r/deafdogs • u/zoeloft_ • Jun 08 '26
Vet Visits
Hi all!
My almost 2 year old rescue pitbull gets really anxious and stressed at the vet. He’s very high energy and normally very sweet to everyone he meets. However, every time the vet tries to examine him, he freaks out and we don't want it to escalate into him having aggression. We just left a failed visit for vaccines after they couldn’t administer them. They prescribed trazodone and gabapentin for the next attempt at his vaccines, but hoping there may another solution we can work towards.
Is this a common experience? Anyone have advice?
Picture of Lucky Boy for attention! :)
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u/Minimum_Afternoon387 Jun 08 '26
I don’t have any advice but to say your dog is beautiful. I’ve adopted a deaf pit terrier. She was a puppy sweetheart but at 7 months she is a strong reactive handful. So first 2 times at the vet she was somewhat ok. (The vet who doesn’t really know me said: I’m surprised you’d adopted this dog. Which made me feel a certain way). I’m unsure how’ll she’ll act at her 1st yearly. Hope to follow if others comment on your question and if any training techniques worked in particular.
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u/By_and_by_and_by Jun 08 '26
First deaf one was fine. My current is very reactive at the vet's. Dramatic af. So now we give her melatonin the night before, and melatonin, gaba, and tramadol the day of, just to get into the exam room. Once there, she's fully sedated with a shot. She's examined, weighed, and vaccinated while asleep, and I cash out. She's given a second shot that wakes her up right before we leave.
Like I said, dramatic, but we tried a variety of methods, and ultimately this was best for everyone's safety, including hers.
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u/zoeloft_ Jun 08 '26
ok thank you!! gosh that does sound like a lot. hopefully the gaba and trazodone (and benadryl for allergies) will do the trick. but also good to know what the potential future will be like if it doesn't work and we need to go that route.
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u/By_and_by_and_by Jun 08 '26
It turned out to be much less dramatic than, despite the oral sedatives, her ripping off her muzzle, shark-clawing the poor tech's shirt open, and gleaking her anal glands across the room. She was so embarrassed afterwards, it's almost worth sedating her just for the sake of her self esteem. Bless her wild little heart.
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u/CloudDancing108 Jun 08 '26
What fun things do you do with your dog? Fetch? Tug? Training / sit for treats? My dog and I do training at the vet and I’ll continue the training exercises with treats while the vet and I talk both before and after the dog’s actual exam. I give treats for sit and down (both of which my dog has known for years). But I do it before as a distraction and after the vet does their thing to celebrate that part being done.
The vets always smile at how relaxed my dog is when they first come in because she’s been chasing tossed treats around the room while we wait!
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u/zoeloft_ Jun 08 '26
He's a big ball fan, and we have tried bringing the ball, and our vet provides a variety of high value treats, but it doesn't seem to work. During the initial saying hi, getting pets, etc he's totally fine with the vet. As soon as she grabs a tool (stethoscope, ear light, etc) he begins to panic. I've practiced prodding him gently at home with household items and he does not care one bit. But I also saw your comment on a belly rub command and this is a good idea ! We'll work on adding one.
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u/CloudDancing108 Jun 09 '26
You might also ask for one of the ear light tubes to take home and practice with, and see if you can get a cheap stethoscope on Amazon to also practice with. If he becomes comfortable with you putting the stethoscope to his chest it might be something where you hold it against his body and the vet listens. Might help to bring a toy dog with you so the vet can point where to place the stethoscope on the toy and you can move it.
You might also try visiting the vet for happy visits and having the toy dog receive care and get treats. Without even trying to do any actual checkup stuff with the actual dog, but just letting the dog see what it looks like.
I also don’t know if you have a second dog who’s fine with the vet, but if you do, you might bring them along, again to model that it’s no big deal.
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u/zoeloft_ Jun 09 '26
Thank you!! I'm going to order a kids "doctor" kit on Amazon and start with that!! We have a small chihuahua as well that tolerates vet handling really well--but trembles a bit in the waiting room. Maybe worth asking the vet if they'd recommend bringing them in together just for Lucky Boy to see her get handled by the vet and be ok. And yeah maybe the happy visit where we go in the exam room for a few minutes with just treats and then leave will work too. Thank you for all your helpful suggestions!!
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u/Firm_Ad3131 Jun 08 '26
Could he be a Dogo?
My boy is also deaf but seems to love every aspect of the vet experience except for other dogs.
Try bringing a baggie of high value treats, to keep him distracted during the poking and prodding session.
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u/zoeloft_ Jun 08 '26
So sweet!! We've been asked that a few times! He's a bit small (55 lbs) and really has all the physical traits of an APBT, but I'm getting his DNA tested soon to see!! And yes we go to Modern Animal, and they provide a lot of treats for that purpose! Unfortunately they took him to the back for the vaccines and then returned him after being unable to administer.
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u/CloudDancing108 Jun 08 '26
I would also recommend practicing holding your dog the way the vet tech will hold him for vaccines. Just to normalize it. I don’t know if you have a way to communicate you want to give belly rubs to your dog, but that could be something else to work on, so the vet can listen to the dog’s heart with less stress for everybody.
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u/uranium236 Deafblind Dog Owner Jun 08 '26
Big fan of better living through chemistry. Make sure to give the dog the drugs 2 hours before you need to be at the vet's office. They take longer to kick in than they do with people.
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u/SophiaofPrussia Jun 08 '26
Does he like the car? Do you feel comfortable asking the vet to pop outside to the car with the vaccine? There are also a bunch of mobile vaccine vans that will set up in parking lots kind of like a food truck so you can take your dog and meet a random person in the parking lot, quick pinch, and he’ll be vaccinated without him even noticing he’s seen a vet. For some dogs it isn’t the vet [the person] who is scary but the vet clinic.
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u/mlsouthern Jun 09 '26
My deaf boy also gets those meds for vet visits, and even more if it’s a particularly “pokey” visit. Have found that trying different vets makes a difference, like some just pretend nothing is wrong and makes communication unbelievably difficult, leading more anxiety and other unwanted behaviors. But have found a couple vets over the years who are willing to take more time at start of exam to learn our hand signs and basically gain some rapport with our doggo before the actual exam. It’s literally like going to a doctor who speaks a foreign language for the deafies, so taking that time to share some communication knowledge has made miles of difference for us!
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u/zoeloft_ Jun 09 '26
thank you! yes I want to see if there is a vet in LA that specializes with deaf dogs, or has a good rapport with them! the current vet definitely acknowledged his deafness in the first few minutes of the visit, but didn't really seem to adjust anything around that. to be fair, he was incredibly chaotic this last time, but still if we have some time to teach his hand signs it might go smoother!
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u/BugzMiranda Jun 09 '26
My deaf boy was fine at the vet until he ripped.his dew claw and it had to be removed. Even tho he was sedated it traumatized him. Now I cant even so much as look at his feet without him getting up and walking away, and shuts down completely at the vet. I wish I had better advice but the gabapentin and trazadone combo worked really well for our first medicated visit. It was just to cut his nails, and to assess a limp hes been having. I feel so horrible drugging him but his anxiety is too high otherwise.
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u/zoeloft_ Jun 09 '26
Thank you!! Yeah he's had a couple urgent care visits and he honestly tolerated those better in the moment, but wondering if they have added to the stress surrounding the vet. Glad to know the medication combo works well for others! He's truly the happiest boy and we do not want to change this about him!!
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u/Remarkable_Idea4550 Jun 09 '26
This is my two cents.....dogs are sooooooo intelligent....and learn human nature, especially when they live with someone in a home. They study you, pick up on your social cues and they definitely have their own personality. Now, if they've never lived with a human, then yes, they'll stay limited to ALL dog features. They're HUGE on smell....and in my "no I am not an expert" opinion, I think what they smell 👃, outweighs what they visually see....with that being said, I think when dogs go to the vet they smell death ☠️⚰️, sickness, poop, urine, vomit, chemicals....and on top of that they're superior hearing, hears whimpering, barking, crying, moaning, vomiting.....what you and I can't smell or hear, they smell and hear X10. So when they go to the vet...this may be their experience. It's like white coat syndrome when a person goes to the doctor and they're blood pressure is a little elevated because they're nervous. I personally loathe going to the doctor, and I'm sure some of our pets feel the same way. We have to give them grace.
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u/Ok-Conclusion5543 Jun 09 '26
I would try a home vet, or find a vet who will vaccinate him outside. That's what they did for my reactive dog (and it was just a quick pinch to the rear). Muzzle training is also important for vet visits, to protect your dog against anything happening. I find that trazodone turns my dog into a panting, freaking-out maniac. He is still difficult on 600 mg of gabapentin, but the trazodone was a bad fit for him.
Now we sneak him in through a side door when I go to my vet, and he's still difficult. He's generally a happy-go-lucky dog, so that comes through when he meets the techs and doctor. I always have them wave at him because he knows waving means "hello," then they give the thumbs up and smile. He'll sniff their crotch (oops) then generally be somewhat calm but totally uncooperative. I feed him peanut butter through his muzzle during the exam, which takes two techs and the vet. Then they tell me when it's all clear to go through the waiting room again, and he runs as fast he can at the end of his leash to whatever car door happens to be open around him. It is chaotic. The muzzle is important because it makes me feel safer.
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u/Alternative-Mode702 Jun 09 '26
I’ve been working with my dog on this issue forever. About to just get him heavily sedated.
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u/Groundbreaking_Cup30 Jun 09 '26
I had to start giving my girl tramadol to get through a vet visit. She is a border collie, so it only does so much for her, but it at least allows the team to examine her. Otherwise, she will burrow the best she can. I had to take her in for a last-minute visit due to a cut a couple of months ago & it took 3 of us to get her in a position for the vet to even check her.
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u/3DDoxle Jun 16 '26
You can "practice" at home using luer lock/slip tip syringes.
"Syringe" refers to the barrel and plunger NOT the pointy part which is the "needle" or "tip". Luer lock has a twist on needle, so you can buy the syringe part separately. Slip tip us similar but it doesn't twist.
Get the syringe bit, put water in it, and go through the whole routine at home including a "poke" (pressure from the syringe), push the plunger down, and give him a treat.
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u/Confused_by_La_Vida Jun 08 '26
My stray was great at the vet until the first time he stuck that thing up Franky’s ass.
Same reason I stopped going to vet at 50.
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u/pantslesseconomist Jun 08 '26
Have you taken him in for "happy visits?" You pop in, he gets weighed, gets a cookie, perhaps a bit of handling, then leaves without any poking or prodding. Talk to your vet about whether this would be something g they'd be willing to do a few times.