Hi Everyone! Im really happy to be a part of this group. Im wondering if anyone has experience with cases of severe separation anxiety/isolation distress? My 4yo Basenji mix has had isolation distress all of her life and shes on fluoxetine (Prozac) to manage it in combination with management and training. I started her on the fluoxetine this year because I could see no way for her (or me) to have a decent quality of life otherwise. She has recently been under great management lately- able to be fairly relaxed while left alone up to 4hrs- until she had fairly serious gastro surgery a few weeks ago and spent 5 days in the emergency vet clinic. Throughout that time and during her recovery her anxiety spiked and its off the charts. While she was recovering she had to stop taking the fluoxetine because she was on tramadol (a painkiller that also affects dopamine receptors). Her isolation distress is worse than ever and it worsened quickly and dramatically over a couple of days despite us taking a lot of care, practicing management techniques and not leaving her alone for more than an hour or so at first while monitoring her on video. At this point I literally cant leave her alone because shell try to escape my house or shell hurt herself (or both). She slammed herself against our back door last Tuesday and managed to break out and luckily our dog walker came around shortly after… This was after she tore down and shredded some blinds in our house and chewed through a baby gate- all within a very short time. I know we have a long, hard road ahead of us of desensitizing her gradually with planned departures (getting ready to leave and not leaving, getting ready to leave and leaving for 2 mins then coming back, getting ready to leave and leaving for 3 mins then coming back, getting ready to leave then leaving for 1 min and coming back and so it goes…). Shes back on her fluoxetine as of last week and I know that when that takes effect shell be able to relax more and shell be more receptive to training. Im wondering if anyone has used any other medications to help dogs with SA/isolation distress when theyre having a severe episode. Im wondering if it would be helpful to augment her fluoxetine with another drug right now until she gets to a better place so we can begin making some progress with training. Im really concerned about having to leave her one day soon because I wont be able to take her with me or a friend/sitter will need to cancel- at this point we cant afford any setback in training and managing her stress. I know that one option would be to give her a higher dose of Gravol (dosed appropriately, under the guidance of a vet) to sedate her in case I ever need to leave her alone at this point. Anyone have any insight or experiences with this? Ive just been in touch with a great +R trainer and Im booking an appointment with a force-free vet that specializes in treating dogs with issues. Im wondering if anyone has any suggestions for anything else we can try in terms of training strategies or management techniques… For management techniques we use stuffed Kongs (if shes not too triggered, otherwise she wont eat), lots of exercise and stimulation, ignoring her pre and post departure, leaving her in a dark room with calming music on, breaking up her time alone into short periods with the help of a dog walker and friends, recording her each time shes alone to monitor how comfortable she is, relatively healthy kibble (Wellness brand), and valerian tincture to help her feel calm and sleepy if shes having a hard time. Weve tried Thundershirts but she chews them off and calming sprays/products dont seem to have any effect on her, including Rescue Remedy. Im considering feeding her fresh, home cooked food under the guidance of a canine nutritionist in case that helps at all. What else can I dooo? Thank you for sharing advice, suggestions and experiences!
Posted on: Mon, 11 Aug 2014 03:56:33 +0000