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Calming herb?


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Has anyone ever tried Sceletium (tortuosum) drops from the herb Kanna on their dog, horse or themselves before? Or know someone who has? I’m assuming the drops are legal here in the US? A lot has been going on here at the house; thunderstorms, moving things around (painting) and it’s been very stressful on Jake. He’s due for his annual checkup next month and I’m going to discuss meds for him with the vet but if I can find something more natural to give him that works I would feel better.

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Sorry. I have no experince or knowledge of Sceletium.

 

I use 3 mg. melatonin during thunderstorms. I'm not sure about using it continuouisly for longer periods.

 

Some friends use this for their very anxious JRT mix and love it.

https://www.swansonvitamins.com/pet-naturals-calming-medium-large-dogs-21-chews

 

This company's shipping is very fast, and I've also seen this product at a local pet store.

 

Good luck!

 

roxanne

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I use L-Theanine I get from the local health food store. Get the stuff for humans as the dog treats are expensive per dose and don't contain all that much Theanine. It seemed to help with the firework fear. I know someone else who uses Melatonine with their dog and it helps calm them down.

 

I googled sceletium and from what I read on WebMD, it does not sound like something I would want to give my dog. The side effects sounded like they could just make the problem worse.

 

There is a ton of information about the dosage and stories of those who use L-Theanine with their dogs online, so I didn't feel there was much risk. They obviously now make dog treats with it in them.

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Other options I use for thunderphobes: melatonin, 3 mg (already mentioned) and Valerian root capsules (the adult dose is 3 capsules; I give 1). Both of these natural products are supposed to promote sleep. I have found the Valerian root to be more effective than melatonin for my thunderphobes who don't need stronger (i.e., prescroption) meds.

 

I've not heard of L-threanine, but the next time I'm anywhere near a health food store, I will add that to my store. If it doesn't work well for Jake, try one of the others. Melatonin works for most of my dogs, but the Valerian root worked better for Farleigh.

 

J.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Melatonin didn't work on Jake.

 

I took Jake to the vet last week for his annual check up and had a discussion with her in regards to Jake's anxiety. After discussing the options, we went with putting him on Alprazolam 0.5 mg. I only give it to him when needed vs. one a day which I like plus it seems to help. The vet wanted me to try and give it to him about an hour before a storm hits but I haven't been able to do that yet. With that said, he does seem to tolerate the storms better once the med kicks in. (He'll lay in the middle of the living room floor vs. finding a cubby hole somewhere or trying to get up in my lap.) One night he even happily went outside after the rain quit to use the bathroom which he's never done before. DH wasn't too keen about putting him on a prescription med but even he can see a difference.

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Melatonin didn't work on Jake.

 

 

Glad to hear you found something that works.

 

It's OK to use 6 mg. of melatonin if necessary. While I don't know specifics of longer term use, it's pretty safe stuff, so I wouldn't worry about using it for several weeks at a time. People who have trouble sleeping use it daily for extended periods.

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I thought about increasing the melatonin but decided to go with the vet's recommendation. I didn't want something that made him sleepy or tired. I wanted something that calmed/relaxed him but still allowed him to be functional and the Alprazolam seems to be doing that. There's some construction work going on behind us and Jake seems to be ignoring the hammering that's going on even when I don't give him a pill which is a positive sign too. Now if it will help him with his "self-induced colitis" we'll both be happy. And hopefully he won't have to have his anal glands expressed so often.

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