Fast working calming dog tablets

BECKIN1507

Actually I had a change of plan, just did a little search on valerian and skullcap and these came up http://www.simplysupplements.net/product/134/calming-formula-catsdogs/ so I'll try these as they're cheaper and have a few more ingredients in them. If they don't work by xmas I'll try that petspec one, that looks quite good.

krlyr

Gentian is also an appetite stimulant actually (I used it when handraising some baby pet rats) so you might find he may show a little more interest in the Kongs, perhaps? Good luck with it, luckily my two aren't bothered by fireworks at all but I know how heartbreaking it is to watch an upset dog, Kiki was pretty bad with separation anxiety at the start of the year.

BECKIN1507

Thank you, I'll let you know how we get on. It's a nightmare as I'm torn between having to stay in with the dogs or go and watch my kids faces light up at the fireworks. The scared dog always wins as I can't predict what he's going to be like, as he's noise phobia is getting worse I really am dreading this year. Just wish I could work out why it's getting worse, I've never praised him when he's on one, I try to ignore him and only praise when he's completly calmed down. He was born a nervous puppy, not sure why as the rest of the litter were complete loons, lots of socialising helped bring him out of his shell but I've never been able to sort the noise thing out. I feel a bit of a failure with him (spot) my other dogs King and Kizzy are pretty much perfect. King my rotty is the most loving dopey boy, so well behaved, loves everyone and everything. Kizzy is nearly as good as King but Spot is totally different, hate to say it but if I'm talking about spot, people say hows the devil dog. Love him to bits but he really is a nghtmare.

krlyr

Have you ever had thorough vet investigations? Kiki's separation anxiety would get a bit better, than a fair bit worse, 1 step forward and 2 steps back so that's when I decided to go down the vet route. Partially so I could consider the medication route, but also just to rule out any possibly health cause (though I wasn't convinced as she seemed healthy). That's when the low thyroid results were flagged up, and putting her on Soloxine has helped hugely. Not an instant cure but it's helped a lot with the separation anxiety and the other anxieties she was developing.
There are quite a few medical causes for anxiety, e.g. problems with the thyroid, magnesium deficiency, B12 deficiency can cause anxiety, pain could cause a behavioural issue, etc.
If Spot is insured then see if your insurance cover any behavioural referalls too - mine offer up to £250, and I would presume that if you had the vet checks done for anxiety, you'd simply pay one excess at the time of the vet consult/blood tests and then anything else - further tests, behavioural referalls, medication, etc. would all be under that one claim/excess (until the next policy year where another excess would fall due).

Edit: Found this http://rrcus.org/rhodesianridgebackhealth/whatvetshouldknow.html
"According to our most recent health survey, heritable thyroid disease is the number-one reported health problem in Rhodesian Ridgebacks"
My OH laughs at me being the "thyroid ambassador" and always mentioning it, but having seen just how much it affected Kiki behaviourally and physically (like I said, I thought she was a perfectly healthy dog, but now she's on her medication I'm noticing just how much her coat, energy levels, etc. are all improving, the gradual decline had snuck up on me) it's something I would definately recommend people at least rule out. You'll need to ask for a comprehensive thyroid panel that does more than TSH - ideally you want T4, free T4, T3, free T3, TSH and tgAA but I don't think there's a UK panel that does them all. You could either have the vet draw a sample and send it over to Hemopet in the US, or have the most comprehensive UK one done (think mine did everything but free T3). Bear in mind that a dog can fall within range, but if the results are very low, they could be symptomatic - Dr Jean Dodds believes dogs have a varying 'ideal' level dependant on many factors, like age, breeds, etc. so it's worth asking for a copy of the results - I sent a scan over to Dr Dodds and she happily gave her interpretation of them free of charge. On that, and lots of articles from the internet about borderline hypothyroid, the thyroid affecting behaviour, etc. my vets then agreed to trial the tablets and retest - her behaviour soon improved and her last set of bloods came back with her T4 at a much better level! It's very hard to push a dog into hyperthyroidism with Soloxine apparently so there's not really any harm in trialling it as long as the dog is otherwise healthy (I think there's some risks where heart problems are present though)

Faith177

I use to use a liquid from Pets at home for when my two were pups I think it was called calmez or something like that. I use to just mix it in with their food

JennyW_2

Unfortunately it's trial and error with products and what suits your dog.

I use a product called Stress Less by Nupafeed. Can be given 2 hours before during times of need and can be double dosed safely too. Comes in liquid and tablet.

Have a read here:

http://www.nupafeed-dogs.co.uk/stress-less/4560867160

BECKIN1507

Unfortunatly Spot isn't insured (he's insured for third party) I also have a great vets whom I am in credit with, I pay a little a month dd so if there is a emergancy I'm not worried about them not treating as I have no money. Also have a credit card put to one side just for the pets. I'm going to look into the thyroid tests as he does have darkened skin (never knew that was a side effect) and moults alot but he's never had lethargy or unexplained weight gain. I've been meaning to get a full blood test done on him for a while, he's a ridge x staffi, his dad (staffi) had to be pts when he was 7 as he had cancer, he wasn't ill untill the end but had short bouts of sickness now and again which could have been related but as he was well in himself and sickness always cleared up within 48hrs it was never picked up on. The vet also said that even if I had took him with the sickness they probably wouldn't have done a blood test, but I still feel guilty and wonder if I'd found out sooner I could of saved him from having such a short life, so I do want Spot to have a general blood test just to put my mind at rest. Do you know the average cost of full blood tests?

krlyr

Dogs don't always have all the symptoms, or sometimes they're really mild. Kiki's weight gain, I attributed to all the Kongs I was putting down to try to occupy her when left - but looking at it, Casper always had the same and didn't gain weight. Kiki had always been prone to being skinny too so at some point it changed to gaining weight easily, but so subtly I hadn't really thought about it (she always lost it when I cut rations, but it was becoming harder and harder to shift and quicker to return)
Her coat condition, well, it'd been a bit 'split end'-y but I'd put that down to OH being a bit vigorous with the Furminator since we moved (wanting to keep the house hair-free) - but it is sooo soft now she's on the Soloxine, it's really noticable how different it had become. She was moulting a lot too - she always had but I put the excess down to moving house and having to adjust to different temperatures (old house had no central heating or double glazing)
The anxiety I'd put down to moving house - but guess it had been underlying and was triggered by the move.
She's always been a bit prone to being a little bit constipated, but I put that down to too much bone in her raw diet (I usually gave her a fair bit less than Casper, but with the SA I was putting down marrowbones etc. to keep her busy) - but this has eased off and she can eat more bone than she used to with no problems.
I'd put her quieter nature down to the move and to getting middle-aged, she'd stopped playfighting with Casper for months after the move but now she's on her meds she's like a teenager again - crazy zoomies around the garden, playfighting indoors half the time (like they used to do), again, something that just snuck up on me and I didn't notice until it was 'fixed' that it was 'broken' in the first place!
She also had high cholesterol on her blood test - another symptom common with hypothyroidism.

Not saying every anxious dog will be hypothyroid but it's crazy how much one condition can affect so many different things - the thyroid gland does all sorts in the body so when it's out of whack it can affect so many different things, and because the levels drop gradually rather than all of a sudden, it can creep up without you realising.

Cost-wise, the initial blood tests came to about £150-180 I think (insurance paid vet direct so I'm not sure, I'll dig out the statement when I get a chance). That was the full bloodwork panel and the comprehensive thyroid test. The retest after 6 weeks, they just check T4 levels I think, and that was cheaper at about £80 I think. Her medication costs £10 a month, so hardly anything, and I could probably get it cheaper if I bought more as they only issue 2 months at a time currently - she needs to be tested again next month (the 3 month mark from last test) just to confirm her levels are stable but once that one's done then it's just annual testing, and if her dose is fine I'll probably ask them to order me the biggest pack they can if it's cheaper. Oh, and I'm in Surrey, and not at a particularly cheap vet for the area - so costs may be lower for you.

krlyr

Found the statement - sorry, it doesn't make loads of sense as they've not itemised it very well but it shows one test at £61.15 and another at £69.39, those are after VAT I think. I'm not sure if that's both of the tests (original and thyroid retest after 6 weeks) or just the original with the extra thyroid panel because the receipt with the labels was done after both sets of tests, So worst case, about £130, but possibly half that

_Andy_

Give the pheremone (can't spell) diffuser a go. I used it recently to chill out my boy who was stressing about house move. Worked a treat. Will be using it for my female one over fireworks night as she hates it.