Can LSD Help My Dog’s Anxiety?
As a dog owner this thought must have crossed your mind whenever you leave the house for work or chores:
‘Will my dog be okay while I’m away? Will it feel abandoned and start acting up?”
It’s a legitimate concern that all pet parents have. And while it’s perfectly natural for our pets to miss us while we are away, most settle in fine once you’ve established a stable routine. Some dogs however are not so well-adjusted and develop separation anxiety.
About 20 percent of dogs suffer from separation anxiety and this can manifest into a lot of behavioral problems such as:
- Excessive barking
- Urinating or defecating
- Digging, chewing and destruction of household items or worse,
- Escaping.
It is not known why some dogs have a tendency to develop separation anxiety. Some researchers suggest there could be genetic components at play. While some say environmental factors influenced this behavior during the canine’s developmental years.
But while this nature vs nurture debate goes on, dog owners are still left in a dilemma on how best to soothe their anxious pups.
Does LSD help with anxiety in dogs like it does with humans?
Normally antidepressants are prescribed to treat canine anxiety. But similar to humans, these inhibitors are not reliable and can come with serious side effects such as addiction and withdrawal symptoms if abruptly discontinued. Safe to say, nobody would want to subject their fur babies to those kinds of risks. Therefore a safer, therapeutic alternative is sorely needed.
In the last decade there has been an uptick in interest for psychedelic-assisted therapy. In Oregon, there are at least 20 legalized psilocybin centers. In 2023, Australia opened its first clinic, just a year after it legalized the use of MDMA and psilocybin to treat mental health patients.
Since research has shown that psychedelics are safe for humans when consumed responsibly, it’s only logical to wonder, ‘can LSD help with my dog’s anxiety issues?’
A team of researchers from Spain attempted to answer this question. The paper, recently published in Veterinary Research Communications, studied the effects of single-dose lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) on an anxious 13-year-old dog which turned up with positive results.
Drastic Improvement in dog’s behavior after half-an-hour
Lola, a 13-year-old spayed female dog of mixed breed, had been exhibiting signs of anxiety since birth. Despite having food and water available at all times, as well as the company of another dog, she often displayed severe behaviors of separation anxiety such as whining, barking and furniture destruction whenever her 33-year-old guardian was away.
For the experiment Lola, who had no prior treatment for anxiety, was administered half a pellet of 1cP-LSD (1-cyclopropionyl-d-lysergic acid diethylamide) at her residence. The dosage was prepared by a veterinary toxicologist accompanied by an ethologist and observed by two other members of the research team as well as the subject’s family members.
Before this, Lola was assessed with 29 points on the anxiety scale which is considered severe. Aside from her destructive behavior when left alone, she was reported to be just as anxious when reunited with her owner, displaying effusive greeting and compulsive following around the home.
However thirty minutes after consuming the dosage, Lola was observed by her owner as displaying normal behavior. She was docile and engaged throughout the session, wagging her tail and interacting with her surroundings and other people. One hour post-administration she laid down for a sunbathe and was bothered with other activity around the home.
90 minutes into the experiment, the researchers introduced an anxiety stimulus to see how she would react. Lola’s owner and family members were asked to leave the house. The usual barking and whining behavior was displayed.
When they returned Lola greeted them, although it was reported by the owner as less anxious. Furthermore when the owner moved to another part of the house, Lola did not get up to follow like she normally did.
2 hours later the process was repeated again, only this time Lola didn’t bark or display anxious tendencies when she was left alone.
Could this be the future for canine psychedelic therapy?
As positive as these results are, it is important to remember that it is just a pilot trial with a sample size of one. The difficulty in securing volunteer subjects limits any replicability in the future.
However novel the study, it is a promising window into animal healthcare. And who knows, we might one day see a special clinic catered to anxious pets.
