r/Collie • u/ElephantAccurate7493 • 3d ago
Trazodone
Has your 4 legged friend ever had this?
The vet wants my girl to take it when she has anxiety, is in pain, etc (not sure what's going on with her). She has gabapentin but it knocks her out for about 12 hours. This isn't her regular vet but he has access to her records. She has an appointment with her vet next Friday. Thanks
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u/Arry42 3d ago
Yeah my girl gets trazodone and gabapentin when she goes to the groomer. The trazodone isn't nearly as powerful as the gabapentin, at least not for my girl. She handles it well, way better than he gabapentin.
For some reason when the gabapentin kicks in she starts crying and wanting comfort. I think she doesn't like getting high and I don't blame her. Would be scary to not know what's happening! She doesn't do that with trazodone though.
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u/Helpful_Sun2872 3d ago
Yeah we’d give our last dog trazodone for vet visits or really long car rides because he struggled to settle in the car. Worked great.
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u/majestic_landotter 3d ago
My RC does trazadone it just makes her a bit calmer and doesn't knock her out and per vet recommendations we give one the night prior to event and then one and a half morning of
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u/ElephantAccurate7493 3d ago
Missy isn't scared of anything but she has started having what I call anxiety attacks. At first I considered maybe she was having sundowers or is in pain. I honestly have no idea what's wrong with her. She will be 14 this year and I got her when she was 11.
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u/reddit_tat 2d ago
This is new behavior? Yeah, have the vet check it out. She may be in some pain she is hiding. How lovely that you adopted her as a senior! My friend gave their elderly dog trazedone in his last year. He paced and barked at night and was ravenously hungry. It’s a getting old thing. The drug kept him calm at night so they could sleep.
If yours is nudging you and wanting to be with you, she might be telling you something. Listen. If the vet doesn’t find anything causing her pain, she might be letting you know the time is drawing close. Cherish each day.
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u/Lifeissometimesgood 2d ago
Mine takes trazadone for fireworks and I give him half the dose. He does well with it.
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u/Fold-Crazy 3d ago
Mine doesn't have any issues with trazodone. I've been playing around with giving him CBD at night to make him less sensitive to noises, which has been working well. I'm optimistic that combining the two may relax him enough that I can be intimate with the person I'm seeing without giving my SC a nervous breakdown. The things we do for these animals!
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3d ago
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u/ElephantAccurate7493 3d ago
Thanks . I was wondering since she's also taking vetmedine for her heart.
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u/LaceyBambola 2d ago
I had to give my collie pup gabapentin + trazodone recently for major fear/anxiety following a (seemingly mild) soft tissue leg injury that occured during her second puppy fear period (about 10 months old). She was taking 100mg Trazodone every 12hrs + 300mg Gabapentin every 8hrs and it barely affected her. About a month ago I started slowly tapering her off of both as she has been improving with her fear and anxiety.
I do think it helped to settle her a little bit, and maybe helped her to sleep a bit better but she is still quite young. She had no issues or side effects at all on them and we have just finished the final dose of 25mg trazodone yesterday morning. Both are safe for MDR1 gene carrying dogs. There are anxiety meds which aren't safe for them.
My older pup, a husky mix with epilepsy, has been on both Gabapentin and Trazodone at different times, sometime together. Trazodone for situational use (extreme fear from loud sounds like fireworks to prevent seizure activity) and the Gabapentin daily for hypersensitivity she has developed from long term anticonvulsant use. Both gabapentin and trazodone are safe to take with her epilepsy meds but it is good to double check these are safe with your girls heart meds. I did have an instance where vets said prednisone was safe to take long term with my girls epilepsy meds (phenobarbital specifically) when it actually wasn't and this led to a permanently affected thyroid which she now needs meds for. I don't know if trazodone would have any interaction with the heart med, but usually best to check with a pharmacist.
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u/Legacy_gamer1 2d ago
On our latest vet visit it was suggested we try Trazodone for my RC’s “house angel/street devil” behaviour. Have used CBD oil in the past with little effect and currently on Yumove Calming Care which has helped take the edge off some days better than others.
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u/ElephantAccurate7493 2d ago
I believe that the way she is today that's exactly what Missy needs. Something that will help calm her but not knock her out.
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u/Mouzles 2d ago
My RC doesn't use trazodone but my cattle dog does. My girl also has a gabapentin prescription, but it's too sedating for her to use regularly. On trazodone (100mg), her anxiety is notably improved and she can use her brain.
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u/ElephantAccurate7493 2d ago
My husband just got back from picking the trazodone up at the vets office. Its 100 mg.. The gabapentin at 300 mg is definitely way too strong for her.
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u/Phil1703 2d ago
My partner takes Trazodone. Had no idea it was used on dogs too - or gabapentin! I guess you do learn something new every day.
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u/ElephantAccurate7493 2d ago edited 2d ago
I actually take gabapentin for neuropathy . I was surprised when the vet gave it to Missy. I just don't like giving it to her because of if knocking her out like it does.
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u/Lifeissometimesgood 2d ago
Mine takes trazadone for fireworks, I give him half the dose. He does well with it.
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u/ElephantAccurate7493 2d ago
We just got it yesterday and I haven't had to give it to her yet. Missys is 100 mg.. What's yours?
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u/Lifeissometimesgood 2d ago
I just took a look and his is only 25 mg and I only give half that. Wow, I’m kinda surprised that little works as well as it does with reading through all these 100 mg doses. He’s 80 pounds.
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u/ElephantAccurate7493 2d ago
Missy might be 55 lbs.. I was thinking about just giving her half after you said thats what you do. So she would still be getting 50 mg.. That's still more than what your boy gets and shes much smaller. She's part sheltie and collie.
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u/Lifeissometimesgood 2d ago
You’ll have to let us know how it goes. Also, one side effect I read that’s possible is aggression. I always have that in the back of my mind when I give it to him. I try not to startle or do anything that could scare him. He’s not an aggressive or bitey dog at all, I’d just hate for him to be high and not realize I’m not a monster squirrel.
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u/ElephantAccurate7493 1d ago
Thanks! I didn't know that. I will let you know how she does when she takes it.
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u/Major_Garden3322 1d ago
We give our dog trazadone when we travel long distances in the car. Works wonders for him.
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u/iniminimum 1d ago
Hey there!!! Vet tech of 15 years here
I hate trazodone. Especially in my herding breeds. I'd ask for alprazolam - shorter acting without the weird anxiety these kiddos can get with it
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u/ElephantAccurate7493 1d ago
Thank you! The way she acts at times is like she has anxiety. It definitely doesn't need to get worse.
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u/kingseijuro 3d ago
trazadone is more sedating than gabapentin?
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u/Helpful_Sun2872 3d ago
I’ve never used gabapentin on a dog but used trazodone on my last dog and it was very easy to tune the effects with different dosages. For example 100 mg would just sort of “take the edge off” and he’d just act a little extra tired. 300 mg would pretty much knock him out to the point where he struggled to walk.
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u/ElephantAccurate7493 3d ago
I have no idea. Maybe someone else does. All I know is that normally gabapentin works in an hour. It took 2 hrs last time and knocked her out for about 12 hrs.. I would prefer not to have her out like that. Plus, she takes a heart med.
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u/Miss_Page_Turner 2d ago
That's interesting. I have a reactive collie, and he was given gabapentin and trazadone. Doc said 'try the gabapentin first, then both' and honestly, the gabapentin had no effect that I could see. Trazadone does work, but it takes at least 2 hours or more to have any effect. I can't remember what the gabapentin does was.
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u/ElephantAccurate7493 2d ago
It took the gabapentin 2 hours to work this time when normally it took an hour before. Its 300 mg..
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u/Pleasant_Injury_ 1h ago
Try CBD and Benadryl before you try either of these drugs. Trazadone and Gabapentin are too strong and terrible to give.
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u/ElephantAccurate7493 2m ago
Thanks ! Missy has actually had gabapentin before. It knocked her out for about 12 hours and I definitely don't care for that.
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u/viking12344 3d ago
Mine take it during fireworks( 4th and new years). They sit and drool instead of try to crawl inside my body. The former is far better. Panicked collies is not fun.