ABWC Fairfax
About Our Practice
About Our Practice
Medication and products:
The goal is to chemically reduce arousal and stress to allow your pet to think in stressful situations and allow them to learn better coping strategies.
Watch our Medication Video for more details.
After your initial assessment, you will take home your pet's initial supply of medication and/or supplements. These are purchased separately from your consultation fee. Because many of our patients require frequent medication adjustments, we will ensure your follow up occurs in enough time to refill any of your products. Once your pet has found a stable and effective dose, we will establish prescriptions through our online pharmacy. These will then be shipped directly to your home thereafter.
Please allow 3 business days to obtain refills or authorizations from ABWC staff. If you are in need of immediate assistance, a Rush Refill can be requested in our online form. Rush Orders are guaranteed to be completed the same business day and incur a $50 rush fee. Request refills HERE.
For help training pets to swallow pills, visit:
How I Trained My Dog to Take a Pill eileenanddogs
An Easy Pill to Swallow: Training Dogs to Take Pills the Easy Way Canines in Action, Inc.
Daily medications - These medications are given on a daily basis. The goal is to reduce the animal's overall arousal level, lower anxiety, and reduce the frequency of the target behavior. Most daily medications will take 4 weeks to reach peak efficacy at a given dosage. The medication needs to be given for this period of time before the response can be fully assessed. Common side effects include decreased appetite, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, lethargy, and increased agitation. If side effects are severe and/or persistent, let us know right away. Event medications - These medications are given, absorbed within 45-90 minutes, effect the animal for a period of time, then wear off. There is no compounding effect like there is with the daily medications. Event medications are often given prior to specific, anxiety inducing events, but can also be used regularly when combination therapy is warranted. Common side effects are lethargy, agitation, and/or GI upset. You will need to trial your event medication before using it in a high stress situation.
Unless otherwise indicated, all of the medications listed in your discharge summary can be given at the same time, if needed.
When using multiple psychotropic medications simultaneously, there is the risk for a condition called Serotonin Syndrome. This is an exceedingly rare side effect that occurs when the body has too much circulating serotonin. As with any medical decision, there is the consideration of risk versus benefit by your doctor.
