Vet Rec For An Extremely Fearful Greyhound?

[JJNg]

I'll preface this by saying that I don't have any personal experience with the vets I'm going to mention, and I don't know how greyhound savvy they are. However, coming from a behavioral standpoint, I did a search on the AVSAB (American Veterinary Society for Animal Behavior) website for vets who are members. Being a member of AVSAB does not guarantee expertise, but does at least show an interest in behavior.

 

I personally am appalled at the image of 4 people holding down a dog who is screaming, thrashing, urinating, and defecating just to remove 2 staples. There are so many alternatives, and I feel that forceful handling like this should almost never be necessary in the vet clinic. A pet's response in the vet clinic is often very dependent on how they are approached and handled. Sometimes it is more effective to use less restraint and more distraction. Every individual case is different, and I'm sure there will be challenges I have not come across yet, but in 7 years of vet practice, I have never had to forcefully restrain a scared dog like that.

 

Anyway, back to the point of the post. In searching the AVSAB site for members who are also in general practice, I came across these 2 vet practices that may be worth considering. Before making any decisions, I would strongly recommend you call and talk to them, explain your situation and your dog's temperament, and see how they respond to your concerns.

 

Dr. Sue Ellen Mowcomber at Family Pet Mobile Veterinary Services servicing North Central MA. Not sure if she services your area, but might be worth calling and asking even if she's out of your area. She may be able to point you to someone she'd recommend.

 

Dr. Tracy Carreiro at Acoaxet Veterinary Clinic in Westport, MA.

 

Even if these vets are not grey savvy, if they are willing to learn, they may be good options if they can help address your girl's behavioral issues.

 

You mentioned having used animal behaviorists, but have you consulted with any veterinary behaviorists? If you're interested in considering this option to work with your girl's issues, there are a couple of good veterinary behavior specialists in your area: Dr. Linda Aronson at PetShrink in Berlin, MA, as well as The Behavior Clinic at Tufts Vet School.

 

Finally, regarding the use of Xanax - I'm wondering if you used a 0.5 mg dose? Xanax comes in 0.25, 0.5, 1 and 2 mg tablets. If you gave her 0.5 mg, that's a very low dose for a greyhound. An average 60-lb dog can safely be given 2-3 mg of Xanax. However, while an anti-anxiety med like this may help take the edge off, it's probably not going to be a 'magic bullet' that allows her to accept being handled calmly. It will likely still take a lot of patience and gentle approaches to accomplish what needs to be done. However, if the dog is so bad that she can't be handled in a relatively low-stress way even with oral medication, I wouldn't hesitate to use a strong enough injectable sedative to completely knock her out if necessary.

[Saffron]

OP, I just tried to send you a PM but it didn't go through. You can email me through my profile, I think, or post an email address here so that I can give more info, if you want.

 

My vet is on vacation this week and is a long way from you (Ayer, MA), but I highly recommend her for working with my vet phobic hound. He used to go into a blind panic at being restrained, having his nails touched, and out-of-his-tiny-mind at the very thought of a needle. Fighting, snapping, struggling -- a danger to himself let alone any vet or vet tech. Otherwise a sweet if rather anxious guy. He is a bit better now, but we still live in fear of emergencies.

 

In the short term, as the presenting problem is the bandage, is there any way you can you muzzle your girl and try to soak the dressing off gently? Have her stand in water, gently soak the edges, perhaps loosen it a bit so she gets it off herself? I'm assuming that it is healed under there enough for soaking and that there are no stitches or staples to remove?

 

In the long-term, you really do need a vet behaviorist and a good vet close to you for a desensitization program. Tufts may be your best bet for that. It is a case of carefully assessing and monitoring any drugs you use. Dogs can react differently to the different drugs. Caesar is on Clomicalm, but we have also used Alprazolam.

 

Re. Desensitization, we also used a good rewards-based trainer and had private lessons just to get my guy used to handling by a stranger with no threat of treatment. Clicker training does seem to help rewire the brain, somehow. We also had almost weekly social visits at the vet. It was a long and very slow protocol that I can describe in detail but don't have time now.

 

Hope this helps.

[Guest LindsaySF]

I personally am appalled at the image of 4 people holding down a dog who is screaming, thrashing, urinating, and defecating just to remove 2 staples. There are so many alternatives, and I feel that forceful handling like this should almost never be necessary in the vet clinic. A pet's response in the vet clinic is often very dependent on how they are approached and handled. Sometimes it is more effective to use less restraint and more distraction. Every individual case is different, and I'm sure there will be challenges I have not come across yet, but in 7 years of vet practice, I have never had to forcefully restrain a scared dog like that.

 

Finally, regarding the use of Xanax - I'm wondering if you used a 0.5 mg dose? Xanax comes in 0.25, 0.5, 1 and 2 mg tablets. If you gave her 0.5 mg, that's a very low dose for a greyhound. An average 60-lb dog can safely be given 2-3 mg of Xanax. However, while an anti-anxiety med like this may help take the edge off, it's probably not going to be a 'magic bullet' that allows her to accept being handled calmly. It will likely still take a lot of patience and gentle approaches to accomplish what needs to be done. However, if the dog is so bad that she can't be handled in a relatively low-stress way even with oral medication, I wouldn't hesitate to use a strong enough injectable sedative to completely knock her out if necessary.

 

X 2

 

I think a higher dose tranquilizer may be needed, and obviously a vet that does things a bit differently. I don't live in your area so I'm sorry I don't have a specific vet to recommend.

 

Is your grey an only dog? Sometimes the mere presence of a second greyhound is calming for them.

Edited June 13, 2012 by LindsaySF