What types of anxiety drugs have you used?

mcardle3

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Our girl Maisie suffers from kennel syndrome.

I've written, ad nauseum, before about her constant rushing back and forth in a low crawl looking for any avenue of escape from threats perceived or not.

Our vet put her on a drug for three months now (starts with an "A" I am at work and having brain fog, can't remember it) a mild sedative to see how she does. She does the same. No change. If it is not working I do not feel spending more money and putting it into the poor, freaked out, girl is something we want to do.

It matters not to dogs with kennel syndrome that the threat is not really there, to them, it is always there unless they are in a crate somewhere. We have thought to just let her live out her life in a crate (door open for free roam) if that makes her happier, but that still doesn't work when we have to go out, and we take our dogs with us rambling and roaming all the time.

Someone has suggested cannabis oil for dogs. Anyone tried it? Does it help?

Prozac, anyone?

Whoever it was here who told me kennel syndrome dogs never get over it...amen, sister you are right. We recently moved the backstop behind our basketball net and it is leaning as in a V formation...Maisie now wants to either run under a large pine to pee or behind that fence. Once there, she will not come out until she is good and ready to. It hurts to see her so.
 

Hankster

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hi, and wow,,, how hard, how horrid!! It's the worst to watch anyone suffer and it takes its toll on us as well... I was told that they are having great success with the cannabis with animals and I would sure look into that!!! I was just about to try for my dogs seizures but she passed before I could... Bless your hearts and good luck.. Hope someone has some help...
 

MFrey2012

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Our girl Maisie suffers from kennel syndrome.

I've written, ad nauseum, before about her constant rushing back and forth in a low crawl looking for any avenue of escape from threats perceived or not.

Our vet put her on a drug for three months now (starts with an "A" I am at work and having brain fog, can't remember it) a mild sedative to see how she does. She does the same. No change. If it is not working I do not feel spending more money and putting it into the poor, freaked out, girl is something we want to do.

It matters not to dogs with kennel syndrome that the threat is not really there, to them, it is always there unless they are in a crate somewhere. We have thought to just let her live out her life in a crate (door open for free roam) if that makes her happier, but that still doesn't work when we have to go out, and we take our dogs with us rambling and roaming all the time.

Someone has suggested cannabis oil for dogs. Anyone tried it? Does it help?

Prozac, anyone?

Whoever it was here who told me kennel syndrome dogs never get over it...amen, sister you are right. We recently moved the backstop behind our basketball net and it is leaning as in a V formation...Maisie now wants to either run under a large pine to pee or behind that fence. Once there, she will not come out until she is good and ready to. It hurts to see her so.

I am so sorry to hear this, and might not be much help but, Maybe work with the Vet and see if there is something else that might work, as the Meds I think your baby is taking is called Acepromazine, which when I googled it is precribed for this but does not work for this situation, as it is for calming, not anxiety

As I had researched the Acepromazine as Ellie was precribed it after her spay to keep her calm, so as to not run and play, not to be used for anxiety.

Would there be any harm in letting her do as she needs with her crate?? Does she have accidents in the house??

I wish the best for you and Maisey, Love her name by the way!!

This is just my two cents...
 

Manydogs

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@mcardle3 I am so sorry to hear about poor Maisie(poor you...) One of our members, @brutus77 gives one of her dogs prozac, and said it changed his life completely for the better. She has not been here lately,but perhaps she will check in. I'm sure you have tried the various calming pheramone (sp) plug ins, and collars. Fortunately for me, I have not had experience with this affliction. I do hope someone else has some other suggestions for you.

https://www.ahvma.org/sample-ahvma-journal-articles/
 
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mcardle3

mcardle3

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hi, and wow,,, how hard, how horrid!! It's the worst to watch anyone suffer and it takes its toll on us as well... I was told that they are having great success with the cannabis with animals and I would sure look into that!!! I was just about to try for my dogs seizures but she passed before I could... Bless your hearts and good luck.. Hope someone has some help...

My husband and I are at our wits end with this. To see something so frantic is beyond difficult. We had thought at one point we were seeing some improvement and boom...just like that, nothing. She sleeps most of the time (probably the drug) but if she is up...FRANTIC. She doesn't just stand to stand, or walk to walk. She is only up when moving from one safe place to the next. She LOVES LOVES LOVES walks outdoors. It is too hot now to do that so her only enjoyment is when she is out for shot times to pee. I wish cannabis was not so expensive, but next trip to the vet, I am going to ask the pros and cons for her. This drug is a waste and not helping, so why hurt her with it (side effects). It is a bummer to be sure.
 
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mcardle3

mcardle3

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I am so sorry to hear this, and might not be much help but, Maybe work with the Vet and see if there is something else that might work, as the Meds I think your baby is taking is called Acepromazine, which when I googled it is precribed for this but does not work for this situation, as it is for calming, not anxiety

As I had researched the Acepromazine as Ellie was precribed it after her spay to keep her calm, so as to not run and play, not to be used for anxiety.

Would there be any harm in letting her do as she needs with her crate?? Does she have accidents in the house??

I wish the best for you and Maisey, Love her name by the way!!

This is just my two cents...

She pretty much does as she pleases. I don't keep a crate out as I want her to be with us if she can. She has two beds she views as crates. When she comes in from a potty run, she low crawl runs right to one of those beds and stays there until the next potty break or bed time when she goes onto another bed. What a crappy life for her.

My 10 year old grandson said Maisie rhymes with crazy...so it is fitting. Poor thing.
 
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mcardle3

mcardle3

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@mcardle3 I am so sorry to hear about poor Maisie(poor you...) One of our members, @brutus77 gives one of her dogs prozac, and said it changed his life completely for the better. She has not been here lately,but perhaps she will check in. I'm sure you have tried the various calming pheramone (sp) plug ins, and collars. Fortunately for me, I have not had experience with this affliction. I do hope someone else has some other suggestions for you.

We had decided to add a puppy to our mix this fall. We now know we will as our 8 year old boy is a delightful mix of puppy and old man...lol. I want a puppy to be with him and see HIM as normal behavior...not poor Maisie. Then again, she was bred once so she may love having a puppy to mother.

it is tough. I hurt watching her. I've never had any animal like this before. I think we will likely try the cannabis and then go to prozac if that doesn't work. We have tried every conceivable thing other than these two.
 

MFrey2012

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She pretty much does as she pleases. I don't keep a crate out as I want her to be with us if she can. She has two beds she views as crates. When she comes in from a potty run, she low crawl runs right to one of those beds and stays there until the next potty break or bed time when she goes onto another bed. What a crappy life for her.

My 10 year old grandson said Maisie rhymes with crazy...so it is fitting. Poor thing.

Awe - Poor Girl!!

Not sure if it would be in the budget, but maybe a trainer could help you boost her self confidence to not be so scared of what frightens her, I know our trainer has helped us, Ellie is typically not afraid or scared of things, but this spring hubby got new work boots and put them on the shoe rack as he always done, well Ellie carried on as if those boots were public enemy number one. She would bark at them from the top of the stairs and would do low crouch walk by them, to the point she would not go to the door to be let out to potty and would potty in the house....moral of my rambling is, i reached out to our trainer, and she gave us tips on how to make the boots a good experience for Ellie, and to not have fear

Ellie and I send our best :hug::hug:
 

Lalaloopsie

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Ask your vet about phenazepam or phenobarbital. May be light anxiolytics not strong enough for her. Ask for something more powerful. Don't lose hope, you need to find right medication. With sedatives it's much easier than with antidepressants, antidepressants take longer to see the action (usually 14 days) and they can cause exacerbation of anxiety in first days. But sedatives act quite fast, and, anyway, before starting AD, it's better first to make her calm and relaxed. I don't dismiss antidepressants, but I think you can start first with trying couple of more powerful sedatives, and if they don't work, try antidepressants. Also possible, that doctor have to combine AD and sedatives.
And don't lose hope, once you find a right therapy, then after 3-6 months you can very gradually take her off meds and she will stay relaxed. Anxiety circuits in her brain can be broken, and during months of therapy her brain will learn to function normally and you can take her off meds (but not abruptly). I would ask for Valium or something of this kind.
 

Dollys Owner

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I don't know anything about kennel syndrome but side effect wise I'd recommend trying a modern antidepressant like sertraline or fluoxetine over a benzodiazepine like alprazolam which is addictive, or over a barbiturate like phenobarbital which in humans is not ever used in psychiatry, just for seizures, because it is so sedating. If the sertraline isn't working you can add a second antidepressant like trazodone to potentiate it, at the slight risk of seizures from serotonin syndrome.
 

helsonwheels

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We had decided to add a puppy to our mix this fall. We now know we will as our 8 year old boy is a delightful mix of puppy and old man...lol. I want a puppy to be with him and see HIM as normal behavior...not poor Maisie. Then again, she was bred once so she may love having a puppy to mother.

it is tough. I hurt watching her. I've never had any animal like this before. I think we will likely try the cannabis and then go to prozac if that doesn't work. We have tried every conceivable thing other than these two.

I would personally go cannabis. I know it's legal in a few of your states. Cant you buy it from there? Here in Canada it will be legal in a year. But you can buy it now for medical reason. A friend of mine had to do chemo but used cannabis. She said it helps her enormously.
 

2BullyMama

I'm not OCD....now who moved my bulldog?
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Our girl Maisie suffers from kennel syndrome.

I've written, ad nauseum, before about her constant rushing back and forth in a low crawl looking for any avenue of escape from threats perceived or not.

Our vet put her on a drug for three months now (starts with an "A" I am at work and having brain fog, can't remember it) a mild sedative to see how she does. She does the same. No change. If it is not working I do not feel spending more money and putting it into the poor, freaked out, girl is something we want to do.

It matters not to dogs with kennel syndrome that the threat is not really there, to them, it is always there unless they are in a crate somewhere. We have thought to just let her live out her life in a crate (door open for free roam) if that makes her happier, but that still doesn't work when we have to go out, and we take our dogs with us rambling and roaming all the time.

Someone has suggested cannabis oil for dogs. Anyone tried it? Does it help?

Prozac, anyone?

Whoever it was here who told me kennel syndrome dogs never get over it...amen, sister you are right. We recently moved the backstop behind our basketball net and it is leaning as in a V formation...Maisie now wants to either run under a large pine to pee or behind that fence. Once there, she will not come out until she is good and ready to. It hurts to see her so.
[MENTION=572]Libra926[/MENTION] [MENTION=9370]brutus77[/MENTION] Both have bullies on prozac.

My girl HATED car rides so we had Xanax for when we had to take her places... half pill 20 mins before--- it relaxed her enough to get her where we needed to go. We once drove to Chicago (14 hours)... we did a full pill and she was totally relaxed not sleeping but no trembling or frantic trying to hide under the dashboard, she laid nicely and when we did potty stops(every 3 hours). She was fine in walk and doing her business


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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mcardle3

mcardle3

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Custer, Maisie, Mosby and a cat who thinks he is a bulldog
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We've worked with a behaviorist. We have tried everything imaginable, and are now to the...she's got issues, and we can either help her through medication OR let her have all the time she needs to live in a quite, happy home and work it out herself.

It is hard to see her run herself into walls and doors when sunlight flitters through the curtain and scares her, or the washing machine turns on though. We have to help her...behaviorist says this is one of the hardest things as she is older and it is all she's ever known.



Awe - Poor Girl!!

Not sure if it would be in the budget, but maybe a trainer could help you boost her self confidence to not be so scared of what frightens her, I know our trainer has helped us, Ellie is typically not afraid or scared of things, but this spring hubby got new work boots and put them on the shoe rack as he always done, well Ellie carried on as if those boots were public enemy number one. She would bark at them from the top of the stairs and would do low crouch walk by them, to the point she would not go to the door to be let out to potty and would potty in the house....moral of my rambling is, i reached out to our trainer, and she gave us tips on how to make the boots a good experience for Ellie, and to not have fear

Ellie and I send our best :hug::hug:
 
OP
mcardle3

mcardle3

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Custer, Maisie, Mosby and a cat who thinks he is a bulldog
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I would like to like this post one bazillion times. BINGO. This is likely what we are going toward after trying everything else. I'll try and video it (can we post video here?) You have to see it to believe it. She about knocked herself out yesterday crashing into the door from the garage to the house because a leaf skittered across the driveway while she was pooping in the yard.


She loves habit...we are trying to be very consistent in when she is fed, where she is fed, where she is let out, how she is let out...anything to ease this for her...but I have one that if you open a bag of Cheetohs h e is sitting on your feet with what my granddaughter calls his "cute look" begging and the other running trying to hide under a couch because it scares her.

It is a straight up mess. Not giving up though. My hope is we find the right meds, get her ok, and then...get her off.



Ask your vet about phenazepam or phenobarbital. May be light anxiolytics not strong enough for her. Ask for something more powerful. Don't lose hope, you need to find right medication. With sedatives it's much easier than with antidepressants, antidepressants take longer to see the action (usually 14 days) and they can cause exacerbation of anxiety in first days. But sedatives act quite fast, and, anyway, before starting AD, it's better first to make her calm and relaxed. I don't dismiss antidepressants, but I think you can start first with trying couple of more powerful sedatives, and if they don't work, try antidepressants. Also possible, that doctor have to combine AD and sedatives.
And don't lose hope, once you find a right therapy, then after 3-6 months you can very gradually take her off meds and she will stay relaxed. Anxiety circuits in her brain can be broken, and during months of therapy her brain will learn to function normally and you can take her off meds (but not abruptly). I would ask for Valium or something of this kind.
 
OP
mcardle3

mcardle3

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Custer, Maisie, Mosby and a cat who thinks he is a bulldog
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I am so glad that worked for you.

I've read that prozac sometimes makes it worse for a while from several dog owners, but we are to the point, we are going to try whatever it takes to get her better.

@Libra926 @brutus77 Both have bullies on prozac.

My girl HATED car rides so we had Xanax for when we had to take her places... half pill 20 mins before--- it relaxed her enough to get her where we needed to go. We once drove to Chicago (14 hours)... we did a full pill and she was totally relaxed not sleeping but no trembling or frantic trying to hide under the dashboard, she laid nicely and when we did potty stops(every 3 hours). She was fine in walk and doing her business


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

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