When our behaviorist suggested that we make the switch from Clomicalm to Prozac, we had the option of doing a slow wean or a fast wean. Not knowing what the medication was doing for Abby, we had opted for the slow wean since we felt we had time to transition her onto the Prozac. We began on September 5th, and within a week had already noticed some slight changes in Abby's every day demeanor. Don't get me wrong, she still is the sweetest girl in the world. But her ability to live with change in an ever-changing world had obviously been compromised.
About a week into the decrease my husband had worked from home and found that Abby had been nuisance barking a bit more at things every day. I suppose on some level I wasn't surprised as we had noticed something similar when we tried to decrease the Clomicalm once before under the advice/judgment of our previous veterinarian. The second week while working from home he noticed even more barking in combination with an inability to settle down. My realizations that things were changing were a bit slower in coming, particularly since we had avoided most of the world during our walks.
Then I had several walks in a row with Abby that made me realize just how much had changed for her with just a 5mg decrease twice daily. Abby has always been one to notice other dogs, and during the worst of her fear reactivity would seem to react to most dogs. However, she is now reacting to every dog. And by reacting I mean that she is pulling, bouncing, barking, growling, panting, etc. If before she could tolerate a dog from 150 yards away, she now would be panting at the same dog from 200 yards away. And it wasn't just dogs. She was reactive towards people walking past, joggers, people on bicycles, and inevitably even cars. Sounds that my husband would make from the other room in the house, or me from the kitchen, immediately caused her hackles to raise and for her to bolt from her bed in a full Hound howl. It is clear that the Clomicalm does quite a bit for Abby so that she can be calm in her world.
So we are now in the fast wean process, and I'm noticing a bit more barking today as she is home with me. She is able to enjoy some quiet nap time, but periodically will hear something that I don't hear and have difficulty not barking at it. Though I queue her to "leave it" there are times where there are quieter barks here and there. So presently we're on 5mg of Clomicalm twice daily until 10/3/13 and then we'll decrease to 5mg once daily for a week. She'll then be off the Clomicalm for 3 days before beginning the Prozac.
Everyone cross your fingers that the next few weeks fly by for her and that it goes relatively smoothly.
Showing posts with label clomicalm. Show all posts
Showing posts with label clomicalm. Show all posts
Sunday, September 29, 2013
Saturday, August 24, 2013
The Road Less Traveled
When we first embarked on our journey with Abby a little over three years ago, I had no idea the things that I would come to learn. First and foremost, I've learned more about trust from one little yellow dog than I ever could have learned in a lifetime. Her ability to put total faith in us for everything amazes me. She trusts that we will always be home, that we will always do what is in her best interest, and that we will never ask more of her than she is capable of. The ways I've defined bravery and courage have changed in some ways. As I watch my reactive dog try to live in a world that makes no sense, I'm often humbled by how far she has come since the early weeks of chaotic walks in which every sight and sound seemed to be overwhelming. And most importantly I've learned about unconditional love. My husband and I like to believe that people who say dogs don't know emotions have never had an Abby. Every single thing she does is so fueled by love that you can truly understand why she does the things she does.
Along the way you learn the basics that apply to most dogs. You figure out how to potty train a dog, and the proper equipment to use when walking your furry companion. You learn about the newest toys to stimulate your dog mentally, and exhaust them physically. You develop a sense for what toys your dog will rip to shreds in under 5 seconds, and which ones she won't play with at all.
But people with a reactive dog begin to learn a whole new language. You learn to read your dog's signals. We've all heard that dogs can communicate with their body language, and those who live in a land of reactivity will find themselves reading the subtle queues of not only their dog, but of all of the dogs you're likely to encounter in your every day activities. You learn where to walk, what to avoid. You learn that your dog probably hovers a bit above threshold as compared with most other dogs, and that certain things can cause a reaction where they never effectively return to a calm state but an even more elevated state than before. And for some of us with reactive dogs, you learn that sometimes you and your dog need a little bit of help. For most this comes in the form of finding a trainer and confidant who helps to guide you on the adventure of raising a reactive dog. And for some of us, there is the type of help that comes in the form of a prescription.
I've never been shy about saying that Abby is on a prescription medication for anxiety. At first there was some shame in admitting to this, either because most people aren't aware that such a thing exists, or because I felt judged as an owner - as if I was not enough of an awesome pet parent to do things on my own. Whatever the reason, I think sometimes people have a hard time admitting that maybe your pet needs a little bit of help to allow them to relax enough to be receptive to all of the wonderful things you want to teach them. That certainly was the case for Abby. Abby's trip has been a difficult one with stumbling blocks along the way. But through it all I would not change a single thing about the road we've been on and we're at with her presently.
And so it is with that that I tell you we are starting a new fork in the road. Today marked our annual recheck appointment with our vet behaviorist. It is a time where we all come together to talk about Abby and what she's been up to behaviorally within the past year. Much like with our own physicals with our physicians, it is also a time to assess the course of treatments we have been doing to see if they're helping or not making any impact. We have always had discussions over what the medication is doing for Abby and what relief and benefit she receives from it. However, recent production issues with Novartis have had a direct impact on the availability of her medication, Clomicalm. For the past year we have been utilizing a compounding service for giving her a twice daily dosage of Clomipramine. However, even the generic has gone up to such an egregious price that it has left our behaviorist questioning the ability to receive the medication long-term.
So what does that mean for Abby? It means that we are slowly going to lower her dosage of the Clomipramine with the end goal that she will be weaned off of it, and then we will begin a new medication that is more widely available with a good success rate, Prozac. It is a scary thought, the idea of your pet coming down from a medication that had such great success. But with it comes the opportunity to truly assess your pet's behavior and discover what benefit they're truly receiving from it. The coming weeks will probably see more blog entries as I attempt to document and assess the changes we may see in Abby's behavior as a result of this change. But I feel confident in the work that Abby has done and our ability to know our dog and her behavior that we'll be able to monitor the changes we see and work with our behaviorist to tailor this change to her needs.
Along the way you learn the basics that apply to most dogs. You figure out how to potty train a dog, and the proper equipment to use when walking your furry companion. You learn about the newest toys to stimulate your dog mentally, and exhaust them physically. You develop a sense for what toys your dog will rip to shreds in under 5 seconds, and which ones she won't play with at all.
But people with a reactive dog begin to learn a whole new language. You learn to read your dog's signals. We've all heard that dogs can communicate with their body language, and those who live in a land of reactivity will find themselves reading the subtle queues of not only their dog, but of all of the dogs you're likely to encounter in your every day activities. You learn where to walk, what to avoid. You learn that your dog probably hovers a bit above threshold as compared with most other dogs, and that certain things can cause a reaction where they never effectively return to a calm state but an even more elevated state than before. And for some of us with reactive dogs, you learn that sometimes you and your dog need a little bit of help. For most this comes in the form of finding a trainer and confidant who helps to guide you on the adventure of raising a reactive dog. And for some of us, there is the type of help that comes in the form of a prescription.
I've never been shy about saying that Abby is on a prescription medication for anxiety. At first there was some shame in admitting to this, either because most people aren't aware that such a thing exists, or because I felt judged as an owner - as if I was not enough of an awesome pet parent to do things on my own. Whatever the reason, I think sometimes people have a hard time admitting that maybe your pet needs a little bit of help to allow them to relax enough to be receptive to all of the wonderful things you want to teach them. That certainly was the case for Abby. Abby's trip has been a difficult one with stumbling blocks along the way. But through it all I would not change a single thing about the road we've been on and we're at with her presently.
And so it is with that that I tell you we are starting a new fork in the road. Today marked our annual recheck appointment with our vet behaviorist. It is a time where we all come together to talk about Abby and what she's been up to behaviorally within the past year. Much like with our own physicals with our physicians, it is also a time to assess the course of treatments we have been doing to see if they're helping or not making any impact. We have always had discussions over what the medication is doing for Abby and what relief and benefit she receives from it. However, recent production issues with Novartis have had a direct impact on the availability of her medication, Clomicalm. For the past year we have been utilizing a compounding service for giving her a twice daily dosage of Clomipramine. However, even the generic has gone up to such an egregious price that it has left our behaviorist questioning the ability to receive the medication long-term.
So what does that mean for Abby? It means that we are slowly going to lower her dosage of the Clomipramine with the end goal that she will be weaned off of it, and then we will begin a new medication that is more widely available with a good success rate, Prozac. It is a scary thought, the idea of your pet coming down from a medication that had such great success. But with it comes the opportunity to truly assess your pet's behavior and discover what benefit they're truly receiving from it. The coming weeks will probably see more blog entries as I attempt to document and assess the changes we may see in Abby's behavior as a result of this change. But I feel confident in the work that Abby has done and our ability to know our dog and her behavior that we'll be able to monitor the changes we see and work with our behaviorist to tailor this change to her needs.
Monday, September 12, 2011
You mean I'm not crazy?
So we had our meeting with the vet behaviorist. Prior to meeting with her, I completed a ten page questionnaire about Abby's behavioral issues, complete with real life examples of her behavior. Admittedly I was a bit worried about this appointment for a few reasons. Perhaps based on some of the judgement we've received, I was worried that the work we've done with Abby would somehow not have been correct or enough. I know I've spent lots of time working with her on her relaxation and general behavior, and you never want for that investment to be incorrect. But I was even nervous that I somehow had fostered some of her reactivity. I take the issues of Abby's behavior very personally, and when analyzing some of the things she does I think on some level you are doing a disservice to your pet if you don't at least consider your behavior and reactions to at least rule out that you aren't fostering some of the behavior you're working to correct.
In a word the vet behaviorist was phenomenal. Our trainer was so awesome and met us at the facility to be part of our discussion, and she was also able to inject some of her observations into the conversation, which truly ended up being helpful at several points. I should tell you that the appointment that we had scheduled for Abby was a two hour consultation. My first thought was "How the heck am I going to keep her attention for two hours? She's going to try to bolt out of the room in under 20 minutes." So I came prepared.
Over the last few months, we've been doing mat work with Abby. We have a mat that we use for her to relax on and chill out. We bring it to class, we bring it to the vet, and we use it anywhere where she could possibly be overwhelmed by what is going on around her. We gave it a queue - "Places!" - and she knows that she can just relax and hang out on her mat. I also brought some toys for her to chew on and play with, and plenty of treats.
So when we met with the behaviorist she brought us downstairs to her office. Essentially it was a big open basement that was divided in half. On one side of the room chairs set up in a U-shape for training, and the other half of the room had couches, a rug, and a desk for consultations. We sat down and I put Abby's mat down, and Abby immediately went down on it. We spoke for awhile about some of her behaviors and the things I had completed on the form, and the entire time Abby is just chilling. I thought, "This woman is going to think I am crazy! Abby is so well behaved and chilling right now that she's going to think I have the dog owner's version of Munchausen Syndrome." After a little while Abby heard a noise, and then everything I was saying had been confirmed. Abby was on patrol, hair raised, and we were unable to call her back to the area we were sitting in. And it didn't just end there. Once she had the first reaction, it did not take much to prompt further reactions.
The appointment was just so positive though. The behaviorist reinforced that Abby's dosage of Clomicalm is considered a light dosage, and she praised us for the work we've done thus far in light of the light dosage. I felt like I didn't have to defend the choices we've made for Abby or the work we've done because she already understood where we were coming from and communicated her desire to help us.
What a change!
So we're going to do a slightly small increase with her Clomicalm, and we're going to work with her on the relaxation protocols and continue the mat work. We've started working on down stays so that we can try to have Abby not freak out when people come to the house, and I feel like we have a clear direction on where we're heading with Abby's next phase of training.
In other news, a few weeks ago I had received a call from the vet's office that we bring Abby to for her routine care because I had previously ordered a few cases of the Purina OM but I hadn't picked them up. While trying to figure out what we were doing for her food, I just figured that I would leave them there because I didn't know if we would possibly use that food in combination with something else. I explained some of the food issues we've been having and that I was going to wait on picking it up, and the receptionist asked if she could try running Abby's GI issues past one of their other doctors that she has not seen. I told her that it was OK to do this, but that with all due respect I wasn't necessarily feeling a need to make more appointments or follow ups with nutritionists because at this point they've picked a food that did not work for her on any level, and frankly I can pick foods on my own at this rate through trial and error. So she said she would try the other doctor's opinion.
A few days later I got a call from one of the technicians saying the doctor had reviewed everything, and that without doing an intestinal ultrasound it is possible that she could have IBD. But that he was really recommending that I do a month of Tylosin to kill any bacteria that could be in the intestine. I told her that I needed to think about it. I said that without trying to sound defensive or dismissive, I've yet to have anyone be able to explain why Abby would have perfect stools for a period of time, then have diarrhea, then have the loose stools again. I explained how I felt like on some level that this could possibly be anxiety related, particularly given the timing of the reactivity, and the way in which she seems to be generally anxious as we try to taper off the clomicalm. We continue to throw tests, medications or diets at Abby under the hopes that they will work, and I never get to the root cause of her issues and again the diarrhea reccurs. This is when she reiterated that she felt the Merrick food was too fatty and the pancreas and intestine pretty much can't handle it anymore. I guess I'd buy into that if I hadn't just done the malabsorption tests on the heels of this diarrhea getting kicked off. Additionally when I bought into the idea of Abby having IBD, my questioning of whether or not it could have an anxiety component to what triggered or aggravated it was dismissed.
What was interesting to me was that she mentioned that although the Tylosin could work, there was a possibility that Abby could have this happen again even with the Tylosin, and then in which case we'd be back to where we started where we would do another course of treatment.
Those who have read with any regularity can already guess my answer to this treatment: No. A resounding no.
I'm not sure what I was more astounded by. Even if I did an ultrasound on Abby to see if she had IBD, what would I learn? That my dog is prone to diarrhea? I already know this and I didn't have to spend $1,000 to figure that out or put her through the testing. Second, what person just gives a month long treatment to their dog without having a test to prove that she needs it? We wouldn't do this with our children, and I'm certainly not doing this to Abby.
Throughout her reactivity, anxiety and digestive issues I'm starting to learn that doctors, and in particular veterinarians, are not Gods. Sure, they're educated people who have spent thousands of dollars earning a degree certifying them to answer the questions and solve the problems we encounter with Abby. But they don't live with us. They don't see Abby day-to-day, and they don't know what she struggles with day-to-day. Abby can't answer questions to tell me how she feels, why she gets nervous, or why her food isn't agreeing with her. The only voice she has is ours. The only advocate she has is us. And these experiences have taught me that I need to remain dilligent in asking questions to insure that she gets adequate care. Not treatment - care. There is a fine line between these that I think is often lost.
With that said, onwards and upwards. We will continue to search for people committed to Abby's care, who support the decisions we make for her, and who appreciate and trust the total focus we give to helping her. The camp of people we have in Abby's life who do this only continues to grow.
In a word the vet behaviorist was phenomenal. Our trainer was so awesome and met us at the facility to be part of our discussion, and she was also able to inject some of her observations into the conversation, which truly ended up being helpful at several points. I should tell you that the appointment that we had scheduled for Abby was a two hour consultation. My first thought was "How the heck am I going to keep her attention for two hours? She's going to try to bolt out of the room in under 20 minutes." So I came prepared.
Over the last few months, we've been doing mat work with Abby. We have a mat that we use for her to relax on and chill out. We bring it to class, we bring it to the vet, and we use it anywhere where she could possibly be overwhelmed by what is going on around her. We gave it a queue - "Places!" - and she knows that she can just relax and hang out on her mat. I also brought some toys for her to chew on and play with, and plenty of treats.
So when we met with the behaviorist she brought us downstairs to her office. Essentially it was a big open basement that was divided in half. On one side of the room chairs set up in a U-shape for training, and the other half of the room had couches, a rug, and a desk for consultations. We sat down and I put Abby's mat down, and Abby immediately went down on it. We spoke for awhile about some of her behaviors and the things I had completed on the form, and the entire time Abby is just chilling. I thought, "This woman is going to think I am crazy! Abby is so well behaved and chilling right now that she's going to think I have the dog owner's version of Munchausen Syndrome." After a little while Abby heard a noise, and then everything I was saying had been confirmed. Abby was on patrol, hair raised, and we were unable to call her back to the area we were sitting in. And it didn't just end there. Once she had the first reaction, it did not take much to prompt further reactions.
The appointment was just so positive though. The behaviorist reinforced that Abby's dosage of Clomicalm is considered a light dosage, and she praised us for the work we've done thus far in light of the light dosage. I felt like I didn't have to defend the choices we've made for Abby or the work we've done because she already understood where we were coming from and communicated her desire to help us.
What a change!
So we're going to do a slightly small increase with her Clomicalm, and we're going to work with her on the relaxation protocols and continue the mat work. We've started working on down stays so that we can try to have Abby not freak out when people come to the house, and I feel like we have a clear direction on where we're heading with Abby's next phase of training.
In other news, a few weeks ago I had received a call from the vet's office that we bring Abby to for her routine care because I had previously ordered a few cases of the Purina OM but I hadn't picked them up. While trying to figure out what we were doing for her food, I just figured that I would leave them there because I didn't know if we would possibly use that food in combination with something else. I explained some of the food issues we've been having and that I was going to wait on picking it up, and the receptionist asked if she could try running Abby's GI issues past one of their other doctors that she has not seen. I told her that it was OK to do this, but that with all due respect I wasn't necessarily feeling a need to make more appointments or follow ups with nutritionists because at this point they've picked a food that did not work for her on any level, and frankly I can pick foods on my own at this rate through trial and error. So she said she would try the other doctor's opinion.
A few days later I got a call from one of the technicians saying the doctor had reviewed everything, and that without doing an intestinal ultrasound it is possible that she could have IBD. But that he was really recommending that I do a month of Tylosin to kill any bacteria that could be in the intestine. I told her that I needed to think about it. I said that without trying to sound defensive or dismissive, I've yet to have anyone be able to explain why Abby would have perfect stools for a period of time, then have diarrhea, then have the loose stools again. I explained how I felt like on some level that this could possibly be anxiety related, particularly given the timing of the reactivity, and the way in which she seems to be generally anxious as we try to taper off the clomicalm. We continue to throw tests, medications or diets at Abby under the hopes that they will work, and I never get to the root cause of her issues and again the diarrhea reccurs. This is when she reiterated that she felt the Merrick food was too fatty and the pancreas and intestine pretty much can't handle it anymore. I guess I'd buy into that if I hadn't just done the malabsorption tests on the heels of this diarrhea getting kicked off. Additionally when I bought into the idea of Abby having IBD, my questioning of whether or not it could have an anxiety component to what triggered or aggravated it was dismissed.
What was interesting to me was that she mentioned that although the Tylosin could work, there was a possibility that Abby could have this happen again even with the Tylosin, and then in which case we'd be back to where we started where we would do another course of treatment.
Those who have read with any regularity can already guess my answer to this treatment: No. A resounding no.
I'm not sure what I was more astounded by. Even if I did an ultrasound on Abby to see if she had IBD, what would I learn? That my dog is prone to diarrhea? I already know this and I didn't have to spend $1,000 to figure that out or put her through the testing. Second, what person just gives a month long treatment to their dog without having a test to prove that she needs it? We wouldn't do this with our children, and I'm certainly not doing this to Abby.
Throughout her reactivity, anxiety and digestive issues I'm starting to learn that doctors, and in particular veterinarians, are not Gods. Sure, they're educated people who have spent thousands of dollars earning a degree certifying them to answer the questions and solve the problems we encounter with Abby. But they don't live with us. They don't see Abby day-to-day, and they don't know what she struggles with day-to-day. Abby can't answer questions to tell me how she feels, why she gets nervous, or why her food isn't agreeing with her. The only voice she has is ours. The only advocate she has is us. And these experiences have taught me that I need to remain dilligent in asking questions to insure that she gets adequate care. Not treatment - care. There is a fine line between these that I think is often lost.
With that said, onwards and upwards. We will continue to search for people committed to Abby's care, who support the decisions we make for her, and who appreciate and trust the total focus we give to helping her. The camp of people we have in Abby's life who do this only continues to grow.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Your dog is on what?
In recent weeks I've come to realize that when you have a reactive dog, there is a certain stigma attached to it. People ask you how your dog is. And while some people are genuine in their interest in your dog, some people are clearly judgemental.
I should back up at this point and tell you that Bill and I made an attempt at reducing Abby's clomicalm dosage. A little over a year ago we put Abby on clomicalm. It was a choice we didn't take lightly, but one that was the right choice for Abby at the time that we made it. I cannot begin to tell you how heartbreaking it was to watch her get so anxious about her crate, insuring at least one foot was outside at all times for fear that she might be put in it. Even just giving her a treat in the crate was clearly stressful for her. If I put a treat in there for her to find so that only positive things happened for her in that crate, she would hop in and out of that crate at a speed befitting an Olympic Hurdler. No matter what we did to make her crate positive, it clearly was not at all getting better. Abby was so amped up to even look at the crate that we wouldn't be able to make it positive. She clearly couldn't be receptive towards it in any way.
Clomicalm has been a blessing and a curse all at once. In combination with relaxation protocols that we work on, it allowed Abby to simply relax near a crate, and inevitably be crated while I am at work. I would be lying if I didn't say that I tear up a little bit each day that I crate her in the morning because she literally races to the door of her room and looks back at me with a smile. A year ago I would not have thought that was possible. But clomicalm isn't without risks, and certainly its toll on the dog's physical health is one.
However, there is another risk that most people don't realize accompanies the choice to give it to your dog: judgement. I cannot begin to describe the looks on people's faces if I do mention that Abby is on a medication for anxiety, or the way in which a vet she has not seen before will ask about the medication. Some people are subtle about it, but most are not. It all starts off the same way.
Is she on any medication?
What is the clomicalm for?
Why clomicalm?
Have you tried (insert any form of accupuncture, vet behaviorist, or other things people have heard are effective)?
Ever since shows like "The Dog Whisperer" and "It's Me or the Dog," suddenly everyone is an expert on dogs. Intentional or not, people have a way of being unable to ask the above questions without implying that I simply choose not to take my pet's health and psyche seriously and just choose medications as my easy fix. They do not know the countless hours I have spent over many months doing relaxation protocols with Abby just to get her to lay down, then to drop her chin, kick out a back leg, sigh, etc. Then to spend these hours once again to do all of this near a crate. They do not know that Abby has her own iPod that we keep downstairs, that sits docked in the iHome I received as a birthday gift and plays "Through a Dog's Ear" for her all day while she is crated so that she can have some white noise. And to ask the above questions so succinctly while the answer is not so succinct always leaves me feeling annoyed and judged.
Clomicalm is not a medication that I necessarily want Abby to be on long term. If she can be without medication that would be ideal. But if she can't, I want to make sure that she is on the right medication for her. Towards the end of June, we asked for instructions to taper off her clomicalm. Abby was taking a half tablet twice daily, and the instructions given were to do a half tablet daily for two weeks, and then half a tablet every other day for two weeks, then off the medicine entirely. I opted for a longer tapering off, and figured we would do the half tablet daily for one month before moving to the next level. However, after only a week it became clear that a half tablet drop was too much too soon. Suddenly the world seemed a scary place in general for our girl. She barked at everything. And while some dogs bark, Abby greeted every creak in the floor, or voice outside as an imminent threat. She barked at everything in a way that communicated she definitely was freaking out. Now granted, it wasn't a level of barking like when she was panicked to be in the crate. But it was clear that she was nervous and anxious about every sound. Hell, she was nervous about sounds we couldn't even hear! We tried instead half a tablet in the morning and a quarter tablet at night. After about a week this still left her amped up and really hadn't helped to improve her outlook either.
So we've now made an appointment with a Vet Behaviorist to discuss Abby and her anxiety. Part of me worries that Abby is just an anxious dog, and perhaps the crate and separation anxiety was the most obvious display. The crate anxiety is under control now. But in combination with Abby's GI issues that kicked off around the time she displayed dog reactivity, and the GI issues she continues facing, I would not be surprised if we were to find that she has some sort of general anxiety disorder that we work on either through new methods of relaxation, or a different medication in a light dosage.
In other news Abby continues to have issues with soft stools and diarrhea. We switched her from the Purina OM as I had mentioned in the last post because of the way she was going through food bloat, was lethargic because she was eating too much, and burping up her food because of the volume she was eating. So far I tried Wellness Simple Solutions in salmon and rice, and the results were rather mixed. We were mixing it with the Purina OM as we were slowly integrating in the Wellness, and she was doing better. But with her being on just the Wellness the stools weren't great - sort of a soft service ice cream consistency. I tried the Natural Balance Bison and Sweet Potato, and that was disastrous. She had what hubby and I like to call "Poop Soup." So now we're back on Wellness, and I'm attempting to find a food that will work for her. Orijen is probably my next one, and perhaps after that Taste of the Wild if I don't find one that works. I have decided not to enlist the help of the nutritionist at Angell Memorial again because I felt like the food she chose was so grossly NOT the right food for Abby, both in volume and in effectiveness, that I'm not throwing more money her way. If someone with a degree managed not to pick the right food for Abby, then it communicates to me that they're just going to go by trial and error, and frankly I can do that cheaper on my own.
So stay tuned for an update once we go to the behaviorist on the 27th of this month!
I should back up at this point and tell you that Bill and I made an attempt at reducing Abby's clomicalm dosage. A little over a year ago we put Abby on clomicalm. It was a choice we didn't take lightly, but one that was the right choice for Abby at the time that we made it. I cannot begin to tell you how heartbreaking it was to watch her get so anxious about her crate, insuring at least one foot was outside at all times for fear that she might be put in it. Even just giving her a treat in the crate was clearly stressful for her. If I put a treat in there for her to find so that only positive things happened for her in that crate, she would hop in and out of that crate at a speed befitting an Olympic Hurdler. No matter what we did to make her crate positive, it clearly was not at all getting better. Abby was so amped up to even look at the crate that we wouldn't be able to make it positive. She clearly couldn't be receptive towards it in any way.
Clomicalm has been a blessing and a curse all at once. In combination with relaxation protocols that we work on, it allowed Abby to simply relax near a crate, and inevitably be crated while I am at work. I would be lying if I didn't say that I tear up a little bit each day that I crate her in the morning because she literally races to the door of her room and looks back at me with a smile. A year ago I would not have thought that was possible. But clomicalm isn't without risks, and certainly its toll on the dog's physical health is one.
However, there is another risk that most people don't realize accompanies the choice to give it to your dog: judgement. I cannot begin to describe the looks on people's faces if I do mention that Abby is on a medication for anxiety, or the way in which a vet she has not seen before will ask about the medication. Some people are subtle about it, but most are not. It all starts off the same way.
Is she on any medication?
What is the clomicalm for?
Why clomicalm?
Have you tried (insert any form of accupuncture, vet behaviorist, or other things people have heard are effective)?
Ever since shows like "The Dog Whisperer" and "It's Me or the Dog," suddenly everyone is an expert on dogs. Intentional or not, people have a way of being unable to ask the above questions without implying that I simply choose not to take my pet's health and psyche seriously and just choose medications as my easy fix. They do not know the countless hours I have spent over many months doing relaxation protocols with Abby just to get her to lay down, then to drop her chin, kick out a back leg, sigh, etc. Then to spend these hours once again to do all of this near a crate. They do not know that Abby has her own iPod that we keep downstairs, that sits docked in the iHome I received as a birthday gift and plays "Through a Dog's Ear" for her all day while she is crated so that she can have some white noise. And to ask the above questions so succinctly while the answer is not so succinct always leaves me feeling annoyed and judged.
Clomicalm is not a medication that I necessarily want Abby to be on long term. If she can be without medication that would be ideal. But if she can't, I want to make sure that she is on the right medication for her. Towards the end of June, we asked for instructions to taper off her clomicalm. Abby was taking a half tablet twice daily, and the instructions given were to do a half tablet daily for two weeks, and then half a tablet every other day for two weeks, then off the medicine entirely. I opted for a longer tapering off, and figured we would do the half tablet daily for one month before moving to the next level. However, after only a week it became clear that a half tablet drop was too much too soon. Suddenly the world seemed a scary place in general for our girl. She barked at everything. And while some dogs bark, Abby greeted every creak in the floor, or voice outside as an imminent threat. She barked at everything in a way that communicated she definitely was freaking out. Now granted, it wasn't a level of barking like when she was panicked to be in the crate. But it was clear that she was nervous and anxious about every sound. Hell, she was nervous about sounds we couldn't even hear! We tried instead half a tablet in the morning and a quarter tablet at night. After about a week this still left her amped up and really hadn't helped to improve her outlook either.
So we've now made an appointment with a Vet Behaviorist to discuss Abby and her anxiety. Part of me worries that Abby is just an anxious dog, and perhaps the crate and separation anxiety was the most obvious display. The crate anxiety is under control now. But in combination with Abby's GI issues that kicked off around the time she displayed dog reactivity, and the GI issues she continues facing, I would not be surprised if we were to find that she has some sort of general anxiety disorder that we work on either through new methods of relaxation, or a different medication in a light dosage.
In other news Abby continues to have issues with soft stools and diarrhea. We switched her from the Purina OM as I had mentioned in the last post because of the way she was going through food bloat, was lethargic because she was eating too much, and burping up her food because of the volume she was eating. So far I tried Wellness Simple Solutions in salmon and rice, and the results were rather mixed. We were mixing it with the Purina OM as we were slowly integrating in the Wellness, and she was doing better. But with her being on just the Wellness the stools weren't great - sort of a soft service ice cream consistency. I tried the Natural Balance Bison and Sweet Potato, and that was disastrous. She had what hubby and I like to call "Poop Soup." So now we're back on Wellness, and I'm attempting to find a food that will work for her. Orijen is probably my next one, and perhaps after that Taste of the Wild if I don't find one that works. I have decided not to enlist the help of the nutritionist at Angell Memorial again because I felt like the food she chose was so grossly NOT the right food for Abby, both in volume and in effectiveness, that I'm not throwing more money her way. If someone with a degree managed not to pick the right food for Abby, then it communicates to me that they're just going to go by trial and error, and frankly I can do that cheaper on my own.
So stay tuned for an update once we go to the behaviorist on the 27th of this month!
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