Polly Want a Prozac?

With more pet owners working long days and leaving their furry and feathered friends alone at home, cases of animal depression are on the rise, writes the Daily Telegraph. A TV vet says the trend is hitting parrots especially hard, causing the talkative birds to pull out their feathers or peck at their own legs—until they're dosed with Prozac.

Offering psychiatric drugs to our winged and whiskered companions isn't anything new: Last fall Eli Lilly launched a beef-flavored, chewable anti-depressant for pooches, and Pfizer has developed a dog diet drug as well as motion-sickness pills. But before dosing Polly, first try to "change the environment of the animal," and give it more stimulating toys, the vet suggests. (More prescription drugs stories.)