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Anti-anxiety Meds For Dogs


mita
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A respected vet animal behaviourist mentioned that 'newer' anti-anxiety meds for dogs (with things like separation anxiety) are now available. On prescription, of course.

I'd already heard of the use of Valium, Xanax & Clomicalm. The only one I'd not heard of before is

Buspar/BuSpar/Buspirone

Has anyone had Buspar prescribed for their dog? If, so, what were the results?

Or does anyone know of other anti-anxiety meds....which may be the 'newer' ones?

Incidentally, there seems a strong trend to use such meds in conjunction with a well-planned behaviour mod program.

With which I agree.

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I thought Buspar had been around for a while? Almost ten years ago it was prescribed for one of my cats. I'm sorry I don't know how she went on it as I ended up moving house as she was too stressed living where we were (tom cats coming in to the house and bullying her etc) so she no longer needed it. I have used Clomicalm before (again on a cat) but she ended up behaving as though she was doped all the time.

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Thanks, Clyde. I only guessed that Buspar might be one of the 'new anti-anxiety meds that this vet was talking about.

If it was around 10 yrs ago....then Buspar can't be one.

Nor Clomicalm....it's been around for yonks, too. Yep, I've know people who've taken their dogs off Comicalm because it zonked their dogs out too much....even at low dose.

I'm really puzzled what 'new' meds he could be talking about.

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Buspar has been around for ages.........it is also one of the more$$$$$

Most of the anti-anxiety meds that are used in animals are those that are used in humans. Just off label use in animals!

When animals are prescibed anti-anxieties they need to be taken for 6wks MINIMUM to get to theraputic blood levels. Sometimes you notice a change before hand, but most people stop giving them to their dogs before a real change can be noticed.

"Dopey" can also equal sedated, which is what some of these animals need. It can also mean they are relaxed!!!

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When animals are prescibed anti-anxieties they need to be taken for 6wks MINIMUM to get to theraputic blood levels. Sometimes you notice a change before hand, but most people stop giving them to their dogs before a real change can be noticed.

"Dopey" can also equal sedated, which is what some of these animals need. It can also mean they are relaxed!!!

Thanks for that, Poodle Mum. You've cleared up something that was puzzling me.

This vet mentioned that the anti-anxiety meds he was referring to, took a while to properly kick in. And you've explained why.

You're right....a previously highly strung out dog, when medicated, could appear 'too doped'....when they're only relaxed compared to what they used to be.

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why not try Nervatona Clam tablets or Liquid? they are homeopathic so cannot harm the dog.

I have one dog who is so thunder phobic that when we got a storm she gets bad diarrhoea. A friend, who is a Vet Nurse and qualifed behaviourist, told me about Nervatona and to start giving her the tables as soon as we get an inkling a storm is on it's way( we have the radio on so can hear the crackels of lighting and that is when to start dosing). Well a few weeks back a severe storm was brewing so I started dosing her up on the Nervatona- she still barked at the thunder but no diarrhoea

PM me and I can send you the doasage rates as it is different for the type of stress. It is made by Brauer and costs about $18.00 for 80 tablets and it does not zonk the dog out

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Inspector Rex, where do you buy it from? My brothers Border Collie does the same as your girl - he has tried alot of 'calmers' but to no avail so I would be interested to see if this can help his dog.

thanks :rolleyes:

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A respected vet animal behaviourist mentioned that 'newer' anti-anxiety meds for dogs (with things like separation anxiety) are now available. On prescription, of course.

I'd already heard of the use of Valium, Xanax & Clomicalm. The only one I'd not heard of before is

Buspar/BuSpar/Buspirone

Has anyone had Buspar prescribed for their dog? If, so, what were the results?

Or does anyone know of other anti-anxiety meds....which may be the 'newer' ones?

Incidentally, there seems a strong trend to use such meds in conjunction with a well-planned behaviour mod program.

With which I agree.

I have heard the same thing from my vets, but they were talking about medication for dementia, rather than anti-anxiety. I assume you are definately talking about anti-anxiety?

The only change I know of is giving pets the human meds. I put a foster on Prozac (and he is still on it is his new home and doing well) so this may be what he is talking about?

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I may need to try something on my sheppie.. He was on clomicalm with absolutey no affect (after being on it for almost 6 months)... He is well trained, but neeeeeeds something to help him calm down, he as ADHD, and OCD, and Seperation anxiety!

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Nevatona is tops (I use the spray rather than the tablets), very cheap and IME far more effective than meds like Clomicalm :thumbsup:

I always recommend it for people and pets who have issues with anxiety, it's a small price to pay to try it and I've never had anyone yet say they saw abslutely no benefit.

Edited by haven
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A respected vet animal behaviourist mentioned that 'newer' anti-anxiety meds for dogs (with things like separation anxiety) are now available.

I have heard the same thing from my vets, but they were talking about medication for dementia, rather than anti-anxiety. I assume you are definately talking about anti-anxiety?

/quote]

He definitely kept talking about 'anti-anxiety' drugs. Maybe there are some new dementia meds which hose down the agitation (anxiety?) which can be part of that condition???

But in this case, he's only yet given a diagnosis of anxiety, but not dementia (tho' it is a senior dog).

Ispector Rex, I'l PM you about the Nervotana dosage. Thanks for this heads-up. Hope the info gets spread around, because there are so many dogs driven nuts by storms.

Haven, thanks for the tip that it also comes in a spray form. That'd be an easy way to give it to a stressed dog.

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Anyone heard of restoracalm?

I just googled RestoraCalm & this info came up. Have you heard of it being used with dogs?

http://www.bioceuticals.com.au/product.asp...p;productid=202

Kamuzz, thanks for that link. Brilliant, comprehensive info on the behaviour meds. It also mentions the drugs for 'cognitive decline' or dementia. I've bookmarked it.....shall be referring to it often.

Edited by mita
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Well, the vet's put my tibbie girl on Clomicalm for the high anxiety when left alone. She lost her tibbie 'sister' last September & has grieved terribly since.

The vet first tried the Dog Appeasing Pheromone....which you plug into a power-point. Made no difference at all.

Another vet told me he finds it works better for cats rather than dogs.

So....now it's Clomicalm for my girl. I was expecting her to be zapped out. But she's not. They must make dogs tough in Tibet!

The vet expects she'll be on them for a month or so. There's also behaviour mod being put in place.

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There is a great homeopathic remedy called naturapetics, the best one for any anxieties is rescuepetics. Now I am generally very sceptical about these so called natural remedies, but I tried it on my 8 year old stressy pomeranian when we moved recently and she calmed down and settled better than I could have imagined. I even put it in my drinking water for a few days before a very stressful event and it really worked. Look it up on the internet if you are interested in getting some more info, there are all kinds for dogs that don't like thunder, kenelling, or those that are whelping or convalescing etc. If anyone is interested in SA the only retail outlet that has it is P&K Pets in Stepney, it comes from Queensland though.

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Thanks for that tip about naturapetics, casowner. I'll track it down on the Net. Interesting that it comes from Qld.

I'm really surprised about my tiny tibbie girl & the Clomicalm. So many people have told me that the med has really zapped & sedated their dogs. But not this girl!

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