My Siberian husky, Isis, joined the pack in 2004 at the age of one. It took her a little while to realize that my house was now her house. She set out to chew all that could be chewed, presumably as part of some sort of imperative of destruction. Eventually, she came to realize that she was chewing her stuff. More likely, joining me on 16-mile runs wore the chew out of her.

As the years went by, we both slowed down. Eventually, she could no longer run with me (despite my slower pace) and we went on slower adventures. One does not walk a husky; one adventures with a husky. Despite her advanced age, she remained active. After one adventure, she seemed slow and sore. She cried once in pain but then seemed to recover. Then she got worse, requiring a trip to the emergency veterinarian.

The  x-rays showed no serious damage, just an indication of the wear and tear of age. She also had some unusual test results, perhaps indicating cancer. Because of her age, the main concern was with her mobility and pain. If she could get about and be happy, then that was what mattered. She was prescribed medications, and a follow up appointment was scheduled with the regular vet. By then, she had gotten worse in some ways, and her right foot was “knuckling” over, making walking difficult. This is often a sign of nerve issues. She was prescribed steroids and had to go through a washout period before starting the new medicine. As might be imagined, neither of us got much sleep during this time.

For a while the steroids worked and she could go on slow adventures and enjoy basking in the sun while watching the birds and squirrels, willing the squirrels to fall from the tree and into her mouth.

While philosophy is often derided as useless, it was very helpful to me during this time and I decided to write about this usefulness as both a defense of philosophy and, perhaps, as something useful for others who face similar circumstances with an aging canine.

Isis’ emergency visit was focused on pain management and one drug she was prescribed was Carprofen (more infamously known by the name Rimadyl). Carprofen is an NSAID that is supposed to be safer for canines than those designed for humans (like aspirin) and is commonly used to manage arthritis in elderly dogs. Being curious and cautious, I researched all the medications. I ran across forums which included people’s sad and often angry stories about how Carprofen killed their pets. The typical story involved what one would expect: a dog was prescribed Carprofen and then died or was found to have cancer shortly thereafter. I found such stories worrisome and was concerned as I did not want my dog to be killed by her medicine. But I also knew that without medication, she would be in terrible pain and unable to move. I wanted to make the right choice for her and knew this would require making a rational decision.

My regular vet decided to go with the steroid option, one that also has the potential for side effects and there were horror stories on the web. Once again, it was a matter of choosing between the risks of medication and the consequences of doing without. In addition to my research into medication, I also investigated various other options for treating arthritis and pain in older dogs. She was already on glucosamine (which might not be beneficial, but seems to have no serious side effects), but the web poured forth an abundance of options ranging from acupuncture to herbal remedies. I even ran across the claim that copper bracelets could help pain in dogs. They cannot.

While some alternatives had been subject to scientific investigation, most discussions involved a mix of miracles and horror stories. One person might write glowingly about how an herbal product brought his dog back from death’s door while another might claim that the same product killed his dog. Sorting through all these claims, anecdotes and studies turned out to be a lot of work. Fortunately, I had numerous philosophical tools that helped, specifically of the sort where it is claimed that “I gave my dog X, then he got better (or died) and X was the cause.” Knowing about two common fallacies is very useful in these cases.

The first is what is known as Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc (“after this, therefore because of this”).  This fallacy has the following form:

Premise: A occurs before B.

Conclusion: Therefore, A is the cause of B.

This fallacy is committed when it is concluded that one event causes another just because the alleged cause occurred before the alleged effect. More formally, the fallacy involves concluding that A causes or caused B because A occurs before B and there is not sufficient evidence to warrant such a claim.

While cause does precede effect (at least in the normal flow of time), proper causal reasoning involves sorting out whether A occurring before B is just a matter of coincidence or not. In the case of medication involving an old dog, it could be a coincidence that the dog died or was diagnosed with cancer after the medicine was administered. That is, the dog might have died anyway or might have already had cancer. Without a proper investigation, simply assuming that the medication was the cause would be an error. The same holds true for beneficial effects. For example, a dog might go lame after a walk and then recover after being given an herbal supplement. While it would be tempting to attribute the recovery to the herbs, they might have had no effect at all. After all, lameness often goes away on its own or some other factor might have been the cause.

This is not to say that such stories should be rejected out of hand, but they should be approached with due consideration that the reasoning involved is post hoc. In concrete terms, if you are afraid to give your dog medicine she was prescribed because you heard of cases in which a dog had the medicine and then died, you should investigate more (such as talking to your vet) about whether there is a risk of death. As another example, if someone praises an herbal supplement because her dog perked up after taking it, then you should see if there is evidence for this claim beyond the post hoc situation.

Fortunately, there has been considerable research into medications and treatments that provide a basis for making a rational choice. When considering such data, it is important not to be lured into rejecting data by the seductive power of the Fallacy of Anecdotal Evidence.

This fallacy is committed when a person draws a conclusion about a population based on an anecdote (a story) about one or a very small number of cases. The fallacy is also committed when someone rejects reasonable statistical data supporting a claim in favor of a single example or small number of examples that go against the claim. The fallacy is considered by some to be a variation on hasty generalization.  It has the following forms:

Form One

Premise: Anecdote A is told about a member (or small number of members) of Population P.

Conclusion: Claim C is made about Population P based on Anecdote A.

For example, a person might hear anecdotes about dogs that died after taking a prescribed medication and infer that the medicine is likely to kill dogs.

Form Two

Premise 1: Reasonable statistical evidence S exists for general claim C.

Premise 2:  Anecdote A is presented that is an exception to or goes against general claim C.

Conclusion: General claim C is rejected.

For example, statistical evidence shows that the evidence that glucosamine-chondroitin can treat arthritis is, at best, weak. But a person might tell a story about how their aging husky “was like a new dog” after she started taking it. supplement. To accept this as proof that the data is wrong would be to fall for this fallacy. That said, I did give my husky glucosamine-chondroitin because it is affordable, has no serious side effects and might have some benefit. I am fully aware of the data and do not reject it, I gambled that it might have done her some good.

The way to avoid becoming a victim of anecdotal evidence is to seek reliable, objective statistical data about the matter in question (a credible vet would be a good source). This can be a challenge when it comes to treatments for pets. In many cases, there are no adequate studies or trials that provide statistical data and only anecdotal evidence is available. One option is, of course, to investigate the anecdotes and try to do your own statistics. So, if most anecdotes indicate something harmful (or something beneficial) then this would be weak evidence for the claim. In any case, it is wise to approach anecdotes with due care  as a story is not proof.