How to help labrador's trauma at the vets

[shockthemonkey]

Sorry if that sounds dramatic. She is having a course of injections to help with her arthritic elbow, and she has been so much sounder and happier since having them.

The trouble is the actual injections. The liquid is very viscous, it's deep intramuscular, the needle is thick and there is a fair bit of pushing to get the syringe to go in.

She hates it and today cried a lot - literally nearly screamed the place down. I will do anything I can to help make her next jab (due in ten days' time) a little more bearable for her. By now the whole going to the vets thing has her trembling of course and I'm not much better myself

Someone mentioned Rescue Remedy saying it might work on dogs. Can anyone corroborate, or have other ideas? I am open to all sorts of suggestions. If I can't make this better for her I might go totally radical like elbow prothesis as I cannot see her this traumatised again. She's adorable, very emotional and sensitive.

Thanks so much

Look at the bucket game by Chirag Patel. This is where the dog gives consent to husbandry and treatment. What has been found is that giving dogs the choice of consent they are obviously more in control and less stressed. It teaches dogs that they have control over a situation. It is very powerful and a game changer.

In my opinion all dogs should be taught this

There are several steps but you can get the links from step 1

Oh OP that’s awful. Is it a long course? If not could they prescribe a sedative to help?

Thank you both so much, Wolfiefan and Polly. I am excited to see the bucket game but am pretty convinced she'd be likely to withhold her consent given the chance.

I am about to call the vet Wolfie, he totally understands we can't do this to her again.

The course is one injection a week for a month (so four injections - we've just done the third...), then begin to space them out until you get one injection every three months maybe even less frequent.

She's had arthroscopy and it was nothing like this traumatic for her. Of course it was boring being on strict rest but I'd do all that again if necessary (a total joint replacement is the next option if she can't be helped but the jabs are working so well...)

I really appreciate your suggestions and your thoughts. It's so tough on them when you can't explain why you're allowing them to be hurt

Rescue remedy can help nervous dogs. I sometimes put it I. The dogs water bowl. But I'm not sure it would be massively helpful in this situation. I would be asking for a sedative for all future injections!

Good luck OP. I’m guessing stuff like hydro, Bowen or acupuncture wouldn’t help?

Use Rescue Remedy Night as it has no alcohol. If she’s like my lab, I just dropped it on a treat and he ate it. Have not used it for a long time but it was helpful. Depending on her weight, about 1/2 the human dose. Maybe start with less to see how it affects her.

Ask about Librela less injections needed.

Thank you again. The bucket game looks great and it will work for her ear-cleaning, but not the arthritis jabs sadly.

I gave her Rescue Remedy yesterday evening and will give it again the next appointment, but will also make sure she gets a sedative too! Am just waiting for a call back from the vet to discuss it all.

Oh and I will ask about Librela too, thanks Polly!

The update is that her fourth injection was a breeze! She went with my friend, she stayed in the car until they were ready for her (so no time to get stressed in the waiting room), the vet put a local anaesthetic in before each jab, and she didn't move or make a sound!

I also gave her a painkiller a few hours before, and a few drops of Bach Rescue Remedy. Since I'll never know which (if any) of those measures were superfluous, I'll be doing exactly the same next time (good news is that she's not due back until a month from now).

Thanks everyone for your advice!

What a great update!

Great update OP.

Can I ask what the injection is? My lab is 13 and had arthritis in one elbow.

Thank you! Going to pay for it today so will come back on to tell you the name of the vaccine. Seems crazy I don't know but the vet doesn't give much away here! It will surely be on my bill though ;-)

Thank you

And my first post should have said has arthritis in one elbow not had!

The product name is Ara beta (written Ara followed by beta sign) 61. Don't know if the 61 is significant (is it the dosage???).

Below is some blurb - basically saying it can be used in the early stages of arthritis, or in later stages after other treatments have failed to help.

The product is a concoction of copolymeres of essential fatty acids and it acts on the vascular and cellular stages of inflammation. I hope it helps other people's dogs, and if you have a bit of French here it is in more detail:

Propriété de l’ARA 3000 Béta
Le produit est un assemblage de copolymères d’acide gras essentiels : Acide oléique 43,75 mg, Acide palmitique 27,00 mg, Acide stéarique 20,00 mg pour une seringue de 5ml de produit. L’ara 3000 beta agit sur les phases principales de l’inflammation résultant du développement de l’arthrose au sein d’une articulation : la phase vasculaire et la phase cellulaire. Il calme la douleur et draine l’articulation. Ce produit coupe le cercle auto-entretenu de la crise arthrosique en bloquant l’afflux et la persistance des macrophages et lymphocytes (cellules pro-inflammatrices) dans l’articulation. De ce fait, l’inflammation de la membrane synoviale n’est plus entretenue et cet équilibre persiste pendant plusieurs mois après la mise en place du protocole.

Il présente une parfaite innocuité hépatique et rénale contrairement aux anti-inflammatoires conventionnels.

Protocole de traitement
Deux protocoles sont disponibles :

– Gestion précoce de l’arthrose = 3 injections à une semaine d’intervalle, 1 injection de renforcement 1 mois après (pas systématique, dépend du cas) puis maximum une injection d’entretien tous les 6 mois.

– Gestion tardive de l’arthrose (après échec d’autre traitement ou en présence d’une arthrose déjà bien évoluée) = 4 injections à 4 jours d’intervalle puis une injection de renforcement à un mois puis 1 injection tous les 3 mois maximum en entretien.

Totally hepatic and renal-safe, too - unlike conventional anti-inflammatories

Thank you so much @shockthemonkey.

Just as a quick update, DLab is now on Librela, thanks SO much Polly.

She is happy and active again, and both DH and I are ecstatic.

She's just had her second jab as she was beginning to limp a bit more.

Librela all the way for us now