What OTC sedatives or calming treats are safe for my dog to fly?

VetriScience Composure chews or liquid daily for at least a few days prior to your trip is effective in noticeably calming many patients. It contains natural ingredients including theanine and is available on chewy.com and PetCo.com. If you find that the Composure is not sufficiently relaxed with just Composure, I would schedule an appointment with your vet to make sure that Rexy is up to date on vaccines and flea/tick/heart worm prevention and to inquire about a sedative such as trazadone or prescription Xanax that your vet may be comfortable with for Rexy. If you are flying, definitely inquire with the airline about whether an official health certificate is required. Enjoy your vacation!

Several different drugs are available for this purpose. The drugs I use the most often for this sort of situation include trazodone, alprazolam (Xanax), and acepromazine. The last of these drugs will not provide any relief for anxiety for Muttley, instead it will simply tranquilize him. The other two will have both sedative and anti-anxiety activity. Discuss the situation with your veterinarian and determine which option you believe will be best. Hope this works out. If your pup is going to be travelling in the cabin, for the sake of the other passengers the use of the tranquilizer may be the best option.

Try Zesty Paws Calming Bites, Composure chews (VetriScience) or Zylkene (Vetoquinol). Be aware that not all products will work for all dogs. The trick is to find the one that works the best. If Maggy's anxiety is severe, she may need prescription medication. Discuss options with your veterinarian.

No, no Benadryl. It's not used as a sedative and actually can have the opposite effect on dogs. It can make some dogs more hyper. Typically medication isn't needed for dogs when flying, even if they are very active. Usually the new sounds and smells keeps them quiet. You can speak with Rascal's vet to see if there are any medications that can be prescribed for him just in case.

You can always try over the counter remedies for anxiety before resorting to drugs. That being said, I have rarely seen these "natural" products work on dogs especially ones that have severe anxieties. Here are some things you can try: 1. Thundershirt: http://www.thundershirt.com/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIzuHJ_Y2j1QIVFo1-Ch00fwx0EAAYASAAEgKaavD_BwE 2. Rescue Remedy for Pets: http://www.bachflower.com/rescue-remedy-pet/ 3. DAP (dog appeasing pheromone): http://dapdiffuser.com/ If those do not help, I would suggest you speak to your vet about a prescription of Trazodone. I think it is the best anti-anxiety medication without many side effects and it doesn't make them too groggy or "out of it". Hope this helps. Best wishes!

There is a natural non-prescription daily supplement called VetriScience Composure chews (they have a liquid version as well) that is available on PetCo.com, chewy.com, and 1800petmeds. Many owners whose dogs previously had severe thunderstorm anxiety, separation anxiety, anxiety during car trips etc. have reported in reviews available on the product online that it has worked wonderfully without an excessive sedative effect that can be seen with certain other prescription medications. I recommend trying it in advance (30 min -1hr in advance) during instances where Finn is usually excitable, anxious or hyper. If it does not seem to work, there are other prescription sedatives that your vet may be willing to prescribe such as trazadone which can be used along with composure and which may not have the unexpected effect that Xanax had of causing hyperactivity. Good luck!

Hello. You would need to give a lot of Benadryl to calm a dog, & even then, it probably would not work. I would try to make sure that your appointment is at as quiet a time as possible. Call ahead to make sure there are no unexpected wait times & that you can get in & out as quickly as possible. Bring a highly valued treat, even if it is cooked chicken or a can of CheeseWhiz & give him plenty of treats going over. Make sure the technician takes a few minutes with Lance to get to know him & feed a few treats. The same goes with the veterinarian. Bring enough to share. If this is a pleasant experience, while it will not take away all anxiety, it will help in future visits. If Lance just goes ballistic, then reschedule the visit & ask your vet for some Trazodone that you can give 30 minutes before the visit. Hopefully, things will go smoothly. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.