Vet types, help: anxious dog

[lizblue]

I am so at the end of my rope and worried about my dog. She has always been a generally anxious dog but the last two weeks she has not been able to settle at night- she paces, pants and scratches. We’ve taken her to the vet who gave her a full work up and said it’s not metabolic, it’s anxiety. We’ve been giving her melatonin with mixed success.

Today, she had a horrible anxiety attack during the day (going on seven hours). We took her back to the vet at 3pm and they gave her trozadol and when she wa still freaking out at 6pm we took her to the emergency vet. She was somewhat sedate after the car ride to the Er vet (a full two hours after trozadol) and ER vet confirmed anxiety and nothing to do. She is now up again- freaking out and I’m at the end of my rope. She scratched so hard, she bloodied her paws. The ER doc said barometric pressure can affect little dogs a lot but that doesn’t feel right. She’s never ever been this bad.

Weirdly, she is fine outside. Tail perks up and panting stops so vet is pretty confident it’s not neurological.

I don’t know what the fuck to do. She’s in her crate now, trembling and panting. I can’t keep taking her to the emergency vet and them saying there’s nothing to do.

Anyone have this experience? It’s been really hard here lately and I can’t take much more.

[Bluebird]

I have a dog with severe anxiety. He is measurably better on a daily dose of Prozac, and we keep Xanax on hand for him as well. He has setbacks when we go out of town but is otherwise a much happier dog.

ETA, it got much worse over the last couple of years and he was hurting himself in his panic, which pushed us over the edge to meds. We had tried lots of training and other methods prior, as well as ruling out all medical issues.

[hawkward]

We had some success with anxiety chews and pheromone ointment (to rub on their noses) for our dog. We got them at PetSmart. There was also a pheromone spray to put on a cuddly stuffed animal, but they all had squeakers and our weirdo dog is terrified of squeaky toys. He still had the anxious behaviors, but it took the edge off a bit.

Our neighbor's dog started doggy Xanax after moving, and they are really happy with it. We may consider it in the future.

[jorkzy]

Ugh this sucks for everyone, but especially puppy! I know you said she got trazadone but is she on anything regular? My guy is on daily clomipramine, and also has trazadone for his triggers (mainly thunderstorms).

he knows hours ahead of time if there's a storm coming, and the pacing/panting starts then. Like yours, he is better outside, but only until the thunder itself starts. A thunder shirt helps a little bit, but we had to resort to the sedative this last summer.

It's hard because there's nothing you can do to make them feel better during the attack.

[trueblue]

Another vote for doggie Prozac, it chilled my parents neurotic springer out and he was so much happier on it.

[lizblue]

Thanks all- it’s good to hear that this is something that happens. We don’t have her on anything regular because it has just started to be this bad (with today being the absolute worst.)

I will call the vet back tomorrow.

Is 8+ hours of this normal (even after trazodone)??

[jorkzy]

Sept 23, 2018 20:01:02 GMT -6 lizblue said:

Thanks all- it’s good to hear that this is something that happens. We don’t have her on anything regular because it has just started to be this bad (with today being the absolute worst.)

I will call the vet back tomorrow.

Is 8+ hours of this normal (even after trazodone)??

Depends what her trigger is, I guess. For mine, yes that would be long but he's gone maybe 4-6 hours before. Again, storms are what bother him and they don't often last longer than a couple hours.

Is the vet sure the trazadone is a good dose? Can she have more?

[Bluebird]

A big anxiety attack can override meds, so it sounds like that is the situation you are in right now. Try to reduce any stimulation to help you dog wind down. Sorry you are dealing with this. I know well the stress and frustration it causes!

[Ls2012]

Can you get her a thundershirt? I've heard really positive things about them from friends. It won't completely solve the problem, but may help a lot.