Wayne County, N.C. – With aging, it’s become a routine endured by the Guffords. Each day starts with a blood-sugar check and a shot of insulin. Then a couple of pills, maybe mashed into tuna and canned carrots. Mixed with dry chow.
All for their 12-year-old dog.
Brownie takes more drugs than his human companions put together. “He’s a family member. I would want somebody to do that for me,” said Ann Gufford.
Americans have begun to medicate their dogs, cats and sometimes other pets much as they medicate themselves.
They routinely treat their pets for arthritis, cancer, heart disease, dia betes, allergies, dementia and even obesity. They pick from an expanding menu of mostly human pharmaceuticals such as steroids for inflammation, antibiotics for infection, anti-clotting agents for heart ailments, Prozac or Valium for anxiety, even Viagra for a lung condition in dogs.
Americans bought $2.9 billion worth of pet drugs in 2005. Though equal to only 1 percent of human drug sales, the market has grown by roughly half since 2000.
“As more and more drugs are being developed for people, more and more drugs are being developed for veterinary medicine,” said Dr. Gerald Post, founder of the nonprofit Animal Cancer Foundation.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved more than 40 new pet drugs over the past five years.
The market growth reflects an intensifying bond between pets and their people. A 2002 survey for the American Veterinary Medical Association found that 47 percent of people viewed their pets as family members.
Some question whether society has its priorities straight.
Dianne Dunning, an ethicist at North Carolina State University’s vet school, anguishes over the millions of animals that are euthanized each year, while millions of dollars are spent on pet medicines.
David Rothman, a Columbia University expert in medicine and society, points to the millions of people who are short on care: “If you can’t get malaria drugs in some Third World countries, what are we doing with chemotherapy for cats?”
