My dog Gordon was recently kicked out of the groomer’s because he is so difficult to groom and she fears she might cut his tongue. He is less than 6lbs and only has 2 teeth. She has groomed him since he was a puppy. She asked that we get our veterinarian to prescribe ACE so that when he goes to the groomer he would be much calmer. Is this good advice? I hate the thought of medicating him to get his hair cut but he looks terrible now.
A few thoughts:
First, you can stimulate yourself through sedation. So what happens commonly is the pet gets sedated – goes and does the stimulating thing, acts as before, then sleeps all day when back home because no longer overstimulated.
Second, sounds like Gordon may be older if we are now down to 2 teeth and his tongue hangs out of his mouth. Medications are tough on elderly patients.
And finally, the real question to ask is why is Gordon having problems now when it sounds like all was well before? Does he have pain? Is his mental state not what it used to be (often called doggie dementia or doggie Alzheimer’s)? I find on many patients like Gordon that stimulating his brain helps get that tongue back in a bit, calm him down and make him feel better.
How do we stimulate brain? After a thorough physical and neurologic exam to make sure all is well, massage, acupuncture and/or veterinary spinal manipulation therapy (animal chiropractic) all do wonders to stimulate the brain. Movement stimulates the brain. Anything we do to the body helps turn that brain on and make him feel better. And, a cool benefit: when the brain works better, it helps inhibit pain in the body, just and movement inhibits pain in the body.
Good luck getting to the root of Gordon’s problem – he’ll feel much better afterwards!