Is This Anxiety? Can I Give Her Something?

[Guest kahjul]

My girl got bit last night by our new grey. It wasn't an aggression thing, they were playing and it got out of hand. Anyways, its not a bad bite, just a small tear. I shaved the area, cleaned the wound and put a bandaid on it, she is wearing the 'comfy' collar of shame. My question is...she's not able to rest. She is constantly licking. She licks whatever part of her she can reach, licks the air, gets up quick, spins around trying to lick, lays back down frustrated, jumps up, licks, spins,...Is this typical anxious behavior? Is there something I can give her to take the edge off?

[WHanson12]

 

One of our girls has storm terrors/anxiety. I give her 6 mg of melatonin which takes the edge off for her & doesn't knock her out or leave her dopey. Per another GreyTalk member, the most effective brand is "Finest" available at Walgreens, which is also what I use.

Your girl sounds so miserable wearing the collar!Is the collar necessary or is the wound in an area that could have a sock taped on instead, hoping she wouldn't tear it off. I try anything first to hopefully avoid using the "lampshade" they hate so much!

[KF_in_Georgia]

It's not typical, and it doesn't sound like typical anxiety. Where's the bite? Her back end? Try no band-aid, on the grounds that she might be conscious enough of it to be annoyed.

 

Has she ever worn the collar before? Was she good about it then? If she doesn't have experience with it, it may be stressing her. Have you got a muzzle you can try instead? Or just take off the collar and sit with her for a while, keeping her from licking, but trying to see if she'll calm down?

 

(And how terrible would it be if she licked the wound a bit? That might be less harmful than the stress.)

Edited August 12, 2012 by KF_in_Georgia

[Guest kahjul]

She never was at the track, so she's not a muzzle wearer. I actually did take the collar off-I discovered she can't quite reach it. Its on her butt, above her hip bone, just an inch too far from her reach. She is licking as close to it as she can. The bandaid actually calmed her down some, I think she was freaking out more with the air on it. She seems a bit quieter at the moment-she hasn't gotten up in about 4 minutes. I'm thinking maybe taking her for a car ride. She loves to go bye-bye! Maybe if it only gets her mind off it for a while...

[tbhounds]

I wondered about the bandaid pulling on her hair making her uncomfortable.

[KF_in_Georgia]

In my mischievous childhood, I'd sometimes stick a piece of scotch tape on the cat and watch the cat try to get it off. (And the bow off Christmas presents was always good for a laugh.)

 

I figure a bandaid on a greyhound is probably the nearest thing to tape on the cat...