Has anyone had experience of trazodone?

[PixieMcGraw]

I would very much appreciate some advice.
My dog is a lurcher type and very nervous at the vet. He was due boosters and although he wears a muzzle, the vet wasn't able to examine him properly and prescribed trazodone to make him less stressed.
I did that yesterday and today and this morning he was very shaky with head tremors. He was disoriented and placid to the point of total inertia. I had to carry him. 12 hours later and he is still unable to stand properly and won't eat or wee.
I am leaving him to sleep it off but obviously I am reluctant to go down this route again. I am trying desensitisation training but with a nervous dog it is always a work in progress.
The vet didn't seem worried but I was so scared of the tremors and also I worry about how long it is taking him to recover. Is this normal? Has anyone else had experience of trazodone for this purpose?
Thanks so much

I don't have direct experience of the drug but I do have huge experience of severe vet phobia with my last dog.

She was muzzled and our vet was just calm, cool and got on with it! She was jabbed and then examined if he could. He would often jab whilst she wasn't looking. Over the years (she died at 17) we managed to get her to a place where she could have a quick examination and treatment if needed. Any big long looks at things needed a light sedative which wore off quickly. He taught me to do quite a lot of things with her if she needed aftercare (I would still muzzle her even with me as she would bite) and we got by.

Dogs need to be treated sometimes and as much as I am the biggest advocate of force free and consent sometimes it's not possible. By all means work on desensitisation - it can be done. But for a standard vet visit I'd not use something as strong as Trz personally. I'd take a deep breath, get the jab in then see what else the vet can do.

Thanks @Newpeep I had that mindset but my vet had told me that she won't treat him. I think she is used to small dogs and cats. He has always been muzzled in the past and would do a low growl but didn't ever snap. At the previous appointment she only did half the booster vaccinations and so I felt powerless to refuse.
I think I will change vets. His previous one had quite an assertive let's just get on with it then attitude. I think that confidence worked better.
Really appreciate the advice.

Crikey! Yes I would change vets. All the vets in the practice I use treated our dog with no trauma. Like you said assertive, efficient and got the job done. He does not sound as bad as mine was at all.

They did sedate for anything other than routine appointments which I fully agreed with and supported as they needed to take their time but one even managed to do a fine needle biopsy on her with speed and precision whilst we held her.

Ours always said they felt safe with her as we were well aware of her issues, and she wore a well fitting muzzle and we knew how to hold her. He said that it was the dogs he was told were 'fine' or the owner refused to muzzle that were the bigger problem.

Yes @Newpeep I am so safety conscious. I know my dog and can read his body language. I will change vets.
I took him super slowly to the park 2 mins away and he did some unsteady wees and ate some food. He has had full sedation before and was fine after a few hours.
Thanks so much for sharing your experience.

Hey, my elderly dog got prescribed trazadone, the dose they said firstly, my god it knocked him out! I felt awful, he could barely function for close to 24 hours, next time he had it I halved the dose and it had the desired effect, chill but still able to walk around. Maybe look at the dose?

My dog had trazadone for a vet visit before and was completely able to walk there (5 mins) and back again afterwards. Barely any recovery needed. She was calmer at the vets, it seemed enough to be effective, so it's possible there was too high a dose prescribed or perhaps your dog is sensitive to it. Either way, I think the attitude and understanding of the vet is just as important and you're right to have a chat with some other surgeries

Your poor doggy. Mine had trazodone combined with gabapentin for a vet visit and it was one of the worst things I’ve done for her. She was drowsy and this only heightened her fear as she obviously felt she couldn’t defend herself. I couldn’t even get near her to get her out of the car. It wore off later that day.

never again!!

Perhaps your boy has had a higher dose, or maybe some dogs are more susceptible than others.

I am quite surprised reading these responses. I recently gave my dog trazadone and gabapentin for a vet visit and I couldn’t really see any difference in her. Maybe she was on a lower dose. I was quite disappointed that it didn’t really seem to chill her out she seemed mostly just her usual self

Hi @Purplturpl I can't remember the dosage but it was one tablet 12 hours before and then another 2 hours before.
He is back to mostly normal, more sleepy than usual but he is fairly lazy anyway.
It was the head tremors that scared me. He looked neurologically disturbed. If I were to do it again, I would half the dose. Vet still insisted on muzzle and me holding him so not quite sure what the point of it was. I was just trying it out as he needs a dental. I'll probably just pay for sedation because that has worked fine in the past although pricey.
Thanks so much for everyone's help!

by sedation do mean they just bring dog in and inject in the bum and that’s them out cold?
I am a first time dog owner so just getting used to it all. But I think this is a good option. Not sure why it not suggested more often? I suppose risks associated with it? And they feel like they should do cheaper option first?

My springer spaniel had it for several years for firework phobia and he was very calm on 5 November and New Year's Eve.