Fluoxetine/Prozac for dogs - has anyone had experience of this med with their dog?

[MyheartgoingBoomBoomBoom]

We have an (almost) 3 year old rescue dog.

He has been with us for just over a year. It has been a very tough year.

Our poor dog was a victim of abuse for the first year of his life. He was taken into the rescue and was rehomed but unfortunately was too much for the adoptive couple and they returned him after 3 months.

We love him dearly and have tried many, many things to help him with his issues. He has high anxiety and lots of every day things scare the life out of him. He was not socialised as a puppy but crated for most of his first year and was unaware there was an outside world, this has obviously attributed to his anxiety.

As we’ve worked with him he has improved in several areas but we still have a long way to go. We have seen 3 behaviourist all of whom have given conflicting advice but we are now sticking with the third one.

I have purchased virtually all of the off the shelf ‘natural’ remedies recommended for anxious dogs, (Plug ins, tablets, drops, CBD oil etc). At best they haven’t worked and at worst have given him an upset tummy or made him vomit.

I can no longer afford to keep spending so much money of things which are not helping at all.

The vet has suggested Fluoxetine/Prozac and as much as I didn’t want to go down the pharmaceutical route I feel we just can not fully work with his training without something to take the edge off his anxiety. It is so hard training a dog whilst it is in a height state of arousal, he just will not listen or concentrate.

I am not, of course, expecting a miracle and will continue to fully implement all the things the behaviourist is suggesting we do but feel we have reached this point of needing something to help. Life has not been easy this last year and we are all rather frazzled tbh.

Has anyone had experience of this drug for their dog? Did it help at all?

Btw, I have had dogs in my life for over 40 years and was a dog walker for 5 years so do have a lot of experience but our dog’s anxiety/behaviour is on a whole other level to anything I have had experience of before.

It is best used with the backing and guidance of a vet behaviourist. Alongside a good behavioural plan I have seen loads of positives cases. It is not a quick fix and dogs can be weird on it to start with and need extra care.

Our rescue dog is on Fluoxetine and it has definitely helped her. We have tried to wean her off it it several times but so far we haven't be able to manage her behaviour without it. She had a similar start to your dog, crated for the first 10 months of her life and had no experience of the wider world. We also had three behaviourists and she just couldn't focus on anything until she started on the Fluoxetine, I would definitely give it a try and see if helps. It's not a magic bullet though, just takes the edge off so that they can start to concentrate.
Good luck with your dog.

IngGenius unfortunately I can not afford a vet behaviourist they are just too expensive, we are working with our behaviourist and our vet who are both onboard with the idea of us trying the fluoxetine whilst continuing working with the behaviourist. I have done some research and see that some dogs can become worse on it so will definitely monitor him closely, as I have done with everything we have tried so far.

PAW326 that is encouraging and that’s exactly what why I’m now considering the meds, looking for something to take the edge off in the hope it will make him a little more receptive to the training.

Quite a few human anti-depressant SSRI's that can be used to treat anxiety also have increased anxiety as one of early side effect that usually pass within first couple weeks, though this can be minimised if start on lowest dose possible then gradually increase to desired/effective dose.

I don't have any experience of this so no advice but I am just looking at my dog sleeping in the sunshine and wanted to say thank you to you and everyone who takes on and cares for a rescue dog.

I tried it for my anxious dog, it made her anxiety worse and she completely lost her appetite. I tried to push through in the hope that the side effects would fade, but she literally stopped eating anything, and was already on the slim side, so I stopped giving it to her. It took a few weeks for her to get back to her normal (anxious) self. The vet had a different drug in mind, but to be honest after that stress of her not eating, I haven't been brave enough to try another drug just yet.

A veterinary behaviourist should be covered by your insurance.

ScattyHattie I am going to start low and slow, I’ve done that myself with antidepressants and found that to be an easier transition.

saveforthat I’d love to say it’s been a rewarding experience but sadly, so far, it’s has been very difficult. We won’t give up on him though.

wandawaves I have been doing some research and see that a big dip in appetite seems to be very common, I’m going to start him on a low dose and work our way up in the hole this will help somewhat with side effects 🤞

margotrose Sadly, our insurance doesn’t cover it.

It costs us about £30 for two months supply directly from the vet. You can get a written prescription and buy it from a pharmacy instead but it doesn't work out much cheaper for us.
It's really, really hard having an anxious dog. I hope it helps your dog and you can make some progress.

The aim of the medication is to use it alongside a behavioural plan which would then hopefully lead up to the dog coming off the medication.

It is not really a medication for life.

Money is a big issue at the moment for most of us however in the long run getting the correct advice now may work out cheaper in the long run. ( reading that sentence back it sounds patronising that was not my intention I hope you get my drift!)

Thanks PAW326, I hope it will help us whilst we work with the behaviourist.

IngGenius as I have explained in my post we are working with a behaviourist (he has worked in this field for 30+ years and is voted one of the top 3 in our area, he offers special discounts for owners of rescues otherwise we wouldn’t be able to afford yet another behaviourist).
I have no intention of keeping our dog on meds long term but it will hopefully enable us to continue working with our behaviourist as we have been but in a calmer manner.
All the vet behaviourists I have contacted charge £600+ and £200+ for follow ups, I absolutely can not afford that, it’s totally out of the question.

I know I am banging on but there will be a huge difference in the quality of advice and outcome in a dog that is being treated by a vet behaviourist than a general (probably) not trained behaviourist.

You have already wasted time and money on seeing three behaviourist with no improvement........get the qualified advice from a professional (especially if using medication) and the situation will be very very different. Giving the medication on its own is unlikely to make a lasting change.

Qualified behaviourists need to have a level 5 MSc qualification in relevant subject. Anyone else has just worked with dogs or is a trainer.

I do appreciate your advice IngGenius but when I say I have no money to pay for a vet behaviourist, I literally mean it.
I lost my job 3 months ago and have just started up my own small business. It’s not a case that I am trying other avenues such as trainers/behaviourist to keep costs down, I literally have no current means to fund a vet behaviourist (or anyone else atm), they charge a tremendous amount of money which I do not have (and even if I could scrape up the money there still no guarantee the outcome will be advantageous).

I must add that the third behaviourist is highly recommended and has been voted one of the top 3 behaviourists in our area. He doesn’t rip people off and charged us £50 for a 3 hours visit because our dog is a rescue. We wish to continue he with him for the time being, we have only been working with him a month or two.

IF I were to miraculously conjure up money for a vet behaviourist I would literally be plucking them out from the internet because we have none that are local to us. There would be no guarantees with them either and would possibly mean being be £500+ out of pocket (some I’ve seen charge £2000 per visit!).

Hello @MyheartgoingBoomBoomBoom sorry to hear of the horrible start your dog has had in his life. He is lucky to have you being so willing to help him.

My 3 year old dog (not a rescue!) has been put on prozac 4 months ago because he's super super anxious. This was by a vet behaviourist (our insurance covers it, Many Pets) and it has really made a difference. He used to go on barking sprees if he saw a dog he didn't know, or if a dog walked past our garden, or if he heard something outside and they could easily last over half an hour until he was exhausted. Nothing we did could stop his barking fits, like you said, he couldn't be distracted in any way whatsoever once he was aroused by the trigger.

However, while it hasn't been a miracle cure it HAS made a huge difference to our lives. He still is reactive the same way, but, we can snap him out of it really quickly and it lasts 1-2 minutes instead of 30. He can now be distracted or calmed down and it's really helped us feel more in control and not see him get so distressed.

As pp says insurance may cover it. Vets don’t prescribe fluoxetine now it has to be the dog version which is reconcile. It’s much more pricey so you need it covered by insurance. My vet made me use a vet behaviouralist who frankly was shit but did prescribe it. With (a lot of ) training it sorted his separation anxiety and settled him in the house. Had no effect outside the house and so I have just adjusted to that . But I had to be able to leave him!

I’m on my last tub of the current batch and thinking of weaning him off after fireworks are over.

@IngGenius what is the thinking behind a dog not staying on it for life ? I will try to wean him because I think he may still be ok with the SA, but if he slipped back then he would be on it for life, no question. I can’t go through that again .

If I were to get another rescue, quite honestly I wouldn’t use a behaviouralist again. She had such a bad effect on me I had to take anti depressants as well. It all seemed so hopeless . A trainer helped me a lot more to work with and enjoy the dog I have rather than make him into something he will never be .

I’ve just weaned myself off which is why I thinking he might be able to.

I could never tolerate SA again , even though I know it’s fixable. So I don’t know if I’d get a dog again. I’m single so it was absolutely awful. But the medication helped quite quickly as previously I couldn’t leave him even with someone he knew. Then I just followed the Julie Nailsmith plan. She is excellent and very helpful . Unlike my vet behaviouralist!

Sorry to post so many times but this has been my life the last couple of years, I just wanted to add that 8 months after adoption was when I saw the vet behaviouralist and both me and the dog ended up on medication!. I’m 2 years into adoption now and it’s much better. He’s the same really, I can’t walk him most places but have 2/3 walks he likes. The trainer I saw after the vb has really helped me recognise who my dog is and what he needs rather than trying to make him the dog I wanted.

He recently got more difficult to walk (he has stages like this) so I’ve dropped to one walk a day (sometimes just 10 mins) and this has had the effect of making him so happy - lots of goofiness and massive garden zoomies which I haven’t seen before .

I think a nervous rescue is a slow burn..!

@MyheartgoingBoomBoomBoom same that's why I suggested as my GP never considered this when prescribing so likely general vet wouldn't either and go for effective start dose ( a common issue with gabapentin in dogs so has bad rep for side effects). It was awful on top of the anxiety I was needing the meds for till halved dose and titrated myself so can easily imagine jacking it in before its even had long enough in system to become helpful. It maybe like SSRIs in humans though that not all suit you, but not sure have as many options in vetmed. There's probably a vet behaviourist specialist/CPDs that your vet can draw advice for medication side at least.

Lowering the base level anxiety puts you in much better place to work on behaviour therapy, it's so hard to overcome even when you have the human logic to know the fight/flight/freeze alarm is over sensitive and there wasn't any risk to be worried about.

@Taylorscat your probably best doing a long slow taper over months if plan to wean dog off the meds to see how they cope behaviourally as it decreases and also some people struggle with withdrawal side effects of SSRIs more than others so possibly similar risk in dogs. There's some herbs inc Chamomile & Ashwagandha that can help with anxiety which can use longer term though you'd need to check for interactions with any medications. A canine nutritionist suggested some for my CKD dog as anxiety/stress can negatively impact kidney further.

My vet prescribes Fluoxetine @Taylorscat it's expensive though- £95 a month. (Covered by insurance thankfully) He has 2ml a day. I have no intention of taking him off it when it's been amazing for his anxiety, I'd hate to see him going back into the hysterical anxious dog he was before.

Our vet behaviourst is amazing so I guess they all vary, I'm sorry you had such a poor experience.

Thanks TallulahG, sadly our insurance doesn’t cover any behaviourist treatment but it’s coming to an end soon so I’ll hunt around for one which covers training/behaviourists.

Taylorscat yes, it’s Reconcile which our vet has prescribed. He has had to order them as he wants us to start on a low dose and work our way up to a level which suits and only had the higher dose at the practice. I am truly hoping it will help bring is anxiety down, even just a notch, we have tried literally everything else.
I truly feel for you when you said you ended up on anti d’s due to the behaviourist. I totally understand. No one, literally no one understands what it is to have a super anxious dog until you’ve been there yet everyone else has an opinion on what you should do. I have had dogs all of my life and was a dog walker for over 5 years but this last year is all on a level I have no experience of (and frankly, never want to ever again).
We love our dog and want to give him a great life but putting right the terrible wrongs another human being has done to an innocent animal is bloody hard work. It’s not been an easy year at all.

ScattyHattie we are really lucky with our vet as he wants us to start low and work up, he has been our vet for a while and treated our last dog whilst he battled cancer. He is a great vet and I trust him and his judgements (I don’t trust any of the other vets at the practice but that’s a whole other story!). I am truly hoping it will lower his anxiety to a point where the advice on his behaviour and our training will really start to have an impact 🤞

My vet prescribes it too. And it has had very good results for my dog.

I’m having second thoughts now , maybe I’ll keep him on it ! He’s still nervous. I can’t walk most places and getting him into the vet is essentially dragging a hysterical dog in. (The VB suggested I turn back and go home if he shows any nerves at the vet - that’s how insane the advice was!). Maybe it has helped him outside and I’ve not realised - we are both calm on the walks we do that work…

I have an ex puppy farm rescue adult who has been on it for about 8 months now and will be on it for life… it costs £93 for 21days worth ( she is on 3ml a day). Insurance covers most of it. It helps her settle a lot but isn’t a magic fix. She will never be ‘normal’ and is a lot of hard work but if it wasn’t for the meds she wouldn’t be here anymore. The one she gets is chicken flavour so I can put it on her food, the cheaper one is foul and she has to be pinned down by two people to take it so I stick to the more expensive one. Melatonin also helps.
Behavourists can help a lot but they simply can’t fix a broken dog. My vet often reminds me ‘your dog isn’t a healthy dog and never will be’
It is a lot of hard work but when she is settled and peaceful and cuddled up to me on sofa it makes it worthwhile. She won’t be here for a long time ( I simply won’t be able to cope with her behaviours for the next ten years) but as long as I can cope she will have a home.
Its worth a try OP and hopefully you have your dog insured..