My toy poodle whines/barks on planes. Why isn't his medicine working?

Several different drugs are available for this purpose. The drugs I use the most often for this sort of situation include trazodone, alprazolam (Xanax), and acepromazine. The last of these drugs will not provide any relief for anxiety for Muttley, instead it will simply tranquilize him. The other two will have both sedative and anti-anxiety activity. Discuss the situation with your veterinarian and determine which option you believe will be best. Hope this works out. If your pup is going to be travelling in the cabin, for the sake of the other passengers the use of the tranquilizer may be the best option.

There is a natural non-prescription daily supplement called VetriScience Composure chews (they have a liquid version as well) that is available on PetCo.com, chewy.com, and 1800petmeds. Many owners whose dogs previously had severe thunderstorm anxiety, separation anxiety, anxiety during car trips etc. have reported in reviews available on the product online that it has worked wonderfully without an excessive sedative effect that can be seen with certain other prescription medications. I recommend trying it in advance (30 min -1hr in advance) during instances where Finn is usually excitable, anxious or hyper. If it does not seem to work, there are other prescription sedatives that your vet may be willing to prescribe such as trazadone which can be used along with composure and which may not have the unexpected effect that Xanax had of causing hyperactivity. Good luck!

Unfortunately Acepromazine does not take away fear and anxiety. It just sedates the dog, he will appear quieter, but inside, she is just as anxious, just cannot express it. There is a much better medication for that and it is called Sileo. Your veterinarian can provide you with that and give you the proper dosage for Bella. We are not in a position legally to give out dosages. In order to do legally so we would have to have a patient-veterinarian-owner relationship with you. Your veterinarian also knows your dog and the potential risks for your dog receiving acepromazine.

Hi there. Trazodone has a wide dosage range, so it's certainly possible that you may have room to safely increase Cupid's dose - however, you should never make any changes to the dosage of a prescription medication without talking to the veterinarian who prescribed it. So I would suggest calling Cupid's regular veterinarian to talk about your concerns. He/she may recommend increasing the trazodone dose, or may suggest switching to a different medication altogether such as gabapentin or Sileo. A training plan to help Cupid learn to stand calmly for grooming would also be helpful, since there's only so much that we can accomplish with medication alone. If you're not sure how to do this, I would recommend getting in touch with a good reward-based trainer in your area who can help you get started. You can search for one nearby here: www.ccpdt.org

Hi there. I would recommend discussing this with Diesel's regular veterinarian. Xanax can occasionally cause something called "paradoxical agitation," meaning that the dog gets more restless and anxious rather than more relaxed, but this shouldn't suddenly happen if he's already been taking the medication and it's worked well for him in the past. There may be room to increase his dosage, or your veterinarian may recommend switching to a different anti-anxiety medication instead. We cannot legally advise you to make any changes in how you're currently giving a prescription medication, so I would call your vet in the morning to discuss your concerns.

Based on the history, a toxicity seems less likely and a primary disease of the brain more likely. If the seizures are not well controlled on phenobarbital it may be that she needs a higher dose. You should discuss phenobarbital levels with your veterinarian. If the levels are in therapeutic range, a second anticonvulsant such as levetiracitam should be considered. Furthermore, you may consider following up with a veterinary neurologist to discuss diagnostics including an MRI of the brain.

Benadryl will not likely work but you can try Dramamine (NOT the non-drowsy kind). Be sure to give it at least one hour prior to travel and give it when she is not excited or stressed. The dose for a 17# dog would be 1.5 of the 50mg tablets. If you have the chance give it to her a few days before to see how she reacts to it. If she is not quite drowsy enough your can go up to 2 full tablets. Here is an information sheet on the drug with side effects listed. Please read it. ( https://www.petplace.com/article/drug-library/drug-library/library/dimenhydrinate-dramamine-for-dogs-and-cats/ ) Hope this helps. If you have more questions you can always opt for a private consultation where we can chat back and forth. That way you can ask as many questions as you'd like. Best wishes.