acepromazine - anyone ever use it?

[Shakou]

We're getting ready to take off for Utah in a couple days in a car. Some of you know that Ma'ii is TERRIBLE in cars. We've never really been able to really figure out just what the cause is for this. He doesn't seem afraid, just really really excited. No matter how much we've worked with him, how much time we've invested in dog trainers to work with him, absolutely NOTHING has been able to work.

We finally caved and consulted our vet about this, and she prescribed us a sedative called acepromazine. I've never used it before, and I was wondering if anyone here has, and if so did it actually work (lol)? Were there any negative side effects?

 

[Southpaw]

Are you sure its not anxiety? Ace on its own is horrible for anxiety,sedates but leaves the dog still fearful, they just can't react as they normally would.

So I would just want to be really clear on that. Guess I haven't actually ever seen a sedative used for pure excitement.

 

[Emily]

Yeeeaaaah, unfortunately Ace on it's own for anxiety is not so great, though many vets persist in prescribing it. :/ The dogs I know on Xanax, however, do very well. That always gets my vote, at least at first.

ETA: Sorry, just saw that you don't think he's anxious, just amped. Honestly not sure how effective Ace would be for that.

 

[stardogs]

IIRC Ace does have some attributes that are supposed to help with motion sickness, but I agree with PPs: if there is ANY chance that the behavior is anxiety based, Ace will do more harm than good in many cases. An anxiolytic like Xanax or similar might be something to discuss with your vet in that case.

 

[Lyzelle]

Zane was given Ace for similar reasons. He was anxious first night in town so I gave him half.

His face swelled HORRIBLY. BAD reaction.

That is my only experience with it. Still have a whole bottle of it.

 

[MicksMom]

All I know about Ace is that it takes about an hour to kick in. Have you thought of, your tried something like Rescue Remedy? Or one of those pheronome (sp?) collars?

 

[*blackrose]

As others have mentioned, ace does nothing for anxiety. It is a sedative. If your long goal plan is to do behavior modification and would rather start off with an anti anxiety medication in order to make your training more effective, ace is not the drug.

If, however, you just want a calm dog, don't care about behavior modification, and plan to use it as a crutch in this instance only...ace can be your best friend. lol

That being said, Chloe receives Ace at times when we need her to CALM DOWN NOW. Xanax is great, but there are times when she needs to be sedate, not just un-anxious. At those times (I can think of five instances we've used it in her entire life), she gets a low dose of ace. There was one time my mom accidentally gave her Ace instead of her Xanax. It took almost an hour for it to kick in, and then when it finally did she just laid down and was a good dog. LOL

 

[sassafras]

I am not a fan of using acepromazine by itself for a couple of reasons. It can make dogs noise-sensitive and if dogs gets worked up enough they just burn right through it and it does nothing. It does nothing for anxiety and IMO is not actually calming, it just gives the illusion of calm because the dog can't really act normally.

That's not to say I don't use it at all, but I like to combine it with a hefty dose of xanax (alprazolam).

 

[DJEtzel]

I know you said you don't think it is a fear thing, but this may be something to check out to really decide if it is. My boss (professional trainer) recommends it to most clients with dogs who are fearful of thunderstorms and the like, but in general it seems to work well for behavior mod and anxiety... Might be worth asking your vet about, anyway? I'm getting some for Frag this week.

http://www.journalvetbehavior.com/article/S1558-7878(10)00222-4/abstract

 

[Shakou]

I gave him a pill (25MG) about 45 minutes ago and I think it's working, lol. He's getting kind of wobbly and droopy looking. I have to admit, I don't like this. He's not himself and that makes me uneasy, but for him I don't see any other alternative for this particular situation. I'm 99% sure this is NOT a fear or anxiety issue, but rather a "CALM DOWN AND STFU" issue. He does these high pitched happy excited barks that pierce right to the core of your brain, and he does them NONE STOP for however long the vehicle is moving. It's extremely distracting and we can't even hold a conversation. I can barely put up with it on a 5 minute drive across town. Forget a 3-4 hour road trip.

 

[sassafras]

I didn't really state this well or explicitly, but I think acepromazine alone can create some anxiety because of the potential for noise sensitivity and the dogs physically losing some control of themselves at the same time. I haven't used clonidine myself but some people do. Whatever specific drug, I like something for anxiety to smooth out the edges.

 

[Shakou]

I didn't really state this well or explicitly, but I think acepromazine alone can create some anxiety because of the potential for noise sensitivity and the dogs physically losing some control of themselves at the same time. I haven't used clonidine myself but some people do. Whatever specific drug, I like something for anxiety to smooth out the edges.

I hear you, and my husband actually mentioned something like this as well. Being mentally there but physically not may make him want to bark MORE. It's a little too short notice to look into other alternatives or conjunctions, so we'll just have to try this for now and keep it in mind for the future.