Giving George his medication was getting to be a real struggle. In an attempt to improve his appetite, we weaned him off Fluoxetine over 3 weeks to try another SSRI (Sertraline).
His appetite had started to improve with reducing the Fluoxetine and now it has hugely improved. In fact, I'd say he seems to be starving most of the time…
Giving him his medication is now a dream, and training and pattern games are so much easier.
We're coming up to 2 weeks on the Sertraline. He doesn't appear to have experienced any side-effects yet.
We have had a huge increase in reactions though - nearly double the amount last week.
It's hard to tell whether this is due to not having the support from the Fluoxetine or a change in circumstances due to some dogs moving in close by…or both.
He is on very high alert in the area outside the house (this started before the new dog neighbours moved in). He hyperventilates and can’t listen to me at all. It's quite distressing to see.
I hadn't seen any big improvements with Fluoxetine but maybe it was providing more support than I realised. I need to talk to the VB about perhaps providing him with some additional support during the Sertraline loading period.
Sertraline is similar to Fluoxetine and can take 6-8 weeks to show effect, although they advised it might not take as long given the two medications work in similar ways.
George's current medications are:
Mornings: 300mg Clonidine, 200mg Gabapentin
Evenings: 12.5mg Sertraline, 300mg Clonidine, 100mg Gabapentin, Loxicom
The Clonidine has been really helpful with his noise sensitivity and reactivity in the car. I am hesitant to make any changes with those.
I think the Gabapentin and/or Loxicom help with potential pain - he has seemed more sprightly and playful since starting these.
If the Sertraline will help, it's too early to tell. But he seems to be struggling a bit more at the moment.
For grooming visits, he gets an additional 200mg Gabapentin in the morning, plus the Sileo gel. It still barely hits the sides once we are out of the house though.
I am very pleased that his appetite has returned as that was making things difficult. But we still have some way to go to finding the best combination of support. Watch this space.