Endep 50 For Golden Retriever

[loulouB]

Hi All,

My 3 year oldm female GR has just been prescribed Endep 50, 1 tablet twice a day.

She has been prescribed it for anxiety, fear agression and obsessive behaviour. Hoping it will giver her a better quality of life, as well as making her easier to manage!

Anyone's dog used this med before? Did it help your dog? Does anyone have any tips/ warnings/ experiences to share?

I really don't know what to expect.. whether there might be a really huge change in her personality, or whether it will just be subtle.. I am hoping she will be transformed into a calm and easy-going dog... but i think i might be dreaming...

I also hope the side effects aren't too bad for her.. i know how for humans anti-depressants can have some horrible side-effects ( i have first hand experience!!)

Thanks

[Monah]

It's worth a try. I do know several dogs, often staffies! who are on or have been on this. That is quite a high dose for your dog, so she must be fairly anxious.

meds are normally used to assist the dog so that the dog can learn new behaviours and training without all the anxiety/aggression. It is not a cure all etc. but it certainly does help. the dog may be quieter and things that cause a violent or over the top reaction should be better tolerated in order to teach the dog new habits etc.

I'm pretty sure the dose is usually 'worked up to' ie. start with half for a week, the up the dose etc. Never go off the dose without seeing the vet and the dose should never be stopped cold turkey, but lowered gradually.

The meds may also take a while for you to see a difference, she will not be 'transformed', try not to have any expectations and take one day at a time.

good luck with her, everything is well worth a try.xxx

[loulouB]

thanks Monah, she is 33.5kg, so perhaps that is why its a high dose? The vet called it a 'moderate' dose.

For the first 2 weeks she is on 1 tablet twice a day, and then i have to phone the vet to let them know how it's going.

If it's doing nothing, he said we would then increase the dose to 2 tablets twice a day (which would be 200mg a day!!). But hopefully the initial dose will be enough.

I have contact details for some dog trainers who specialise in behavioural problems, so will definitely try training her whilst on the meds...

Cheers

[OSoSwift]

Not a dog, but I had a cat on it, smoothed him out quite nicely. I did have to be careful as it was such a small dose he needed and at time had to space the interval between tablets by another day or he would vomit.

Without them his behaviour could be quite dangerous.

[Golden Rules]

I had a young and very anxious Goldie on Prozac a couple of years ago. He was a rescue dog and suffered separation anxiety was was in general an anxious dog anyway.

I was heading off on holidays and the dogs were being kennelled for 2 weeks. I was worried how the young one would cope even though he had an older Goldie for company.

Well I needn't have worried, the prozac did it's job and he was apparently very relaxed in the kennels. When I arrived to collect them, the young boy couldn't have cared less what was going on however the older one who I thought would cope fine, was a mess. I think he could have done with some prozac as well poor soul.

The medication isn't a miracle worker on it's own, it is meant to be used in conjunction with behaviour modification training.

Best of luck with your Goldie, hope you make great progress!

[loulouB]

I had a young and very anxious Goldie on Prozac a couple of years ago. He was a rescue dog and suffered separation anxiety was was in general an anxious dog anyway.

I was heading off on holidays and the dogs were being kennelled for 2 weeks. I was worried how the young one would cope even though he had an older Goldie for company.

Well I needn't have worried, the prozac did it's job and he was apparently very relaxed in the kennels. When I arrived to collect them, the young boy couldn't have cared less what was going on however the older one who I thought would cope fine, was a mess. I think he could have done with some prozac as well poor soul.

The medication isn't a miracle worker on it's own, it is meant to be used in conjunction with behaviour modification training.

Best of luck with your Goldie, hope you make great progress!

I wonder if the young goldie you had and mine are related.... I'm in Perth too. My dog is about to turn 3 next month. She has been anxious since she was a puppy - just born that way!

I know there were 8 puppies in the litter, and have often wondered how the others turned out, and what became of them...

[Dogsfevr]

We have boarded a few on that drug & generally all use the same vet clinic & on high doses & to be honest they are like walking zombies.

So vague & switched off from the world.

Hopefully you have success

[Staff'n'Toller]

Just in reverse to showdog I know a GSD who's on a lower dose and the owners say it doesn't touch the sides.

Keep in touch with the prescribing ?Vet Behaviourist, don't feel like you are annoying them even if you are calling or emailing a couple of times a week.

I've been on a very low dose for migraine headaches which in extremely low doses just acts as a muscle relaxant. But I know humans can have 100-150mg as a standard dose for other issues. I've been on it a long time, the side effects are barely noticeable.

[Golden Rules]

I had a young and very anxious Goldie on Prozac a couple of years ago. He was a rescue dog and suffered separation anxiety was was in general an anxious dog anyway.

I was heading off on holidays and the dogs were being kennelled for 2 weeks. I was worried how the young one would cope even though he had an older Goldie for company.

Well I needn't have worried, the prozac did it's job and he was apparently very relaxed in the kennels. When I arrived to collect them, the young boy couldn't have cared less what was going on however the older one who I thought would cope fine, was a mess. I think he could have done with some prozac as well poor soul.

The medication isn't a miracle worker on it's own, it is meant to be used in conjunction with behaviour modification training.

Best of luck with your Goldie, hope you make great progress!

I wonder if the young goldie you had and mine are related.... I'm in Perth too. My dog is about to turn 3 next month. She has been anxious since she was a puppy - just born that way!

I know there were 8 puppies in the litter, and have often wondered how the others turned out, and what became of them...

The dog I had was a rescue and I suspect he came from a well known dodgy breeder here in Perth. He would have been about 5 years old now.

Where did you get your Goldie?

[Rottifan]

I have not had direct experience with a dog with these symptoms myself but I know through close association how difficult it can be to live with and try to fix! Friends had success with having alternate treatments done after they werent happy medicating their dogs so might be worth investigating at the same time to see how that goes. Medication only masks up the problem but does not address the cause of it.....the issue is trying to find out the cause of the problem. If you see an acupunture vet/practitioner they might be able to help. Also my dog sees a good animal chiropractor who had seen anxious and aggressive dogs become calm and normal after being chiropractically adjusted - he says if dogs have pinched nerves they are irritated and cant stay still or settle comfortably and it is often misdiagnosed....also says if nerves are pinched at the base of the skull/neck it can cause pressure on the brain and similar side affects. Always a worry trying to diagnose, best of luck with your precious one and the process of elimination!