Animals scarred-for-life given new hope with the help of MDMA ?

[sNosey]

Pets or animals (cats, dogs, pigs, hampsters, cows, horses, goats, ...)
are sometimes dubbed "scarred for life" because of traumatic events; abuse, torture, fear
and so on. Very often the human owners are to be blamed for this, and as a result the animals
become cautious or show aggressive behaviour towards humans and/or other animals.

It may seem impossible to turn these animals around again so that they may feel comfortable around
humans and behave "normally". Sadly, quite often the only solution is a death syringe at the
vet's office.

Has there ever been experiments in psychotherapy with MDMA as a tool -- much like what has been done
with victims of sex abuse, rape and so on (humans)? Positive or negative long-lasting effects?

 

[fastandbulbous]

Well selegeline (deprenyl) is licenced in the UK for use in dogs that have developed self destructive behaviour and separation anxiety, so MDMA may well have some use in that context.

IMPORTANT NOTE

I FEEL BOUND TO POINT OUT TO ANYBODY READING THIS THAT MIGHT GET THE IDEA THAT THEY CAN DO A LITTLE HOME THERAPY - ANIMALS METABOLIZE SOME DRUGS VERY DIFFERENTLY TO HUMANS, so what's safe for a person to ingest may well be highly toxic for another species (DDT is relatively non-toxic to humans, but chlorinated hydrocarbons like DDT are highly toxic to cats)

Don't go playing with an animal's physiology with drugs unless you know a hell of a lot about the biochemistry of the species involved - unless you've got a background in vet. medicine, forget it

 

[BilZ0r]

Giving highly psychoactive drugs to an animal which can not give informed consent has a serious moral cost. With little benefit possible, except to the animal itself, this experiment should be seen as immoral.

Furthermore, just taking MDMA does not help one in dealing with traumatic events. If it does help anyone, it is through guided (by yourself or another) exploration of the trauma. As it is highly unlikely that an animal without the ability to converse in a complex manner, will be able to do the necessary exploration.

 

[Smyth]

You cant guage the dose nor the effects - just dont even attempt it. Giving xtc to a cat is similar offense to spiking somebody's drink in a club. or enabling a 10 y/o to get drunk.

 

[Xque]

ANIMALS METABOLIZE SOME DRUGS VERY DIFFERENTLY TO HUMANS, so what's safe for a person to ingest may well be highly toxic for another species (DDT is relatively non-toxic to humans, but chlorinated hydrocarbons like DDT are highly toxic to cats)

Chocolate is also a good example of something which is safe for humans to ingest, but dangerous for animals (dogs).

I agree with BilZ0r. This is also a problem seen with humans. I've talked to depressed people who repudiated that MDMA can have a positive effect on depression... Well, the people didn't understand to use the drug in a therapeutic way. They just swallowed a couple of pills, went to a rave and expected some kind of magic effect would cure their depressions 8)

 

[cool_cow]

I FEEL BOUND TO POINT OUT TO ANYBODY READING THIS THAT MIGHT GET THE IDEA THAT THEY CAN DO A LITTLE HOME THERAPY - ANIMALS METABOLIZE SOME DRUGS VERY DIFFERENTLY TO HUMANS, so what's safe for a person to ingest may well be highly toxic for another species (DDT is relatively non-toxic to humans, but chlorinated hydrocarbons like DDT are highly toxic to cats)

This is very very true. My parents dog weigh's about 40-50lbs and one day managed too knock over a full bottle of beer and lick it up off the floor. My parents dog was very drunk. To the point it couldent walk a straight line. It was kinda funny. But I just thought Id let ya all in on my personal story pretaining to animal Inebriation. Things work very differently with there bodies

 

[Jamshyd]

I find it slightly ammusing how so many people consider MDMA a miracle cure. This is certainly not true for all humans, much less animals. Add to that the fact mentioned above about animal metabolism being different from that of humans.