After last week’s drama, I’m happy to report that Lilly’s new medicine (clomipramine), the one the animal behaviorist recommended, arrived Friday (7/18) from 1-800-PetMeds, just 2 days after the order was shipped. It took a full week and something like 20 phone calls to make it happen, though. Seriously, it took less time to get the meds here from a warehouse in Florida, than it did for someone to OK the order by phone. All manner of things fouled us up — a lack of responsiveness from my regular veterinary practice, an administrative rule at the CSU veterinary teaching hospital about what constitutes a “medical” case, and a jumble of miscues relating to the various forms of the drug that are available. It shouldn’t have been this hard.
Still, lesson learned. If you cannot work with a behaviorist who happens to be a veterinarian as well, then be sure your regular veterinarian is open and willing to prescribe drugs the behaviorist (typically with a PhD) recommends. And, I would add … not just willing, but that he or she will hop to it and get it done within a reasonable time frame.
I know it seems like behaviorists are EVERYWHERE these days, but the pool is still pretty limited. You might be surprised how few board certified ones there are:
American College of Veterinary Behaviorists
Certified Applied Animal Behaviorists
Many of them work through their own private consulting business, but you can always do what I did and check your nearest veterinary teaching hospital. (Thanks to Dell Rae, in the CSU media office, for helping me contact the right person.)
From a consumer perspective, I’d also recommend asking local trainers for input on who they like, who gets results, etc.
So, drama, frustration, and delays aside … we’re into Drug Era #2 in Lilly-Town. Our fingers are crossed.
That is interesting. Thanks for pointing it out.
It’s interesting how your experiences with Lilly sometimes intersect the entries on the doolittler blog:
http://www.dolittler.com/index.cfm/2008/7/22/dog.cat.veterinary.veterinarian.behavior.medicine
So far, I wouldn’t say “progress” is the right word. :O) BUT, we’re doing the HARD, TEDIOUS, FRUSTRATING work that I sincerely hope will result in progress down the road.
So glad that Lilly is making progress with our animal behaviorist! Anything else I or anyone else at CSU can do to help, just let me know!
Good question. I’m mostly tracking behavior indicators of the drugs efficacy, like how many times she seeks my attention and why, how many times she refuses to come inside at night, how many times she hides. To do that, I keep a spiral notebook and pen handy so that I can jot down notes about what, when, and how she acts.
Just now … since I’ve been typing this note, she’s tried to interrupt me 3 times.
I then transfer that data into an Excel file, where I enter numbers (like how many door refusals I get in a day). I hope that it helps us down the road to figure out if the med is working or not.
I do make notes about any other changes that might be drug-related in a more side-effect way. For example, when she was getting used to the first drug, she would clamor to play, then quickly lose interest, like she forgot why she thought something was fun.
Having seen a Chinese herb and acupuncture guy myself for many years, I’m also keen on what her tongue looks like. That’s easier to pay attention to than keeping track of how much she drinks.
Or for example, earlier today, she seemed profoundly sleepy … not just a snoozle pup, but completely SACKED out. I made a note of it, and if it keeps happening, then it might be a side-effect.
I try very hard to be like a scientist and simply take notes on what I see. Still … when the interruptions mount, it’s pretty frustrating.
How do you manage Lilly’s side effects while she’s on her medications? Do you keep some sort of notebook documenting how she responds? I’m thinking of certain medications prescribed to people to treat anxiety, depression, etc. They often come with side effects such as lethargy, dry mouth, bad dreams, or whatever. How do you know what is Lilly and what is side effects? Just wondering. And good luck with her new medication.