Melatonin For Anxious Dog

Though most people are only aware of its use as a sleeping aid it has many other applications when given to dogs including the ability to help treat separation anxiety several forms of canine alopecia hair loss and phobias.

Melatonin for anxious dog.

Melatonin is an effective all round anxiety medication for dogs and is much safer for them than tranquilizers. Seeing your pet shiver and cower when there s a storm or being witness to their everyday struggles when you go to work is not easy on the pet owner even less so on the dog himself. So far the main at home use of melatonin for dogs is to treat fears anxiety and stress. But on top of that serotonin helps the body create melatonin which has proven calming effects.

Its dosage is based on the dog s weight in general as follows. Melatonin a naturally occurring neurohormone has long. It can also cause digestive upset and in some animals an increased heart rate. Talk to a veterinarian before giving it to your pup but it could help treat a range of anxieties and phobias.

Using melatonin in this way was pioneered by dr linda aronson at tufts university massachusetts. Melatonin can help some dogs with phobias like thunderstorms or fireworks. Melatonin for dogs is a sedative hormonal supplement used to treat many kinds of anxiety hyperactivity restlessness and other conditions. The biggest side effect to melatonin is drowsiness.

It s a naturally occurring hormone produced by the. It may also affect the reproductive cycle of female dogs and can cause insulin resistance in diabetic animals. Melatonin is used in dogs for treatment of anxiety sleeplessness depression and phobias. Is melatonin safe for my dog.

Serotonin itself is the feel good hormone that can brighten your dog s mood. 1 mg for less than 10lbs 1 5mg for 11 25lbs 3mg for 26 100lbs and 3 6mg for dogs weighing above 100lbs. Melatonin treats health conditions too some people have dogs that suffer from debilitating health conditions such as epilepsy cushing s disease and cognitive dysfunction syndrome a form of dementia that dogs and other domesticated animals may occasionally develop. In 1999 she wrote a review of her trials for the journal of the american veterinary medical association.

The primary use of melatonin supplement for dogs is to treat anxiety both that caused by a triggering event and chronic anxiety. Some brands of melatonin contain xylitol which is poisonous to dogs haynes says. I mentioned serotonin earlier.