It Really Was Our Last Resort....
and I really hope it works.
We made the decision to put Savanna on a prescription called "Clomicalm." The decision was not an easy one and we're still cautiously optimistic. I read all the information supplied to us so the decision was as informed as we felt it could possibly be.
I know you're probably reading this thinking "How awful! How selfish they must be to medicate a dog just so it doesn't inconvenience them!" If you truly are thinking that then you are seriously misinformed and you obviously have not been reading my journal and all the issues we've had with Savanna lately.
We honestly tried everything. The DAP (dog appeasing pheromone) diffuser was in use all the time. That didn't help. The Quiet Moments calming tablets were used for several days at a time to keep her calm and they didn't work. Mostly because they were to be administered when we knew there was a stressful situation coming up. The problem was.... we didn't know what Savanna would define as a stressful situation. Any number of things could set her off and sometimes one thing would and the next time that very same thing would have no impact on her. The Rescue Remedy, from my viewpoint, did absolutely nothing.
We were at our wits end. I really feel like we tried everything - every natural or herbal remedy and nothing worked.
And yes, in case you're wondering, we could deal with a nervous dog. We could deal with the pacing and the antsy behavior and the fidgeting. What we couldn't deal with was the constant look of fear in her eyes. We couldn't deal with the bouts of vomiting and diarrhea. We didn't want this to progress into something more serious - IPSID, inflammatory bowel disease, stomach ulcers.
We did it because if we didn't, her condition and behavior would have gotten out of control and she would have ended up making herself sicker and sicker.
In my opinion, Clomicalm is a temporary thing. It's to be used in conjunction with behavior modification. We are going to research that so that when she's finally able to go off the medication, she will have new behaviors she can employ and no longer be that scared little dog she has become.
If Clomicalm works, I don't feel that we're drugging up our dog. I feel that we're helping her realize a quality of life that she has lost since we moved.
Please, instead of judging us, wish us and Savanna some good luck.
We made the decision to put Savanna on a prescription called "Clomicalm." The decision was not an easy one and we're still cautiously optimistic. I read all the information supplied to us so the decision was as informed as we felt it could possibly be.
I know you're probably reading this thinking "How awful! How selfish they must be to medicate a dog just so it doesn't inconvenience them!" If you truly are thinking that then you are seriously misinformed and you obviously have not been reading my journal and all the issues we've had with Savanna lately.
We honestly tried everything. The DAP (dog appeasing pheromone) diffuser was in use all the time. That didn't help. The Quiet Moments calming tablets were used for several days at a time to keep her calm and they didn't work. Mostly because they were to be administered when we knew there was a stressful situation coming up. The problem was.... we didn't know what Savanna would define as a stressful situation. Any number of things could set her off and sometimes one thing would and the next time that very same thing would have no impact on her. The Rescue Remedy, from my viewpoint, did absolutely nothing.
We were at our wits end. I really feel like we tried everything - every natural or herbal remedy and nothing worked.
And yes, in case you're wondering, we could deal with a nervous dog. We could deal with the pacing and the antsy behavior and the fidgeting. What we couldn't deal with was the constant look of fear in her eyes. We couldn't deal with the bouts of vomiting and diarrhea. We didn't want this to progress into something more serious - IPSID, inflammatory bowel disease, stomach ulcers.
We did it because if we didn't, her condition and behavior would have gotten out of control and she would have ended up making herself sicker and sicker.
In my opinion, Clomicalm is a temporary thing. It's to be used in conjunction with behavior modification. We are going to research that so that when she's finally able to go off the medication, she will have new behaviors she can employ and no longer be that scared little dog she has become.
If Clomicalm works, I don't feel that we're drugging up our dog. I feel that we're helping her realize a quality of life that she has lost since we moved.
Please, instead of judging us, wish us and Savanna some good luck.