And now Prozac for pets...

Gee, I thought it was bad enough to feed Prozac to kids, now it is being prescribed for pets.

An increasing number of dogs and cats in Canada are suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder and are being treated with such anti-depressants as Prozac, an Ontario veterinarian said.

Dr. Tim Zaharchuk estimated between 3% and 6% of dogs and cats in Canada suffer from this problem. He said pets can be as susceptible as their owners to stress and the disorders that result.

"Just as in our human world, as the world is geared up or revved up or becomes quicker and more fast-paced and more stressful, I think our pets' lives have become that way too, just by living with us," Dr. Zaharchuk said from his Brampton, Ont., animal clinic.

Behaviour exhibited by pets that suggest an obsessive-compulsive disorder includes excessive licking and grooming to the point of mutiliation, along with other incessant activities such as tail chasing, jaw snapping in the air at imaginary objects and "bum checking."

Bum-checking? Isn't that what dogs do?