We’ve Added Alprazolam (Xanax)
To help mitigate Lilly’s recent upswing in fears, especially at home, our working theory is that they are based more on her noise sensitivities than first thought. So, enter alprazolam (Xanax), a benzodiazepine. She’ll take .5 mg twice a day. On Friday, our vet called in 6 weeks worth of medicine. It cost me about $26 at our local Walgreens. Once again the whole thing was unusual enough that the pharmacist’s eyes were as big as saucers.
I popped through the drive-thru, told them Lilly’s name, etc. When she returned to told me about the dosage and length of treatment, etc., and she looked completely shocked.
HER: How much does she weigh?
ME: About 35 pounds.
HER: Oh, OK. She’s a big dog, then. Still, she must be really anxious.
ME: Yes, very anxious.
(While I’m thinking that 35 pounds certainly doesn’t qualify as a big dog at our house.)
HER: The thunder must be terrible for her.
ME: Nope. She’s actually not afriad of thunder.
HER: Oh, separation anxiety then?
ME: Nope, not that either. She’s perfectly happy, home alone right now. We’re combining this with clomipramine to deal with severe generalized anxiety and noise sensitivity, along with a complicated behavior modification plan.
HER: (Confused look) Well, good luck!
It wasn’t until a couple hours later, after I’d had lunch, after I’d done some work, while I was fighting the urge to take a nap that I realized perhaps she was quizzing me as a way to see if I was somehow trying to use my dog to scam my way into some xanax.
I wonder if people do such things? Maybe I’m just a cynic … working as a reporter will do that to you.
It’s entirely possible she was just curious about my curious girl.