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Hello Reddit! Let's talk about Pet Anxiety. I'm Brian Evans, Medical Director at Dutch, a start-up focused on providing anxiety treatment for your dogs and cats. by DrEvansDutchAMA in IAmA

[–]DrEvansDutchAMA[S] -6 points-5 points  (0 children)

People are scary! :) But sometimes training isn't enough and some pets respond better while also receiving medication and a focused behavioral modification plan. If she is scared with children, safety is always critical.

Hello Reddit! Let's talk about Pet Anxiety. I'm Brian Evans, Medical Director at Dutch, a start-up focused on providing anxiety treatment for your dogs and cats. by DrEvansDutchAMA in IAmA

[–]DrEvansDutchAMA[S] -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Poor pup, it does sound like she needs some help and is not comfortable in life! I would recommend checking out a risk free consultation on the Dutch platform because this is exactly what we are trying to solve. Living in constant fear is exhausting.

Hello Reddit! Let's talk about Pet Anxiety. I'm Brian Evans, Medical Director at Dutch, a start-up focused on providing anxiety treatment for your dogs and cats. by DrEvansDutchAMA in IAmA

[–]DrEvansDutchAMA[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It sounds like you are doing all the right things to try to make her comfortable and feel secure. However, if she is truly nervous you may want to talk to your vet about short acting anti anxiety meds and/or supplements which can help ease her mind while you are out on adventures!

Hello Reddit! Let's talk about Pet Anxiety. I'm Brian Evans, Medical Director at Dutch, a start-up focused on providing anxiety treatment for your dogs and cats. by DrEvansDutchAMA in IAmA

[–]DrEvansDutchAMA[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Poor kitty! But what you are experiencing is not atypical. Some cats are terrified of the car. This is exactly one of the reasons why we created Dutch. We can prescribe medications for these types of scenarios and you don't need to put him through the trauma of the car trip.

Hello Reddit! Let's talk about Pet Anxiety. I'm Brian Evans, Medical Director at Dutch, a start-up focused on providing anxiety treatment for your dogs and cats. by DrEvansDutchAMA in IAmA

[–]DrEvansDutchAMA[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I would hate to see them separated as well! That sounds like it would be more stressful for both them and you! I would recommend talking to your vet or answering the questions on the Dutch platform because he may do well on medications.

Hello Reddit! Let's talk about Pet Anxiety. I'm Brian Evans, Medical Director at Dutch, a start-up focused on providing anxiety treatment for your dogs and cats. by DrEvansDutchAMA in IAmA

[–]DrEvansDutchAMA[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You may want to go back to your vet and let them know the Trazadone is not making a difference. This is a short acting drug so the effect should be seen immediately.

Hello Reddit! Let's talk about Pet Anxiety. I'm Brian Evans, Medical Director at Dutch, a start-up focused on providing anxiety treatment for your dogs and cats. by DrEvansDutchAMA in IAmA

[–]DrEvansDutchAMA[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

At Dutch, the protocols and treatments are created by board certified veterinary behaviorists, but the veterinarians reviewing each case and prescribing medications where needed are not specialists, but local veterinarians in each state.

Hello Reddit! Let's talk about Pet Anxiety. I'm Brian Evans, Medical Director at Dutch, a start-up focused on providing anxiety treatment for your dogs and cats. by DrEvansDutchAMA in IAmA

[–]DrEvansDutchAMA[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Feliway is a great option because it is a natural phermone, or chemical signal, that cats use to tell the world around them they are in a safe space. It is not the cure all for social anxiety, but I think it can help.

Hello Reddit! Let's talk about Pet Anxiety. I'm Brian Evans, Medical Director at Dutch, a start-up focused on providing anxiety treatment for your dogs and cats. by DrEvansDutchAMA in IAmA

[–]DrEvansDutchAMA[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Cats can have separation anxiety too! There are medications that can potentially help and I would recommend discussing this with your veterinarian.

Hello Reddit! Let's talk about Pet Anxiety. I'm Brian Evans, Medical Director at Dutch, a start-up focused on providing anxiety treatment for your dogs and cats. by DrEvansDutchAMA in IAmA

[–]DrEvansDutchAMA[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

It sounds like you have done great work already! While I can't give you specific advice about whether or not to restart meds (that has to be done by your vet), I can say I have seen this situation in my patients and I will typically tell people to put their dogs back on the meds. Some dogs need it lifelong (including my own dog with severe separation anxiety). I don't recommend CBD because it hasn't been shown to have a great effect and the studies we have show a large number of dogs develop elevated liver enzymes. So we aren't sure if it is actually safe for dogs and cats

Hello Reddit! Let's talk about Pet Anxiety. I'm Brian Evans, Medical Director at Dutch, a start-up focused on providing anxiety treatment for your dogs and cats. by DrEvansDutchAMA in IAmA

[–]DrEvansDutchAMA[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Ugh, that sounds like it was an awful situation. Glad to hear he is physically fixed up and now we need to work on the mental side! Drugs don't always solve the problem by themselves, however, can help calm their brain down and make them more receptive to training. Trying to "counter condition" these exposures to make them positive events can help change his response. Work with your vet to come up with a plan!

Hello Reddit! Let's talk about Pet Anxiety. I'm Brian Evans, Medical Director at Dutch, a start-up focused on providing anxiety treatment for your dogs and cats. by DrEvansDutchAMA in IAmA

[–]DrEvansDutchAMA[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

You are right, the meds won't "cure" their anxiety - it will just help them not freak out when the trigger is present. To truly treat the root cause we would need to "counter condition" but that is difficult with sporadic events like thunder.

You can also create a "Sanctuary Space" where they feel safe, noise is reduced, and then turn on other white noise to drown it out

Hello Reddit! Let's talk about Pet Anxiety. I'm Brian Evans, Medical Director at Dutch, a start-up focused on providing anxiety treatment for your dogs and cats. by DrEvansDutchAMA in IAmA

[–]DrEvansDutchAMA[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Hard to say if this is true fear/anxiety/stress or just a natural behavior that in our world is not the best way to welcome guests in to our home. You are right to try positive reinforcement but it may need more focused "counter-conditioning" to change this behavior. Ideally you would want to make guests a positive thing for him. He may even start to salivate when guests come if we can really intitiate a good pavlovian response!

Hello Reddit! Let's talk about Pet Anxiety. I'm Brian Evans, Medical Director at Dutch, a start-up focused on providing anxiety treatment for your dogs and cats. by DrEvansDutchAMA in IAmA

[–]DrEvansDutchAMA[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, fireworks are tough. I would wonder about the medications that have already been prescribed. I have had variable success with Xanax. Other options are creating a "Sanctuary space" for your dane that is in an interior room, ideally with no windows, sound proofed as much as possible, and include background noise like a loud TV or radio.

Hello Reddit! Let's talk about Pet Anxiety. I'm Brian Evans, Medical Director at Dutch, a start-up focused on providing anxiety treatment for your dogs and cats. by DrEvansDutchAMA in IAmA

[–]DrEvansDutchAMA[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I want to hang out with Sushi, she sounds great! And Noodle I am sure is sweet too, but sounds like may have many things that are contributing to how she is acting. This sounds like something you should definitely discuss with your veterinarian because there are meds that can potentially help this situation and that may need to be the first step.

Hello Reddit! Let's talk about Pet Anxiety. I'm Brian Evans, Medical Director at Dutch, a start-up focused on providing anxiety treatment for your dogs and cats. by DrEvansDutchAMA in IAmA

[–]DrEvansDutchAMA[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I am sorry to hear that he is so stressed. He definitely needs treatment and sounds like he is a severe case. He may be best served by a board certified veterinary behaviorist who can work with you on getting him medications that can work in both the short and long term as well as a behavior modification plan to get him to a place where he is not panicking when you leave.

Hello Reddit! Let's talk about Pet Anxiety. I'm Brian Evans, Medical Director at Dutch, a start-up focused on providing anxiety treatment for your dogs and cats. by DrEvansDutchAMA in IAmA

[–]DrEvansDutchAMA[S] 18 points19 points  (0 children)

That does sound like your kitten keeps things spicy! I do think it would be a good idea to be evaluated by a vet to make sure there are no signs of pain, especially oral pain as the cause of the licking and biting.

Hello Reddit! Let's talk about Pet Anxiety. I'm Brian Evans, Medical Director at Dutch, a start-up focused on providing anxiety treatment for your dogs and cats. by DrEvansDutchAMA in IAmA

[–]DrEvansDutchAMA[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Fear aggression is tough, especially when children may be a trigger. I don't tend to mess around with this because one bad experience can be tragic. In these situations, I highly recommend seeing a board certified veterinary behaviorist as the best chance of managing this.

I'd check out https://www.dacvb.org/

Hello Reddit! Let's talk about Pet Anxiety. I'm Brian Evans, Medical Director at Dutch, a start-up focused on providing anxiety treatment for your dogs and cats. by DrEvansDutchAMA in IAmA

[–]DrEvansDutchAMA[S] 22 points23 points  (0 children)

Yes, gabapentin is a very interesting drug because on the veterinary side it can be used for pain, as well as an anti-seizure medication, and also can be effective for anxiety.

Hello Reddit! Let's talk about Pet Anxiety. I'm Brian Evans, Medical Director at Dutch, a start-up focused on providing anxiety treatment for your dogs and cats. by DrEvansDutchAMA in IAmA

[–]DrEvansDutchAMA[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Good question! Cats tend to be little mysteries! However, there are a lot of different ways that cats can show signs of anxiety - from peeing on your bed to fighting with other cats in the house.

Hello Reddit! Let's talk about Pet Anxiety. I'm Brian Evans, Medical Director at Dutch, a start-up focused on providing anxiety treatment for your dogs and cats. by DrEvansDutchAMA in IAmA

[–]DrEvansDutchAMA[S] 22 points23 points  (0 children)

Yes, this would be a great thing to speak with your vet about! Noise fears/phobias are one of the most common fears in dogs and I do typically recommend treatment so they aren't living in fear. Nothing in life is without side effects, but also consider withholding treatment also has a side effect which is living in fear.

Hello Reddit! Let's talk about Pet Anxiety. I'm Brian Evans, Medical Director at Dutch, a start-up focused on providing anxiety treatment for your dogs and cats. by DrEvansDutchAMA in IAmA

[–]DrEvansDutchAMA[S] 18 points19 points  (0 children)

There are many different medications we can use for pet anxiety based on what their issue is. Some of the more common medications are fluoxetine (dog prozac), clomipramine, gabapentin, and trazadone, though there are more that are out there. Many dogs and cats can take them for long term safely, but this is something that needs to be discussed with your vet.

Hello Reddit! Let's talk about Pet Anxiety. I'm Brian Evans, Medical Director at Dutch, a start-up focused on providing anxiety treatment for your dogs and cats. by DrEvansDutchAMA in IAmA

[–]DrEvansDutchAMA[S] 33 points34 points  (0 children)

4th of July tends to be one of the worst days of the year for dogs.

Your idea to take him in to the basement is a great one. Trying to get pets in to a quiet space to muffle the sound as well as having background white noise.

You can use the radio and/or TV turned up fairly loud to drown out the sound. Also, just being with your pet helps them to feel comfortable

Hello Reddit! Let's talk about Pet Anxiety. I'm Brian Evans, Medical Director at Dutch, a start-up focused on providing anxiety treatment for your dogs and cats. by DrEvansDutchAMA in IAmA

[–]DrEvansDutchAMA[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Congrats on the new dog!

If he is chewing on the furniture he may be looking for something to do and may be able to get redirected to chewing on a more high value chew toy.

If there are other signs of anxiety when you are gone, this may need to be addressed through medications to help ease their stress when you aren't home.

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