Better Living Through Medicine

Lucy and I have had a VERY busy past couple of weeks. I've been working on the ethics proposal for my thesis, while Lucy has been mastering Sit, Down, Stay, Crawl, Leave it, Find Lamby, Watch me, and Come for a cuddle! We've made huge progress, and I think before I can get to all the recent good stuff, I have to take a step back and report on how we got here:

• Time
• Patience
• Exposure
• Practice 
• Love 
• Good treats 
• Prozac... 

Luc and I made several trips to the vet within our first two weeks together. The adoption agency recommended a visit within the first month, but as a ridiculously anxious Dog Mom, I took Lucy for her first visit 2 days after adopting her. To be fair to me/rationalize my anxiety, she still had worms and flea bites and was scratching ALL THE TIME. Her paw was infected and she wouldn't stop chewing it. In fact, she was constantly chewing/aggressively biting her paws and her tail and back. We got meds to fight the foot infection and itching and car sickness and worms, and I thought I'd see them for our next annual checkup. But then the anxiety started...

That was when I started this blog--when Lucy's overwhelming hatred of noises in my apartment left her howling for hours every night. Her panic was contagious, and I didn't know what to do. Short of barricading her in my room while BLASTING nature sounds and classical music and a fan, nothing seemed to keep her calm. So back to the vet we went! Luckily, Elemental Vet Services, where I take her, is UH-MAY-ZING. Lucy and I both absolutely love them. 

Even getting a shot can be fun when you
get special attention!

Lots to explore! 

Our second appointment was half consultation about the actual issues and half mini-therapy session for me. Our awesome vet let me process everything that was happening and express ALL of my concerns. At the end, she looked at Lucy and diagnosed her with a "noise phobia" and "dog OCD." When she recommended a combination of behavior training and medication, I was hesitant. This, too, we processed while Lucy ran around and gave everyone in the room tons of affection.

Waiting for the appointment to start, Luc lays down and
holds my foot 

The vet made a very convincing case: 

1. Lucy was clearly in a LOT of distress. And I would be too, the vet explained, if every evening I KNEW (like Lucy "knows") that people were breaking into my house and threatening me and my owner and my owner wasn't doing anything about it!! Her panic and response was a result of her interpretation of the situation: she was hyper-vigilant and detected threat where there wasn't actually threat. Her anxiety and distress was SO high, that my behavior interventions were ineffective. 
2. There is no evidence that taking dogs taking antidepressants does any physical harm. Living in chronic stress, on the other hand? A LOT of evidence that living in terror is a pretty awful thing for your mental AND physical health. 
3. The longer I let her fear continue, the harder it would be to change/the more negative associations she would have with my apartment. 
4. When I asked about other "natural" treatments, the vet pointed out that just because a treatment is "natural" or "organic" doesn't actually make it safe or mean it's been rigorously tested. 

In the end, Luc and I left with prescriptions for Prozac (intended to help lower anxiety and OCD symptoms, but would take about 2-3 weeks to kick in) and Trazadone (intended to provide anxiety relief in the short term). O M G. 

The impact of the Trazadone was immediate. It definitely made her a little tired at first, but not terribly so (and she quickly adjusted). The vet explained that the meds would probably change her behavior from "THERE IS A SOUND IN THE APARTMENT AND SOMEONE IS COMING TO HURT US!" to "Oh, huh, there's a sound in the apartment" which was the perfect description. 

When I took her to my parents' house for our summer vacation, I discontinued the Trazadone (there were no signs of people attempting to break into our house in the evenings, so Luc was nice and calm), but kept her on the Prozac. Something amazing happened.... she stopped itching and scratching and biting herself all the time. I thought maybe it was an environmental allergen to something in Ohio not in Maryland, but when we returned to Columbus and she remained on her Prozac, the itching stayed away. And so did the anxiety (even without the added Trazadone). 

NOT STAGED. 

In general, Lucy seems INFINITELY happier these days. She is calmer on walks, with other dogs and people, when I leave, and when there are noises. We had a 3 week period where the guys upstairs moved out, so she was SUPER relaxed, but even with new upstairs tenants, she is so much calmer. And I am too! 

Better living through medicine! ;)

Evenings in the living room = no problem anymore!

Enjoying the evening at the park!

Napping with my running shoe ;)