Anti-anxiety meds-UPDATE

[Deleted]

UPDATE: The crate + bone worked like a charm without the meds. He didn't make a peep the entire trip. Maybe he just feels safer in a smaller space? I don't think we'll be hauling the big crate the car and buying a huge stinky bone for every 5 minute trip, but it's good to know it works! On a related note, elevators are evidently the most scariest thing EVER. We were on the 9th floor of the hotel and he hit the deck, spread-eagle style every time we stepped on. We went down the stairs a few times so he could avoid it, but I wasn't walking up 9 floors

Usually I like my vet, but today I'm a little . We're leaving tomorrow afternoon for a driving trip and taking our dog for the first time. Usually he gets boarded, but we found a great place that allows pets, so we're making it a family vacation. However, he's not good in the car. We refer to his tantrums in the car as "doggie meltdowns." The longest he's ever been in the car is around 30 mins., and the meltdown occurred starting from minute 10 and didn't stop until we got out of the car. We can't tell if it's excitement about where we might be going (he loves going places) or if he hates the car. Either way, it's miserable for us. He's an 8-year-old 65# boxer-pit mix.

DH called the vet to get a script for anti-anxiety meds, which we have no experience with. We picked it up right before closing from the reception staff, and the only instructions were "One tablet as needed." I asked for more specific inst., but they would only say "every dog is different." I said, OK, at least tell me what NOT to do. They said just be careful about feeding because he could vomit and choke and don't give him too much. OK. Be careful how? How long do we wait between feeding and pills? How much is too much? Answer: All dogs are different. Gah! I had planned to test it out tomorrow morning (I'm home all day) just to be sure he doesn't have some horrible reaction so we'd be close to our vet, but now I'm scared to death to give him anything. And if I give it in the morning, I'm worried that he won't be able to eat all day, especially if we have to give him another later during the car ride (and can I even give a second dose)?

WWYD? Test it tomorrow morning? Just wait and give it shortly before the car ride (i.e. how likely is a bad reaction)? Forget the med and just suck it up and hope his freakout doesn't last for the entire 2-hour ride? The med is Acepromazine, 25mg.

ETA: Reading over this, I realize that it's probably not a coincidence that my dog has an anxiety problem, haha.

[straymo]

Ace will make your dog really really sleepy. It's a tranqulizer. It is not going to take away the anxiety, its just going to make him zone out. The anxiety will still be there. Truthfully, you should have started to work on the anxiety longer than the day before.

I would feed a few small meal about an hour or more before the drive starts and about 1/2 hour before give the Ace. Personally, I'd ride in the backseat with him to keep an eye on his reacation. I prefer not to test meds in the situations they are being used for. Another words, I would have gotten the meds a week or so earlier and when home and not stressed at all, I would give to see the reaction.

Anxiety can be tricky, but can be improved, but it take training.

[Deleted]

I think we'll just skip it and hope he settles down. That doesn't sound like what DH asked the vet about at all.

[straymo]

A lot of vets will give it for anxiety, but truthfully it doesn't make the anxiety go away. If the vet gives you something like xanax, be sure to try it out beforehand when all is calm to begin with. It works great for many, but our dogs has paradoxical reaction and it makes her CRAZY.

Good luck on your trip and maybe when you get back you can work on training her in the car. Some dogs just never love it, but sometimes you can lessen the stress.

[Deleted]

Thanks. We're taking the crate and letting him ride in that since he loves it and hates his seatbelt (he becomes freaking Houdini when the seatbelt comes out too, so getting him to stay in it is a chore). I was thinking of maybe freezing a Kong too, but I'm not sure if that will make him more likely to yak?

We drive very very little (we live in a very walkable place, so we even transit/walk to work and to several parks for playtime). We just don't do much driving ourselves, much less with Noodle in the car. For the normal 5-10 min. trip, he's OK (not great, but not terrible). Since longer trips have come up a handful of times in 8 years, I'm sort of just willing to put up with it rather than spending a lot of extra time in the car that we wouldn't normally do. I thought meds might make everyone more comfortable, but really they are just making me anxious.

[osulori]

Jul 27, 2012 9:32:34 GMT -5 @juno said:

Thanks. We're taking the crate and letting him ride in that since he loves it and hates his seatbelt (he becomes freaking Houdini when the seatbelt comes out too, so getting him to stay in it is a chore). I was thinking of maybe freezing a Kong too, but I'm not sure if that will make him more likely to yak?

We drive very very little (we live in a very walkable place, so we even transit/walk to work and to several parks for playtime). We just don't do much driving ourselves, much less with Noodle in the car. For the normal 5-10 min. trip, he's OK (not great, but not terrible). Since longer trips have come up a handful of times in 8 years, I'm sort of just willing to put up with it rather than spending a lot of extra time in the car that we wouldn't normally do. I thought meds might make everyone more comfortable, but really they are just making me anxious.

It definitely sounds like the vet misunderstood what you guys were looking for when you asked about an anti-anxiety med for the car, so not giving him the Ace is a good call (since it's not going to have the type of effect you wanted). Since he loves his crate, having him in it while he's in the car could definitely help as could having a frozen kong to lick stuff out of. If you're concerned about him throwing up though, what about bringing a favorite bone (if he has one)?

I hope Noodle (LOVE that name, btw!) does okay on your trip...I have a car anxious (okay, all the time anxious hence his daily Prozac dose) pit mix that hasn't had to go on a car ride longer than 10 mins yet myself, and I'm not looking forward to the day we have to take a long car trip with him at all :$

[Deleted]

Thanks. He's generally a very mellow guy, luckily, so it's something we just usually just avoid. I'm sorry to hear you have to deal with it all the time He doesn't have a bone right now, but maybe we'll stop by the supply store on the way out of town and pick something up. A NEW chewy might grab his attention even more than same old Kong. It may turn out that he just prefers staying at doggie day care, but we wanted to try a family vacation at least once.