Anxiety medication for dogs

[black_paws]

I was wondering if anyone has experience with anxiety (or mental health) medication and their canine companion(s).


What was your scenerio, what were you trying to address (symptons)?
What medication worked?
What medication didn't work?
What frequency (daily or as necessary) was it administered?
Do you think it provided a positive outcome, result that you were looking for you and your dog?

Also open to any feedback if a holistic approach was used.

I have a consultation with our vet to discuss options for our situation this week, but like to do a little research prior to the appointment.

Thanks!

[flashyfawn]

Yes, I have a dog on anxiety meds (not a Lab, she's a 100 lb mixed breed.) I have had her since she was 4 months old, she is now 8 yrs. She was very fear aggressive, even as a puppy. She would basically have panic attacks where she would just explode on whatever was near her (other dogs or humans) and then run to me trembling, it was like she was just not in control of her behavior. She wasn't like that all the time but when she went off, it was bad. We did consider putting her to sleep more than once. She had a lot of other phobias as well and was a big time resource guarder.

I went to my vet and we started her on the Prozac that is made for dogs, sorry I can't remember the name of it. But then we switched her to the human kind because it's way cheaper but kept the dose the same. She was better in some ways after that, still a long way from normal but a little more tolerant. But then she bit a friend of mine and I felt like her behavior was escalating again in other ways, and I ended up working with a veterinary behaviorist.

The vet behaviorist reduced the Prozac down to 20 mgs daily (she was on like 50mgs I think, the Prozac for dogs is dosed by weight which the vet behaviorist said is incorrect in her experience). We also added amitriptyline at 50 mgs twice daily. This combination has made a remarkable difference in my dog. She's been on these meds since she was around 2 yrs old and we have no plans to take her off them unless she develops some other health issue and requires medicine that would interact. She has no side effects from the meds at all and they have not made her tired or anything like that. We do check her bloodwork yearly and it has always been perfect.

For my dog, I'm not kidding when I say that these meds saved her life. But it isn't only about the medication, there is a ton of work involved as far as counter conditioning and all that. The way I think about it, the meds cleared her brain enough that the training could really sink in. She never loses control anymore and I would have to really stop and think to remember the last time she growled at anything. Now, she isn't a super outgoing friendly dog who wants to meet everybody, that just isn't in her nature and I have had to come to terms with that because with me, she's a super affectionate, friendly, lovely dog. My goal with her was to get to the point where I could take her places and do normal things and have her be okay. She definitely is, she's totally safe out in groups and if something unexpected happens, she simply looks at me, gets a treat, and goes on with things which is exactly what she's been trained to do. People who meet her now for the first time would have no idea what she used to be like. I am still careful with how I handle her, for example, she loves to go to Petco/Petsmart but I don't let her go in front of me around the end of the aisle and I don't let us get "trapped" in the middle of the aisle with no way out. But doing stuff like that is second nature to me now and I don't even think about it. My vet behaviorist is big on not ever treating a "special needs" dog as if they were a normal dog, so that is what I do. I probably could get away with being a little more lenient but it isn't worth it, especially with a really big dog.

Good luck to you and your dog, this isn't an easy thing to deal with.

[janedoe]

Our Zo started having anxiety attacks a few years ago when the Air Force Base near us suddenly became active again. Initially we were in the flight path and had problems with sonic booms over our house which started the problem then they changed the flight path but there is a huge practice ground and they frequently have heavy artillery and machine gun fire, especially on weekends and mornings. Zo's issues progressed to anxiety triggered by thunder and finally whenever it rained because she anticipated the thunder. Fortunately, we've brought her back from the machine gun fire and the rain but everything else is still in play.

Our holistic vet has her on the following daily in small amounts. I can increase to a certain point for each during the actual event until she calms down.

Valerian Complex by Standard Process
Nc Calm by Systemic Formulas
Dynamite Relax (for horses)
ProNeurozone
Calm Down by Earth Animals

For emergencies, we can add Rescue Remedy.

All of these things involve things like valerian root, chamomile, vitamins and various natural extracts and supplements. I can give all of them in small amounts to Zo in a small piece of banana in addition to her daily doses with the exception of Calm Down which is the only one with skullcap in it and clearly doesn't taste good but is very effective.

As a last resort, we have a prescription for Acepromazine but haven't had to use it yet.

There was some tweaking with Zo. I forget some of the things we tried before because this regimen has worked for a while now and we're very pleased with it.

Good luck. It can get really bad. She freaked out on me not long ago when I tried to back off of some of the supplements then we had a practice at the base, she jumped on me while I was lying down and blew out my shoulder. I couldn't lift my arm for a week. We also can't crate her during her episodes because she'll destroy the door trying to get out and I'm terrified that she'll hurt herself. We can't keep a collar on her indoors for the same reason. She has caught it on the door getting out of her crate. It's really bad.

[SunDance]

Sunnie has what I think of as generalized anxiety disorder. She doesn't have full-on freak-outs, just slinks away from whatever annoys her....usually noises (mild noises even...opening the refrigerator, crackly bags, stepping on dried leaves for the first couple of days in Autumn, etc), high energy (mostly in me...I don't move slowly when I'm in the house, going from room to room, say), and anyone up on ladders or standing on chairs to do stuff (again, mostly me). She'd always been timid around this kind of thing but I put her over the edge in Spring of 2012 when I did major Spring cleaning. She hasn't recovered.

I've tried quite a few things that are sold as holistic anxiety supplements for dogs....she had bad stomach reactions to all but Rescue Remedy. So she gets RR on schedule during the day (3X) and that definitely takes the edge off.

What's interesting with Sunnie is that high energy/fast moving in people seems to scare her only indoors.....and high energy/fast moving in other dogs prompts an aggressive response (in Dan, too....they don't like it when dogs are running with owners...but people running alone don't faze them).

Anyway....I'd definitely recommend giving RR a try (get the Pet version....the people stuff aggravated Sunnie's throat...alcohol).

[peep_erz]

Our Zo started having anxiety attacks a few years ago when the Air Force Base near us suddenly became active again. Initially we were in the flight path and had problems with sonic booms over our house which started the problem then they changed the flight path but there is a huge practice ground and they frequently have heavy artillery and machine gun fire, especially on weekends and mornings. Zo's issues progressed to anxiety triggered by thunder and finally whenever it rained because she anticipated the thunder. Fortunately, we've brought her back from the machine gun fire and the rain but everything else is still in play.

Our holistic vet has her on the following daily in small amounts. I can increase to a certain point for each during the actual event until she calms down.

Valerian Complex by Standard Process
Nc Calm by Systemic Formulas
Dynamite Relax (for horses)
ProNeurozone
Calm Down by Earth Animals

For emergencies, we can add Rescue Remedy.

All of these things involve things like valerian root, chamomile, vitamins and various natural extracts and supplements. I can give all of them in small amounts to Zo in a small piece of banana in addition to her daily doses with the exception of Calm Down which is the only one with skullcap in it and clearly doesn't taste good but is very effective.

As a last resort, we have a prescription for Acepromazine but haven't had to use it yet.

There was some tweaking with Zo. I forget some of the things we tried before because this regimen has worked for a while now and we're very pleased with it.

Good luck. It can get really bad. She freaked out on me not long ago when I tried to back off of some of the supplements then we had a practice at the base, she jumped on me while I was lying down and blew out my shoulder. I couldn't lift my arm for a week. We also can't crate her during her episodes because she'll destroy the door trying to get out and I'm terrified that she'll hurt herself. We can't keep a collar on her indoors for the same reason. She has caught it on the door getting out of her crate. It's really bad.

Do you give those all at once or different ones for different times? Or something else? Have you used the rescue remedy? Bowie sounds exactly like Zo and our normal vet is out of town for the week so his replacement prescribed Acepromazine. I read up on it when I got home and now I'm not too sure about giving it but I don't want him to freak out during the 4th of july either.