Calmer / Anti Anxiety Meds

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HorsesRule2009

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Good afternoon,

Just wondering if any has any experience of calmers or anti anxiety meds for dogs?
Mine is just general anxious in life, he is also Epileptic and a side effect of the meds he is on is anxiety.
Some evenings he just sits in the corner of the room trembling 😢.

We have tried him on alternative Epilepsy medication but unfortunately they don't control his fits well enough so have to stick with the medication that causes the anxiety as it controls the seizures so! well.

So due to this I'm looking into calming/anti anxiety meds to give alongside to try and help him out.

Thanks in advance for any replies
 
HorsesRule2009 said:
Good afternoon,

Just wondering if any has any experience of calmers or anti anxiety meds for dogs?
Mine is just general anxious in life, he is also Epileptic and a side effect of the meds he is on is anxiety.
Some evenings he just sits in the corner of the room trembling 😢.

We have tried him on alternative Epilepsy medication but unfortunately they don't control his fits well enough so have to stick with the medication that causes the anxiety as it controls the seizures so! well.

So due to this I'm looking into calming/anti anxiety meds to give alongside to try and help him out.

Thanks in advance for any replies
Click to expand...

I don't know what medication your dog is on for epilepsy. Mine was on Epiphen (phenobarbitol) and Epilease (potassium bromide) with rectal diazepam for prolonged seizures. They didn't make her anxious but she wasn't a dog prone to anxiety.

There is an anti epileptic drug called Pexion which can also be used to reduce anxiety caused by noise phobia. Would that be worth trying?


ETA. If you are going to give something in addition to the anticonvulsant medication, check to make sure there are no known interactions.
 
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Thank you for the replies.
My vet was unsure what to use but what ever I do try will be run past him first.

Sadly pexion is one of the drugs we tried but ended up having little affect on his seizures 😞 we tried upping the dose but still didn't have good control of them and it was equally costing me a small fortune with the amount he was only daily.

I'm loathed to change meds again as the are so well controlled on the Soliphen (phenobarbital)
 
What about referral to a veterinary behaviourist* who could assess your dog and if necessary could prescribe medication for the anxiety.

*A vet who is also a qualified behaviourist.
 
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skinnydipper said:
What about referral to a veterinary behaviourist* who could assess your dog and if necessary could prescribe medication for the anxiety.

*A vet who is also a qualified behaviourist.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure where I would find someone like this.
He's also not insured so unsure if I'd be able to afford it
 
Here is a list of vet behaviourists, it is not a complete list. I can think of a few who are not on it: Amber Batson, Understand Animals; Prof Daniel Mills, University of Lincoln, Kendal Shepherd.

You searched for - APBC

www.apbc.org.uk www.apbc.org.uk

You would have to ask your vet to refer you, they might have a preference.

If it isn't possible to see a vet behaviourist, I wonder if there is someone your vet could contact to ask for advice re anti-anxiety medication.
 
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splashgirl45 said:
I used zylkene for my lurcher for firework time and it did seem to make her less anxious. I used to get it on line quite easily.
Click to expand...
Zylkene is good for horses too.
It a natural product, it contains the same enzyme as in milk which is casein. This calms the animal.
 

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Our rescue dogs have serotonin once a day , which takes a bit of edge off, but rescue remedy for animals (the human verweb contains alcohol) is the best stuff I’ve found for one off events - it’s too expensive for daily use
 
skinnydipper said:
Here is a list of vet behaviourists, it is not a complete list. I can think of a few who are not on it: Amber Batson, Understand Animals; Prof Daniel Mills, University of Lincoln, Kendal Shepherd.

You searched for - APBC

www.apbc.org.uk www.apbc.org.uk

You would have to ask your vet to refer you, they might have a preference.

If it isn't possible to see a vet behaviourist, I wonder if there is someone your vet could contact to ask for advice re anti-anxiety medication.
Click to expand...
I can highly recommend Lincoln University
 
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