did it. He morphed from brave tiger into cowardly lion.
It was terrifying for him, Ms. Meyerson said. He even stopped eating.
To help Klechka get accustomed to his altered environment, the big cat received a low dose of Valium for two days. It did the trick. The 2-year-old tiger went back to being his normal, formidable self.
Long-term treatment
Most often, the drugs are short-term interventions to help animals through a bad patch, but occasionally, they become a long-term treatment for animal behavior. Take the case of Johari, a 17-year-old female gorilla.
To hear gorilla keeper Char Petiniot describe interactions among the Toledo Zoos gorillas is to follow a soap opera featuring a greater-than-average number of bite wounds.
Johari is a nervous gorilla at the best of times, plucking hair from her arms and face the way some people chew fingernails. To make matters worse, her family group has had more than its share of drama, with members moving in and out of the group, and alliances constantly shifting. When Kwisha, a silverback, returned to the group in 2002 after a lengthy separation, Johari kept getting injured in fights with Kwisha.
At first, keepers blamed Kwisha. He attacked Johari on a number of occasions, and many of the attacks required medical treatment. Johari had to be knocked out, separated from her group, and given time to heal. On return, shed be attacked again.
Things got so serious, there was talk of blunting the silverbacks teeth, an idea no one liked.
We finally decided, after watching what was going on, that it really wasnt Kwishas fault, Ms. Petiniot said. Kwisha was just being a normal dominant male.
He was trying to approach her, and she would go berserk. Hed walk up to her, and shed scream bloody murder and charge him and jump on him.
By tracking Joharis menstrual cycles against injuries in the gorilla group, Ms. Petiniot noticed a correlation.
Troupe members were most likely to be injured the week before Joharis menses.
Johari was given daily doses of an antidepressant often used for premenstrual tension. A month after she started on Prozac, she was reintroduced to her group. To everyones delight, the reintroduction was trouble-free.
They were fine. I dont think we had any injuries, Ms. Petiniot said.
In fact, Johari and Kwisha bred, and the female gave birth to Dara in August, 2003. The zoo staff hoped the hormonal changes of pregnancy and nursing would reduce her premenstrual symptoms. Antidepressant treatment was stopped. It proved a mistake.
She got kind of psychotic on us, Ms. Petiniot said. Johari was back on antidepressants in a month, and she remains on them.
Ms. Petiniot acknowledges she is conservative when it comes to the use of any drug. Shed rather have the animals living drug-free whenever possible. But animal behavior expert and veterinarian Kathy Houpt of Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., says real ethical problems can arise when needed treatment is withheld.
Ethical issues
I think its unethical to have an animal for example a dog with separation anxieties, desperately trying to get out of the house, digging until his paws are bloody its unethical not to treat them with drugs if it will make them not as anxious or not as aggressive. Youre making an animal feel more contented, Dr. Houpt said.
Robert Webster, the Toledo Zoo's bird curator, says Haldol helped keep two of his birds from plucking their feathers out. Nothing else the zoo had tried seemed to work as well.
( THE BLADE/LISA DUTTON )
The emotional lives of great apes seem to demand special intervention. When any of the gorillas is immobilized for treatment or surgery, Kwisha becomes completely unglued, Ms. Petiniot said.
He just gets really upset, she said. His displeasure is compounded by profuse diarrhea. Kwishas emotional state, and its unpleasant side effects, spreads to all the other gorillas. Everyone gets sick. The male also refuses to take his group outside.
Theyre afraid to move. They want to stay where its safe, Ms. Petiniot said.
Today, Kwisha gets a dose of Valium before any gorilla is sedated for treatment. Unfortunately, the calm isnt flawless. It does nothing to stem the nervous diarrhea.
Zoos using drugs to help manage anxious animals
Toledo has wealth of success stories
By JENNI LAIDMAN
BLADE SCIENCE WRITER
Johari the gorilla is on antidepressants. It eases her PMS.
When the Toledo Zoo needed calm zebras, it used an antipsychotic medication to quiet their jitters. Zoo staffers tried to soothe wildebeests with antipsychotic medication for eight months last year, and even occasionally this year. A swamp monkey was dosed with the antipsychotic, but it didnt help her get along with her daughter. It wasnt much good for ostrich aggression either. Yet a little Valium calmed the silverback gorilla when one of the females had a doctor visit. And Prozac helped a female orangutan negotiate life in her group.
Now that humans have warmly embraced citizenship in the Prozac Nation, zoo animals are making tentative gallops, flights, and knuckle-walks into the world of psychotropic pharmaceuticals.
In the last decade, zoos across the nation have turned to antidepressants, tranquilizers, and even antipsychotic drugs such as haloperidol, sold as Haldol, to ease behavioral problems in zoo denizens.
Theyre definitely a wonderful management tool, and thats how we look at them, said the Toledo Zoos mammal curator, Randi Meyerson. To be able to just take the edge off puts us a little more at ease.
Klechka was 300 pounds of sinewy orange ferocity. Then keepers hung shade cloth in the Amur tigers enclosure to keep him out of the sun. (Amur tigers are also called Siberian tigers.)
That did it. He morphed from brave tiger into cowardly lion.
It was terrifying for him, Ms. Meyerson said. He even stopped eating.
To help Klechka get accustomed to his altered environment, the big cat received a low dose of Valium for two days. It did the trick. The 2-year-old tiger went back to being his normal, formidable self.
Long-term treatment
Most often, the drugs are short-term interventions to help animals through a bad patch, but occasionally, they become a long-term treatment for animal behavior. Take the case of Johari, a 17-year-old female gorilla.
To hear gorilla keeper Char Petiniot describe interactions among the Toledo Zoos gorillas is to follow a soap opera featuring a greater-than-average number of bite wounds.
Johari is a nervous gorilla at the best of times, plucking hair from her arms and face the way some people chew fingernails. To make matters worse, her family group has had more than its share of drama, with members moving in and out of the group, and alliances constantly shifting. When Kwisha, a silverback, returned to the group in 2002 after a lengthy separation, Johari kept getting injured in fights with Kwisha.
At first, keepers blamed Kwisha. He attacked Johari on a number of occasions, and many of the attacks required medical treatment. Johari had to be knocked out, separated from her group, and given time to heal. On return, shed be attacked again.
Things got so serious, there was talk of blunting the silverbacks teeth, an idea no one liked.
We finally decided, after watching what was going on, that it really wasnt Kwishas fault, Ms. Petiniot said. Kwisha was just being a normal dominant male.
He was trying to approach her, and she would go berserk. Hed walk up to her, and shed scream bloody murder and charge him and jump on him.
By tracking Joharis menstrual cycles against injuries in the gorilla group, Ms. Petiniot noticed a correlation.
Troupe members were most likely to be injured the week before Joharis menses.
Johari was given daily doses of an antidepressant often used for premenstrual tension. A month after she started on Prozac, she was reintroduced to her group. To everyones delight, the reintroduction was trouble-free.
They were fine. I dont think we had any injuries, Ms. Petiniot said.
In fact, Johari and Kwisha bred, and the female gave birth to Dara in August, 2003. The zoo staff hoped the hormonal changes of pregnancy and nursing would reduce her premenstrual symptoms. Antidepressant treatment was stopped. It proved a mistake.
She got kind of psychotic on us, Ms. Petiniot said. Johari was back on antidepressants in a month, and she remains on them.
Ms. Petiniot acknowledges she is conservative when it comes to the use of any drug. Shed rather have the animals living drug-free whenever possible. But animal behavior expert and veterinarian Kathy Houpt of Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., says real ethical problems can arise when needed treatment is withheld.
Ethical issues
I think its unethical to have an animal for example a dog with separation anxieties, desperately trying to get out of the house, digging until his paws are bloody its unethical not to treat them with drugs if it will make them not as anxious or not as aggressive. Youre making an animal feel more contented, Dr. Houpt said.
Robert Webster, the Toledo Zoo's bird curator, says Haldol helped keep two of his birds from plucking their feathers out. Nothing else the zoo had tried seemed to work as well.
( THE BLADE/LISA DUTTON )
The emotional lives of great apes seem to demand special intervention. When any of the gorillas is immobilized for treatment or surgery, Kwisha becomes completely unglued, Ms. Petiniot said.
He just gets really upset, she said. His displeasure is compounded by profuse diarrhea. Kwishas emotional state, and its unpleasant side effects, spreads to all the other gorillas. Everyone gets sick. The male also refuses to take his group outside.
Theyre afraid to move. They want to stay where its safe, Ms. Petiniot said.
Today, Kwisha gets a dose of Valium before any gorilla is sedated for treatment. Unfortunately, the calm isnt flawless. It does nothing to stem the nervous diarrhea.
Part II of article.
In zoos, increased contentment can mean decreased injuries. When the Toledo Zoo opened its Africa exhibit in 2004, it used the antipsychotic medication haloperidol to ease animals into the new, mixed-species exhibit.
Haloperidol is used to treat schizophrenia in humans, but it is known for its severe side effects. Extended use can produce tardive dyskinesia involuntary movements of the face, tongue, lips, trunk, and extremities. The dyskinesia can be permanent. But when Haldol is used for short periods in animals, it acts as a tranquilizer, zoo staffers say.
The zoos four new wildebeests were on Haldol off and on from April, 2004, through December, and they have been put on it at various times this year as well.
The wildebeests feisty nature drove the zoos veterinarian to try drug intervention.
Theyre sort of unique in the hoofstock world in how they deal with the different challenges they face as a herd animal, said Wynona Shellabarger, the zoos veterinarian. They tend to stand and challenge rather than run away. Theres a lot more just general competition for the alpha spot, the dominant animal.
The animals were continually monitored while on the drugs, she said.
We were looking for all the potential side effects, but saw none, she said.
The zoos new Grants zebras were on haloperidol in November and December to ease them into new surroundings.
Zebras will chase anything new or unfamiliar in their environment, said Dr. Shellabarger. When it was time for the zebras to join other animals in the Africa exhibit, the animals received haloperidol.
It would be silly to try an introduction without some type of intervention, Dr. Shellabarger said.
When one of the impalas in the Africa exhibit gave birth, the zebras were put on haloperidol again.
Zebra are known to kill baby impala. Thats just a natural behavior, Dr. Shellabarger said. Something new, something vulnerable, perhaps they somehow perceive it as a threat.
This time, the zebras were on haloperidol for three days, Dr. Shellabarger said, blunting their response to the new animal in their environment.
But the antipsychotic failed to work on Maxine, a swamp monkey at violent odds with a young daughter reaching sexual maturity. Last year Dr. Shellabarger, Ms. Meyerson, and the zoos behavioral specialist agreed to try the drug on Maxine over the objections of the monkeys keeper. At first, Haldol made Maxine groggy. But a reduced dose did not stop her attacks on the youngster. Eventually, Maxines daughter was removed from the family group.
Nor did the drug work on a pair of female ostriches.
Its not a foolproof thing, Dr. Shellabarger said.
A dose of caution
Karen Overall, a veterinarian who specializes in animal behavior at the University of Pennsylvania, has acted as a consultant to zoos and animal sanctuaries. While she is an advocate for the use of antidepressants in animals, including pets, shes more cautious when it comes to haloperidol.
While antidepressants generally increase the availability of the neurochemical serotonin, haloperidol works with the brain chemical dopamine. Dopamine-effecting medicines tend to produce more side effects, Dr. Overall said.
Ive seen it used in monkeys. I usually get called after it doesnt work, she said. I dont like Haldol. I dont like the dopaminergic drugs, the ticks they produce. It can make some animals more anxious.
She acknowledged Haldol is often used successfully in parrots and other birds, but she noted that a birds metabolism is dramatically different from that of a mammal.
Laurie Bergman, a veterinarian and behavior specialist with the University of California, Davis, says haloperidol is a drug of last resort. Dr. Bergman also does consulting work with zoos.
Something like Haldol, thats in many ways a sloppy drug. You have a lot of risk of side effects and also overall repression of normal behavior.
Haloperidol was effective for the Toledo Zoos female Birds of Paradise, Trouble and her sister, Double Trouble, said Robert Webster, the zoos bird curator. The females were plucking out feathers, and no amount of new toys or other interventions put a stop to the behavior. After three days on Haldol, Trouble stopped plucking. Double Trouble, who now lives at a Fort Worth zoo, stopped plucking after a second three-day treatment.
Although there is little published veterinary literature about the effects of drugs like haloperidol in wild animals, the use of psychotropic drugs is likely to increase, as zoos look for ways to keep confined animals as happy and as injury-free as possible.
It seems to me if people are willing to keep animals in a zoo, they ought to do anything necessary to make those lives as atraumatic as possible, Dr. Overall said.
In zoos, increased contentment can mean decreased injuries. When the Toledo Zoo opened its Africa exhibit in 2004, it used the antipsychotic medication haloperidol to ease animals into the new, mixed-species exhibit.
Haloperidol is used to treat schizophrenia in humans, but it is known for its severe side effects. Extended use can produce tardive dyskinesia involuntary movements of the face, tongue, lips, trunk, and extremities. The dyskinesia can be permanent. But when Haldol is used for short periods in animals, it acts as a tranquilizer, zoo staffers say.
The zoos four new wildebeests were on Haldol off and on from April, 2004, through December, and they have been put on it at various times this year as well.
The wildebeests feisty nature drove the zoos veterinarian to try drug intervention.
Theyre sort of unique in the hoofstock world in how they deal with the different challenges they face as a herd animal, said Wynona Shellabarger, the zoos veterinarian. They tend to stand and challenge rather than run away. Theres a lot more just general competition for the alpha spot, the dominant animal.
The animals were continually monitored while on the drugs, she said.
We were looking for all the potential side effects, but saw none, she said.
The zoos new Grants zebras were on haloperidol in November and December to ease them into new surroundings.
Zebras will chase anything new or unfamiliar in their environment, said Dr. Shellabarger. When it was time for the zebras to join other animals in the Africa exhibit, the animals received haloperidol.
It would be silly to try an introduction without some type of intervention, Dr. Shellabarger said.
When one of the impalas in the Africa exhibit gave birth, the zebras were put on haloperidol again.
Zebra are known to kill baby impala. Thats just a natural behavior, Dr. Shellabarger said. Something new, something vulnerable, perhaps they somehow perceive it as a threat.
This time, the zebras were on haloperidol for three days, Dr. Shellabarger said, blunting their response to the new animal in their environment.
But the antipsychotic failed to work on Maxine, a swamp monkey at violent odds with a young daughter reaching sexual maturity. Last year Dr. Shellabarger, Ms. Meyerson, and the zoos behavioral specialist agreed to try the drug on Maxine over the objections of the monkeys keeper. At first, Haldol made Maxine groggy. But a reduced dose did not stop her attacks on the youngster. Eventually, Maxines daughter was removed from the family group.
Nor did the drug work on a pair of female ostriches.
Its not a foolproof thing, Dr. Shellabarger said.
A dose of caution
Karen Overall, a veterinarian who specializes in animal behavior at the University of Pennsylvania, has acted as a consultant to zoos and animal sanctuaries. While she is an advocate for the use of antidepressants in animals, including pets, shes more cautious when it comes to haloperidol.
While antidepressants generally increase the availability of the neurochemical serotonin, haloperidol works with the brain chemical dopamine. Dopamine-effecting medicines tend to produce more side effects, Dr. Overall said.
Ive seen it used in monkeys. I usually get called after it doesnt work, she said. I dont like Haldol. I dont like the dopaminergic drugs, the ticks they produce. It can make some animals more anxious.
She acknowledged Haldol is often used successfully in parrots and other birds, but she noted that a birds metabolism is dramatically different from that of a mammal.
Laurie Bergman, a veterinarian and behavior specialist with the University of California, Davis, says haloperidol is a drug of last resort. Dr. Bergman also does consulting work with zoos.
Something like Haldol, thats in many ways a sloppy drug. You have a lot of risk of side effects and also overall repression of normal behavior.
Haloperidol was effective for the Toledo Zoos female Birds of Paradise, Trouble and her sister, Double Trouble, said Robert Webster, the zoos bird curator. The females were plucking out feathers, and no amount of new toys or other interventions put a stop to the behavior. After three days on Haldol, Trouble stopped plucking. Double Trouble, who now lives at a Fort Worth zoo, stopped plucking after a second three-day treatment.
Although there is little published veterinary literature about the effects of drugs like haloperidol in wild animals, the use of psychotropic drugs is likely to increase, as zoos look for ways to keep confined animals as happy and as injury-free as possible.
It seems to me if people are willing to keep animals in a zoo, they ought to do anything necessary to make those lives as atraumatic as possible, Dr. Overall said.
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I wonder if the gorillas on olanzapine will become diabetic.
Anasazi23 said:
Frankly, I was rather distubed by the article. I hate to sound like a PETA advocate (I am not) but it strikes me that the problem is keeping animals in zoos. It makes sense that higher primates suffer from some of the psychiatric disorders ( symptoms of depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, pre-menstrual dysphoria and OCD were described in the article) that we humans suffer from. Is it any surprise that keeping animals, especially higher primates, in what is in essence, a prison, is stressfull for the poor beasts? I think we have a moral duty to care for their emotional needs as much as their physical needs. I am relieved that veterinarians are using the available technologies to reduce the suffering of these animals. But perhaps the animals might prefer us allow them to remain in their natural habitat rather than doling out Vitamin H?
My first response actually was the exact same as yours. This not natural for the poor beasts. They are chronically stressed in an unnatural environment, and thus are developing psychiatric conditions as coping mechanisms.
Makes you wonder about us humans..........
Makes you wonder about us humans..........
Anasazi23 said:
Indeed. I suspect that the situation for our furry and feathered friends is not that different than ours. I wonder what the indcidence of Axis I - type disorders is out there in the wild kingdom... 'prolly higher than we might first think. But the added stressors of zoo confinement (forced social interaction with other animals you may not like all that much, boredome of the zoo, and snotty, drooling, ill-mannered human children screaming and throwing things at you) serve to aggravate whatever underlying psychopatholy might be present. I am confident that if you put me on display somewhere (even if my cage resembled a suite at the Four Seasons) I would get more than little anxious and depressed. Interestingly, my partner (who grew up in the circus) assures me that Axis I type disorders are all but unkown in circus animals. Interestingly, Axis II -type disorders were occasionally seen - ask me about the elphant who killed not one but two of his trainers - anti-social animals are out there. I never saw evidence of depression/anxiety among the 200 head of dairy cattle, assorted dogs dogs and cats, goats and horses I grew up with. So I part ways with the "animal rights" crowd here. Animals, like humans, have evolved to 'work' in some capacity or another. Prison reformers (an psychiatric institution reformers) at the turn of the century knew this - zookeepers ought to bear it in mind.
I keep a pet parrot - I am continually astonished at his intelligence and his vast social needs. Einstein was convinced that his parrot was depressed. I don't doubt it for a moment that it was.
czyja said:
Noble sentiment, but given what the dominant primate on the planet is doing to those habitats, they may be better off with their artificial habitat and "neurotransmitter supplements". 🙁
Anasazi23 said:
Actually, I think a lot of human psychopathology is probably just primate social behavior expressed in cognitive terms. It's all about the competition for resources, mates, and social dominance. (Or as we say--money, sex, and power...)
I agree!
The genes are controling us more than we think, in terms of sex, food, competition etc.
We have between 96 and 99 % of genes in common with a chimp...
I think that sometimes, we complicate psychology too much, when often the answers may be simple: food, sex, leadership, territory....
Of course, I m not saying that we are like animals though, but we do have common genes.
The moral animal is a great book in this perspective.
The genes are controling us more than we think, in terms of sex, food, competition etc.
We have between 96 and 99 % of genes in common with a chimp...
I think that sometimes, we complicate psychology too much, when often the answers may be simple: food, sex, leadership, territory....
Of course, I m not saying that we are like animals though, but we do have common genes.
The moral animal is a great book in this perspective.
5
50960
Our jobs and rushed lifestyle are as psychopathogenic for humans as forced socialization and incarceration is for zoo animals.
psisci said:
I would argue that it's not as bad for humans, since we can rationalize and develop regimented cathartic outlets via the use of our unique cortexes. Animals don't have this ability.
I'd like to see fewer, better zoos. After reading about the "bush meat" trade in Africa, I doubt there is much future for wild gorillas, unfortunately.
11 year necrobump, strong work.
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