Melatonin

[Lady's mom]

Can someone please give me advice on using melatonin for my dog Lady? She gets horribly upset during heavy rainstorms, fireworks, gunshots, lightning and thunder.

She is about 11 years old, and weighs 35-40 lbs. She takes previcox for arthritis, and occasionally tramadol. She currently is not on any medication for cushing's.

Thanks for whatever advice you can give.

[lulusmom]

My Lulu was on melatonin for a while to see if we could grow her some hair but it didn't work. I gave her the same amount recommended by the University of Tennessee for atypical cushings, which was 3 mg every 12 hours for dogs under 30 lbs. Dogs over 30 lbs should get 6mg every 12 hours.

I was standing in line at Petco the other night and they had Thundershirts hanging in front of the checkstands. I overheard two women talking about how amazing they are so being the nosey person I am, I asked them to tell me just how amazing they are. Apparently their dogs are terrified of thunder, fireworks, cars backfiring, etc. . They said their dogs were much, much calmer with these vests on. I know it sounds very weird but it sounds like it works. I think we have members who can give you their first hand assessment. You can find them on Amazon and you also read the reviews from hundreds of people who have ordered them for their dogs. I always go to Amazon to read reviews. IMO, it's the best and most reliable source.

http://www.amazon.com/Thundershirt-Anxiety-Treatment-Large-Heather/dp/B0028QK6EY

[addy]

http://www.canine-epilepsy-guardian-angels.com/melatonin.htm

This is a link for melatonin and thunder, loud noise phobias.

My Zoe was on melatonin and lignans for her Cushings in the very beginning . The added benefit was she no longer got scared durring thunderstorms.:)

She weighed 18-20 pounds and took 3mgs twice a day. But that dose was to lower her hromones. If you read the link, I think the dose is less for anxiety.

I hope Lady is feeling good otherwise.

hugs,
addy

[Lady's mom]

Lady is still doing great, thanks. For more info, see my cushing's post on how her symptoms have vanished.

I've read about the thunder shirt, but have no experience with them. I'm thinking it has to be put on early enough to work, and that's not always possible.
there are a variety of things that set her off, and it's not always possible to anticipate the situation. I would like to do something for her that " levels out" her anxiety w/o sedating her, or " numbing her down" as it were.