Dogs being given Benzos!

[[Al...]]

I am in a few FB canine groups and I am shocked how many dog parents are currently giving their dogs Benzos (AD's & Gabapentin). I'm beginning to think the over prescribing of Benzo's in sadly now in the pet community. Vets need to wake up!

 

I tried to warn the members in my FB canine groups about the dangers of Benzos and of course they refused to listen to me. I heard everything from Benzo's are great drugs, my dog is on a low dose, it helps my dog with anxiety etc etc. I mentioned this group, the Ashton Manual, the recent CNN special however they were not interested in learning about Benzos. To make matters worse the Administrator in one of my groups wrote how good the drug works for her dog and if I ever mentioned Benzo's again I would be booted out of the group.

 

I recently warned my Vets about the dangers of Benzo's and I shared my personal journey and no surprise I got the deer in the head lights look. My Vets wanted to give my dog Gabapentin and I declined to use it. My Vets gave my friends dog Prozac and my friend had no clue what Prozac was. Our dogs can't talk and it's important that we are their voices.

[[Ma...]]

Thats such a nonsense. I am happy I live in an area they do not do that. There are so many ways to calm your pet down OR MAYBE you just have to give it the life it deserves, which is as near to its natural life as possible - so the pet can just live a natural life. No panic then. And if, there is a reason, and the solution is: fight, run, or hide.

 

Humans suck.

[[Ch...]]

Back in my ignorant years I used to give my dog a quarter of a .25mg Xanax on the 4th of July.  I never would’ve considered giving her a psych drug regularly though. More walks and attention. 

 

On a healthier note, many vets are increasingly recommending and dispensing CBD for cats and dogs. I’ve given it to my one of my cats who occasionally had non-bacterial cystitis.  She hasn’t had a reoccurrence for a year or so.

[[Al...]]

Back in my ignorant years I used to give my dog a quarter of a .25mg Xanax on the 4th of July.  I never would’ve considered giving her a psych drug regularly though. More walks and attention. 

 

On a healthier note, many vets are increasingly recommending and dispensing CBD for cats and dogs. I’ve given it to my one of my cats who occasionally had non-bacterial cystitis.  She hasn’t had a reoccurrence for a year or so.

 

Hi Chalis-I give my 16 year old Hemp/CBD every day for her arthritis. In my state Vets are not allowed to recommend administering a dog or cat CBD however, they whisper to me to use it.

[[Ch...]]

Back in my ignorant years I used to give my dog a quarter of a .25mg Xanax on the 4th of July.  I never would’ve considered giving her a psych drug regularly though. More walks and attention. 

 

On a healthier note, many vets are increasingly recommending and dispensing CBD for cats and dogs. I’ve given it to my one of my cats who occasionally had non-bacterial cystitis.  She hasn’t had a reoccurrence for a year or so.

 

Hi Chalis-I give my 16 year old Hemp/CBD every day for her arthritis. In my state Vets are not allowed to recommend administering a dog or cat CBD however, they whisper to me to use it.

 

Good vets. 

[[ma...]]

That's totally crazy! Poor pets. And it's probably also dangerous as psych drugs often de-compensate the user and give rise to aggressive or psychotic behavior. I imagine that may happen with dogs and cats too.

[[ea...]]

Giving pet animals benzos? Yikes. Who knows how it affects them. I used to clean a home that had 4 cats. One of them had "psych issues." (Although I honestly never saw evidence of that). They were giving that cat a Prozac daily, and swore it calmed him down.

I wanted to throw up, hearing this, but kept y big mouth shut. They were nice people, and I LOVED all their cats, all rescues.

I give my Bear 2 supplements, to help his history of partial urinary blockages and sneezing up small amounts of blood. L-Lysine and glucosamine. I mix them into his wet treats, and then I add more water to ensure he is getting lots of fluids.

He is now one healthy young cat, 3 years old, healthy as a damn horse, and so loving. Bear is one special cat.

east

[[Ma...]]

That's totally crazy! Poor pets. And it's probably also dangerous as psych drugs often de-compensate the user and give rise to aggressive or psychotic behavior. I imagine that may happen with dogs and cats too.

 

It does happen. A neighbors friends cat freaked out, and the finger of the owner had to be amputated cause she was bitten by the cat, the wound infected the hole hand.

[[Ma...]]

Giving pet animals benzos? Yikes. Who knows how it affects them. I used to clean a home that had 4 cats. One of them had "psych issues." (Although I honestly never saw evidence of that). They were giving that cat a Prozac daily, and swore it calmed him down.

I wanted to throw up, hearing this, but kept y big mouth shut. They were nice people, and I LOVED all their cats, all rescues.

I give my Bear 2 supplements, to help his history of partial urinary blockages and sneezing up small amounts of blood. L-Lysine and glucosamine. I mix them into his wet treats, and then I add more water to ensure he is getting lots of fluids.

He is now one healthy young cat, 3 years old, healthy as a damn horse, and so loving. Bear is one special cat.

east

 

They become addicted and suffer from tolerance and whatever can happen like we humans do. My dog was on opiates for over a year, they wanted us to stop CT. We did not do that. And still she was in withdrawal. So, same for benzos, I assume.

[[ea...]]

Oh dear. They  wanted to CT a dog on opiates? Excuse my language, but WTF. How awful. Dogs physiology is not that different from ours. I am sure they feel withdrawal symptoms much like we do.

 

Sometimes I think our world has just gone to hell in a handbasket (whatever that old saying means!). Nothing seems right now, the news is filled with horrifying things. That Iran somehow shot down a plane with 173 people on board, most of them Iranian.... how can this sort of thing happen? This was one reason I stopped watching TV way back when I was in benzo wd. The horrific stuffjust was too much for me. WAY too much. So much that I did not watch TV for 5 years, no lie.

Tonites news included the plane being shot down,  fires in Australian killing millions of animals and humans, some weird royal ruckus in England, and car wrecks, arrests for child abuse. OMG.

Annie

[[Te...]]

A podiatrist told me he had given his cat Klonopin because he was too fidgety. Well, the poor thing suffered a seizure and died. So sad...

[[Ga...]]

They give cats Prozac  :'(

[[Cu...]]

Everything needs to be taken in context.  My dog developed Dementia which progressed to Alzheimers, when she was about 12 years old.  She had a very compassionate & learned veterinarian.  This Vet had one of her own dogs develop Alzheimers, so she recognized the symptoms when I'd described her odd behavior.  Agitation.  Going upstairs alone, in the middle of the night.  Pacing.  When I'd been @ a neighbors house b/c something I'd eaten had gotten lodged in my throat, I panicked & ran there, hoping they'd be able to give me the heimlich maneuver.  No, but they thought of giving me bread, which must have pushed it down.  I'd left my leftover chicken lo mein, covered in a Mikasa storage dish/bowl on top of the kitchen island, w/a knife, as I'd been cutting it up.  When I'd returned home I saw drops of blood on the kitchen floor & Mikasa storage dish & lid on floor, broken...no chicken in sight.  That's when I realized we had not been broken into (first thought, even though this is a very safe, somewhat secluded community) & that my girl must have done this.  She was always well-behaved & quite dainty.  Not a jumper, nor ever a table-scrap beggar.  She had a drop of blood by her nose; other than that, no injuries, so I was immensely relived, though very troubled over this - it was so unlike her & she could have been hurt.  Amazingly (to me; it was a lot of food for her & she pretty much only ate dog food/snacks), she didn't get an upset stomach later that night or the following day.  -  She was usually by my side, but when this period began, it was more of a clinging to me...hanging on my legs whenever I'd be walking in the house that I was afraid I was going to trip & fall over her.  She was small, though not a "pocket" dog either.  I guess small to medium size, but petite/delicate.  (She looked very much like a fox, though not as small as that.)

 

The vet also recommended to me an animal behaviorist...trouble was, she was a long drive away; one I was not comfortable doing.  This kind empathetic Vet did prescribe my furry little girl ativan - my own benzo.  I had been prescribed it for pain issues & had not developed tolerance sxs of anxiety, agoraphobia & depression yet.  I did keep her's in a separate cabinet & filled hers w/a different generic brand than my own.  I didn't want to end up forgetting dosing, & possibly, overdosing, either of us.  -  When one of my generics brands had been discontinued, I had troubles w/each of the remaining ones I'd tried...to circumvent those intolerable & dangerous side effects, learned by my own trial & error period of some months that if I took 1/2 of each, they cancelled out each others' side-effects, so physician prescribed both.

 

Ativan was a godsend, allowing my sweet girl to live out remainder of her days in comfort & happily.  Vet was also very understanding that I was alone in this & though I knew from former furry little boy, they will not tell you when it is "time".  They will just say "you will know" & that Is true.  I was just very attuned to my girl & didn't want to put my own needs of wanting her w/me over her own impending further decline & ultimate leaving for "over the Rainbow Bridge".  So, I asked the Vet if she would just assist me in determining.  We would go for appointments just so Vet could evaluate both my girl & me.  And, there were a number of appointments where she said "Neither of you is ready to separate yet".  At my request, she also allowed me to call day of assisting my girl's passage about 15 minutes prior to arrival (office was nearby) so we could enter & go straight into an exam room by the back door of building.  She took a paw print & gave me a lock of her hair (which I would never have had the presence of mind to request).  I wish people physicians displayed even a portion of this Vet's kindly beneficence.

[[Ta...]]

I looked at my news feed the other day and saw legit news stories about dogs and and anxiety. They were treating it like it was a pandemic that needed intervention. What's the solution? My fears are that dog owners will go to the vet and ask for drugs.

 

My first thought was that these stories are being funded and promoted by the pharmaceutical industry. We have seen just how ginormous the pet industry is now and how much businesses exploit pet owners love for their animals. Which as an animal lover I completely understand, but I cannot stand exploitation in the sole name of profit over best interests of animals health.

 

NBC news haas a story on cheaper drugs being produced for dogs: https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/fda-approves-cheaper-meds-dogs-separation-anxiety-n1073966/url]

 

Here is one story from Smithsonian about higher levels of dog anxiety and why:https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/three-quarters-dogs-show-anxiety-related-behaviors-study-finds-180974361//url]

 

Another from medical News today:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/three-quarters-dogs-show-anxiety-related-behaviors-study-finds-180974361//url]