We have had a few “winning” behavior cases in the last two weeks and reunited a lost dog with an owner from the microchip.
The stray dog was found today by one of our clients, who was able to catch him and bring him in for scanning. Animal Control could also do this, but he thought of us first. The dog was microchipped, but with an address in Carrollton, and a phone number that didn’t work. My staff didn’t give up there, and contacted the email address linked to the microchip, and got a phone call shortly afterward that he was indeed the owner, and the story has a happy ending. The takeaway is always have your pets microchipped, and check the contact information years, and whenever you move.
One of the winning behavior cases involved a dog who has become terrified out us touching his toenails. And last week he presented with a broken dewclaw nail, that had already stopped bleeding. We gave the owner several choices: just buck up and wrestle to dog to examine the feet, give him sedation by injection now, or send him home with some oral anti-anxiety medicine, Trazadone, and see him the next day, knowing we still might have to sedate. She chose Trazadone, and the next day he wasn’t as anxious, we were able to cover his head with a towel with some calming pheromones and touch his feet without sedation. Things went so well we even did his annual exam, vaccines & blood test for heartworms. Success with Trazadone!
The other success story was a very “reactive” Malinois patient. He usually barks nonstop while here, protecting his owner. Last month we tried seeing him and we couldn’t approach him at all. This time, he came here on Trazadone, wearing his basket muzzle, and we gave the intramuscular sedation in the parking lot, before he was aroused. Then he walked in, stayed in the exam room with the owner until the drugs took effect. The exam went calmly, with the owner present, we did everything we needed, and then gave him the reversal agent for the sedation. Fifteen minutes later he walked out on his own, not having had a bad experience, and not stressed.
These are a few of our recent Fear Free success stories. It is ok to use anti-anxiety medicine for a scary situation, and often these same dogs need less and less each year. The pets are less stressed, the owners are less stressed, and our staff is less stressed. Win-Win-Win
