Thunder shirt advice

[puppiesandrainbows]

Hey ladies,
My dog Hoss has general anxiety, and is on 80mg of Prozac (he's 105lbs) but after 2 months it's not helping as much as I was hoping it would. I got him a thunder shirt today, and I hope I'm not jinxing myself by saying it seems to help.
So my question is, is it "ok" for him to wear it 24/7? His anxiety is constant, not just triggered by specific events. Thanks for any advice!

[straymo]

Anxiety sucks! I'm not really sure about wearing the TS 24/7. I'm wondering if it would stop having the same effect if it was on all the time.

My Lily has general anxiety and panic disorder. Sometimes there is a trigger that we are aware of and sometimes not. She's been on prozac for 3 years and last year we had to add in Trazadone which is fairly common.

We use the TS when we know something out of the ordinary might set her off. The key was getting it on her before she was completely worked up. Once she settled, after a while, we removed it even if the scary thing was still there. That worked for us, but may not work for you.

What else are you doing for her anxiety? Any kind of behavior modification? Worked with a behaviorist? Sometimes the triggers are apparent, but I do understand general anxiety as Lily deals with that as well.

How do you react when she is anxious? What do you do?

I would certainly allow her to wear the TS as long as it is helping, but I would contact a behaviorist or a vet behaviorist to see if there is anything else that you can do to help.

[calico]

For a few weeks, my dog wore her Tshirt 24 hours/several days in a row. She has seperation anxiety and was on prozac, but it wasn't really helping her much. Keep exploring other med options, but allow him to wear the thundershirt as you see fit. I would take it off him if it's crazy hot out and you're on a walk, but inside, I don't see a problem.

They key is that the Tshirt is a short-term solution while you work to find the right chemical and behavior mod solution.

[puppiesandrainbows]

Thanks everyone. Hoss has been very sick lately and I've spent $1300 in the last two months, so I can't afford a behaviorist right now. However I was definitely planning on it, since we have excellent ones where I live.

I've been letting Hoss wear it all the time when I'm home. The change in his behavior is remarkable!