Oh! You are way down in So Cal...Los Gatos is such a cute little area in their touristy places.
Evo is a grain-less food, I liked it but opted with Taste of the Wild for price and well my mini schnauzie is prone to obesity and gas from food 'too rich' Grain containing foods with, like corn can cause a warming sensation (itching) along with digestive issues etc...
Definitely ask your vet before giving your dog anything for people. Also does your vet work with or already refereed you to a behaviorist?
I'd try behavioral modifications and limit the substances I put into my dog before we saw what and where the issue was and get your vet to refer you to a neurologist..
I got a referral to Karen (department head) at UC Davis for my Elvis and his cluster seizures (epilepsy) we are seeing some signs of permanent neurological damage from his seizures...he walks into things so we think is depth perception has been affected as eyes are damaged by brain pressure during seizures, also he doesn't seem to have much of a sense of smell...he seems to have to search around for things really hard as opposed to smelling it and getting it like most dogs...
I joke about Elvis being OCD with his constant cat like bathing habit licking everyone and everything, but they felt it was behavioral more than neurological...he also just hates to get dirty, avoiding mud, water etc and cleaning immediately when he does get into it.
What Dr. told you OCD is based on a serotonin deficiency? OCD is a dis-neurological order in the least which is not proven as psychological disorders are often subjective based on the science we have now, true serotonin controlling, regulating , and inhibiting drugs are used in people as ODC is often treated similar to depression-but that's a very 'old' method of treatment.
To treat it solely as a chemical imbalance-it's been proven often effective to treat in this way but also proven to not be a genuine treatment due to the issue that is dis-proven to be based on a chemical imbalance. Read about what serotonin actually is how the brain releases and controls it for a better understanding...again everything you talked about is specific to people and little has been done to test this in dogs.
Best of luck to you, please post updates!
Quote:
Originally Posted by slahey2000  I'm in San Jose, and there is a holistic pet center in Los Gatos where I've been going. They specialize in all sorts of alternative treatments (as well as regular treatments), and they definitely know their stuff! I think my dogs eat grain kibble, Evo, have you heard that grain can contribute to the problems Linus is having? My sister is a doctor and she said that OCD is actually cased by a chemical problem, not boredom, etc. She said it is the result of a serotonin deficiency, so I've ordered a serotonin-boosting supplement that got good reviews on Amazon and am going to ask my vet about it. Fingers crossed, hopefully this will have a positive effect on Linus so that I don't have to try something more invasive. Anyway, thanks for your thoughts! |