Sileo for Noise Averse Dogs
If you have a dog that is frightened of fireworks and thunder, many owners recommend melatonin, which I have used to positive effect. Some dogs, however, have severe thunderstorm/firework anxiety, and it can have a large impact on the owner's (and the dog's) life. Besides becoming extremely anxious they can start scratching/ chewing up everything around. Or even busting out barriers and escaping, or tearing the house apart trying to burrow into small spaces. They can get into closets and pull everything out of them. Or tearing the caulk from the toilet and physically moving it trying to get between the small space where it sits against the wall.
In some cases, crating and conventional medicines don't seem to help, and you can't always be home to watch/ comfort them. For these kinds of extreme cases, ther is a new drug availible for dogs called Sileo. This has been a real blessing for many people and dogs, with many comment's referring to it as a "total game changer". It’s a “noise
aversion” reducer and sedative, that has been previously used on people in the intensive care unit who have to be intubated. The drug is called precedex when used on people.
It’s expensive, but you can save it for the bad storms or when you’re going to be away and know storms or fireworks are coming. It works in about 20 minutes too, while many other similarly acting meds can take hours, which makes them ineffectual against a sudden, unexpected storm.
You administer with a syringe, but it is very easy to learn and do. Just don’t mix drugs. If you are giving
your dog something daily then you will need to look into interactions. Sileo is a pretty powerful sedative so be careful with it. It's non narcotic and not dangerous, but too much could put the dog under quick. Accidental overdoses (though not fatal) can occur if the ring stop mechanism on the syringe is not properly tightened, so make sure to follow instructions!
You can get Sileo from a Vet - around 25$ for 5 doses for a 60 lb dog, but price will vary as it is based on weight. We used 3/4 of what the vet said the dose was... which worked perfectly. Our dog was dopey but still alert. He was not confused and didn’t shake at all on the 4th of July, with loud fireworks going off nearby. Usually he would not have been ok in that situation.
Our dog used to be pretty okay, but she lately she has had some issues with fireworks and storms. More specifically we have a hard time getting her to calm down when we go camping. She constantly pants and whines on the car ride. Once we are all setup she is fine. We tried the Thundershirt but that did just about nothing to calm her. We also tried benadryl to see if that would calm her some and it didn't really work. This past trip we gave her a dose of Melatonin. That didn't do much of anything either. I don't know if we needed to dose her sooner so it had time to get working in her system or what. We might try that next time. If that doesn't work, the next step was going to be CBD oil. This looks like it could be a good alternative though. I just worry about her heart as anxious as she gets.
That pretty interesting. I used to have a dog that was very afraid of thunder and loud noises in general. To be honest I'm not sure that I would ever give this to my dog but it's probably very useful for dogs with severe anxiety. I think it's good to be aware of such products.
Cool.
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