Dogs also suffer from problems similar to that in humans.
Depression is one of them.
In this condition, the dog constantly whines, snuggles for attention, becomes inactive, shows changes in its habits or appears withdrawn.
Knowing the causes and symptoms can help the owners nip this problem at the earliest.
Some causes of depression include: • Change in the environment: Depression can be triggered by change in residence, death of a family member or another pet, or arrival of a new family member or pet.
• Anxiety: There are no specific attributes to cause anxiety.
This occurs even with small changes like moving of a family member out of town for a while.
• Health problems: Dogs show signs of depression post many health problems.
• Environment: Long period of bad weather might restrict their outings which can also cause boredom and depression.
Some of the symptoms indicating depression include; loss in appetite, severe loss of weight, laziness, constipation, reduced water consumption, sleepiness, inactivity, sluggish movements, hair loss, aggression, restlessness and anxiousness.
The best way to treat teat depression in dogs is to shower them with care, attention and love.
Signs of positive or normal behavior should be rewarded adequately and they must be indulged in games and activities.
This effort to overcome depression may take a few days, or even months which will require the owner to be patient and keep trying various options to help the pet.
In case no improvement is noticed, the vet should be consulted to check for underlying health problem or imbalance in body chemicals.
The vet may prescribe anti-depressants to treat depression.