It’s one week today that Rogue has been on the Fluoxitine. Overall, I haven’t noticed much difference. But , there have been some small things that I have noticed, it’s just not consistently. Every once in a while, Rogue will be watching me, but it’s not with the hard intense stare, it’s a little softer. I would love to see that expression more often!
The other thing that I’m really happy with is that sometimes she seems to be doing a little better with Zoe. Once my husband even remarked that she had walked up to Zoe and then turned around and walked away. I know that may not sound like much, but for Rogue that’s progress. I really hope that as she feels less anxiety that the tension between them lessens too!
I also tried the Alprazolam this Monday. I was taking Twist and Raven down to Parowan to go herding for the last time this year, and thought that I’d take Rogue along just for the trip, not to herd. I gave her 1/2 a tablet two hours before we got there, but when I got her out of the car, she was just as anxious as she always is. I can think of a couple of reasons for this. In the consult it said that I should repeat the 1/2 tablet again a half an hour before the anticipated event, and I forgot to bring the tablets. (The meds can’t work if you don’t remember to bring them along to give to her.) The other thing could be that the 1/2 tablet was the low dosage, and she said that we may need to experiment with that to see what she needs. So…I got some good information to work with if nothing else. I was hoping to try this again this Thurs. when Raven and Zoe’s agility class is scheduled, but it got cancelled.
So, that’s about it for the first week…

Glad there is some progress. Did the vet give you a good time frame to know if and when the meds should be fully working?
It takes awhile to get things right even in people so just keep up the meds and make notes. You guys will figure out the dosage and everything will be right with the world.
Big Hugs
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Christy,
If I’m remembering right, I believe she said as long as 8 weeks before you would assess that a treatment was working or not. Maybe they will reassess dosages before that time, but I’m not sure.
Lora,
Yep, that’s for sure. My husband and several of my really close friends are all on medication for anxiety, and or depression and it takes time, but it’s well worth the wait.
I know with humans it can take a while to really kick in, I look forward to the updates on how she is!
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Oh that’s great progress! I know what you mean when you say “that may not sound like much.” But it is! Sometimes I get frustrated because I notice some small progress in Ace and no one else can see it, and they’ll make some comment like, “Oh, he’s still doing that, huh?”
Yeah I get frustrated sometimes by comments people make about Rogue. Like our friends came over last Sunday and Rogue still did some reactive barking at him as he got up and moved from room to room getting a cup of coffee. He said: “I thought she was on medication now.”
That’s exactly what I mean!