Clomicalm For Separation Anxiety

[charli73]

Hello,

So my vet has sugggested putting Zoe on a low dose of an anti anxiety medication...

She is a very nervous dog and has a tendency to be quite axious especially when it comes to being separated from us..

eg. she isnt eating her tail or anything but whines constantly, twitches her head and generally cant relax if we or the cat (her pack) move rooms..

Anyones dog been on this and has it worked? wondering how it affects the dog...

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

I had a dog on Clomicalm but it didn't work that well for her, I think she had mental problems after 9 years with a cruel owner. She screamed if put outside and other odd behaviours, couldn't settle, couldn't train her and so the home I had on offer went away and my vet thought it cruel to keep her, it was an extreme case.

I've known other dogs do very well on Clomicalm.

Can I suggest something else though? Have you ever considered Chinese herbs? I've had great results with them - one of my dogs was very anxious, keeping me up all night. After 2 days on CHinese herbs he was a different dog!

I did a phone consult with the All Natural Vet at Russell Lea and had all herbs posted out to me. I was able to keep my boy for another 8 months on these until he passed away from a neuro problem. He was 16 yrs old.

[charli73]

I had a dog on Clomicalm but it didn't work that well for her, I think she had mental problems after 9 years with a cruel owner. She screamed if put outside and other odd behaviours, couldn't settle, couldn't train her and so the home I had on offer went away and my vet thought it cruel to keep her, it was an extreme case.

I've known other dogs do very well on Clomicalm.

Can I suggest something else though? Have you ever considered Chinese herbs? I've had great results with them - one of my dogs was very anxious, keeping me up all night. After 2 days on CHinese herbs he was a different dog!

I did a phone consult with the All Natural Vet at Russell Lea and had all herbs posted out to me. I was able to keep my boy for another 8 months on these until he passed away from a neuro problem. He was 16 yrs old.

Sorry about your boy.... 16 wow.. Never thought of herbs, Dont know of any herbal vets in melb, maybe i should look into it further...

Its mainly the whining, which is more than any dog should, head shaking, excessive licking and if we walk off on her she cant cope.. she just cant handle not being near us.... I feel like a bad mother for even contemplating it

[Blue Fox 001]

We had our Shepherd on Clomicalm for his seperation anxiety and it really didn't seem to make an ounce of difference. I persevered for 6 months but eventually gave up, wish I had known about the Chinese herbs

BUT I have a border collie and a cat who board with me and they both do very well on it. The difference in the border collie is amazing, I actually told the owners that boarding her was not an option anymore as she was just too stressed, they brought her back with the Clomicalm and she now has a great time

The cat I couldn't get a hand on the entire time she was here, now she is relaxed, purrs regularly and eats everything put in front of her

[Poodle Mum]

You need to be persistant when using this drug. Your vet will most likely start on a low dose, then step this up in 2wk increments.

You will not see instant results, it takes 6 weeks to reach theraputic levels in the blood. This is where humans often go wrong, they give up after a couple of weeks. Once they start anti anxiety meds, 6mths is a good trial.

Behaviour modification (training) is also a necessary component. If your vet doesn't do this ask for a referral.

Good Luck! I have used these on a cat & dog.....they were great on a whinging destructive Weibana & a urine spraying burmese

[carrie]

I had a rescue terrier who had lived in a guinea pig cage his whole life, and we put him on clomicalm because he freaked out whenever i left him. It seemed to make no difference whatsoever.

Then our staffy's seperation anxiety got quite severe and the vet recommended we try clomical again... which we did. It was awesome, he calmed down heaps and did really well. Unfortunately my partner and I split and he took the staffy, and he started giving him less and less attention, and the seperation anxiety got much more severe. So he tripled the dose of clomicalm and the poor dog became like a zombie, he was lethargic and slow and miserable. This suited my ex just fine as it meant the dog was easier to manage but it was heartbreaking.

So yeah, watch your dosage if you do use it, and I agree it doesn't work on all dogs.

[sas]

Dante went on Clomicalm for 4 weeks but not for Seperation Anxiety. It was the best thing for him, it was almost like it re-set him, after coming off that we put him on St Johns wort, he's been recently weaned off that and is doing fab.

I think the most important thing is that if you're going to medicate a dog you need to do the behaviour modification training at the same time.

[SkySoaringMagpie]

It seems to be rather hit and miss. It works for some dogs and doesn't seem to touch other dogs. I'd be interested to see a decent trial on the placebo effect and clomicalm for that reason.

One thing many people don't know, it causes birth defects. Of course, if a dog needs Clomicalm it shouldn't be bred from anyway, but not everyone has that kind of sense.

[Lesley]

We just recently used it on our nearly 10 year old bitch who stresses when she travels and for her it worked great.

We did a road trip to Canberra and then onto Melbourne before coming back to Brissy.

I was stoked with the results.

[Prydenjoy]

I started Berri on clomicalm a week ago and am yet to see the results. Not for separation anxiety, just general anxiety and anxiety around children.

Find a behaviorist that uses positive motivational methods, they will probably help you to counter condition and desensitise your dog to your absense. In Jean Donaldsons book "The Culture Clash" (truly marvelous book) she recommends putting a radio on in the "manageable" chunks in your separation training. The dog will learn that when the radio is on he doesn't need to stress, because you will be back soon (initially you wont even leave the room, just get up and look like you are leaving, then sit down and give lots of cuddles and praise etc). Of course this will be worked up to you leaving the room for a split second, and ultimately getting longer and longer until you can go and do your general duties and the dog will not work itself up into that state. In conjunction with the right medication (as Poodle Mum suggested it may take 6 weeks to see results) you should have a more happy and relaxed dog.

Good luck!