Cole is a tough muscular Pit mix who is a COMPLETE baby when it comes to having his nails trimmed. Our vet confidently said she could do it and came out looking a little shaken after one paw. She recommended we give him a Trazadone the night before we wanted to trim his toes and then 2 a little before the actual trim (with a Dremel tool).
Well, that didn’t work. In about half an hour he was staggering all over the place, wild-eyed, totally disoriented, couldn’t settle, kept bumping into our other dog. Poor guy. I guess we’ll try pepperoni and time. No more Trazadone. Maybe Benadryl?
I recall giving Pluto Trazodone a few years ago on vet recommendation before attempting home nail trimming (this was during his juvenile delinquent post-puppy days) and it barely had a noticeable effect on him. We had to use tequila instead.*
For cats, you can buy a sling thing with four leg holes where the beast is hung helpless on a hook and supposedly offers no resistance. I wonder if a big dog sized one would work?
My lab (long gone now, sadly) had to have minor surgery. I don’t know what they gave her, but when I got her home, she sat with head cocked in front of a potted tree, listening raptly to its leafy wisdom. And she could only walk in reverse. Someone came to the door, and she barked and trotted backward until she hit a wall. Took her out to do her business, and she backed down the steps.
I wonder what goes on in their heads when they’re tripping. Ask Cole. The look in his eyes says he’s somewhere else.
Back when burpo (Actual name=PJ) was still around, she had to have knee surgery. She was plenty blotto on the way home but we got her in the house, where she laid on the carpet — right eye staring way off to the right, left eye to the left, not seeming to know where she was. After a half hour of this, I snapped my fingers in front of her face, calling her name loudly. The eyes slid back to center (kind of creepy), she shook her head to clear it (I guess) and was AOK from then on.
Was this after the night-before dose, or the other dose?
What does giving them some the night before accomplish? I get anxiety meds in advance for humans if you’re nervous and could have trouble sleeping, but why would it help here?
I’ve at least twice known cats to react in reverse, or sideways, to tranquilizers.
We moved my mother’s two cats from Florida to New York. The vet. gave her tranquilizers to give them for the airline flight – but gave her two doses for each, with a recommendation to try them at home first. We did that. One cat went to sleep (which he might have done anyway.) The other cat started staggering around the house because her legs didn’t work right – but was clearly very untranquil and upset by this.
We didn’t give the meds for the flight. We did the other cat; but it took him about two years to forgive me anyway, though it’s hard to tell how much of that was about the flight and how much of it about having been torn from his home and taken to, from his point of view, some other planet entirely.
I also had a vet. give me tranquilizers to give two half-grown kittens who had just been spayed and neutered, so they wouldn’t bounce around too much. The female kitten became extra bouncy. (Her stitches stayed in, though.)
I had a foster who had a bad reaction to trans. He didn’t like the nail trim either.
If he has been mine I would just cut one at a time a home over the course of a few days when he was relaxed but the shelter peeps did these regular check up things and nail trim were on the list. He fought 3 big vet techs tooth and nail, as it were.
They come tell me they gave him a tranq and it was gonna take time. I was to leave and come back a hour later and they would be all done.
He was a big tall shepherdy type. A sweet lovey. With a fear issue. I was working getting him less fearful and shy so he could be forever homed.
I pick up a sleepy, spaced out, had no clue who, what, where he was.
Get him on the back seat. On his side, we start home.
Half way I started hearing a low rumble. An occasional yip.
I see the hound of the Baskerville in my rearview mirror. Green flashing eyes, a snarl, bared teeth.
I was actually kinda scared he was gonna attack me.
I kept talking, quietly about his ball-ball and doggy treats.
Get home. I open the back door. Standing behind the door.
He wouldn’t get out.
I wasn’t fixin’ to pull him out. I left the car door open in the garage. I went in and put things away. Come back to the car. No doggy.
I look in the corner of the garage. Hound of the Baskerville had turned to a drooling rabid looking half wolf, half chupacabra, crouched waiting to attack.
Mean drunk. We’ve all seen them.
Always crying, apologetic weepers-creepers afterwards.
I told him after that there would be no more substance use at my house.
He got his ball-ball and treats when he felt better.
Our German Shepherd can’t tolerate the dremel tool. Just the sound of the motor near her terrifies her. She’s learned to barely tolerate claw clippers.
Try having the person doing the clipping just use a clipper. It’s faster and doesn’t sound like a miniature vacuum cleaner monster.
Sometimes the place we go to will use the dremel briefly after the clippers to smooth out the edges, but our dog hates it so much that it’s not worth the trouble.
Are we far enough in for a nitpick? Trazadone is not LSD but a serotonin receptor antagonist and reuptake inhibitor (SARI) antidepressant. However,
In some cases, trazodone use has correlated with visual hallucinations. Hallucinations generally resolve with the discontinuation of trazodone, and clinicians should switch the patient to another antidepressant medication.[22] Before initiating trazodone, obtain a personal and family history of bipolar disorder. Trazodone-induced mania has been reported.[23] Bleeding risk is a potential complication associated with trazodone, although the risk is lower than with other antidepressants.[24]
Believe me, I am fully aware that trazadone is not LSD (although I’ve never tried trazadone…). Twas a joke. He wasn’t acting stoned or drunk–dog be tripping!
The problem with the clipper is that Cole has black nails, so you can’t see where the quick is. When the vet did it, she quicked him and he’s so terrified that I think it’s happened to him before. And he wiggles so much I’d be afraid of grabbing too much nail. We’ll see how it goes. We gave him some Benadryl, which in the past just made him sleepy. No more trazadone!
Utter fail. He turns into 50# of fear and muscle. Got his dewclaws at least. Might have to take him to Petsmart. He scratched the shit out of our coffee table…
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