Acepromazine (ACE) for dogs (worried)

[mamamary]

Glad she's better. I know what it's like to worry about a fur baby.

 

[luvwinnie]

I doubt her Vet would have suggested/prescribed ACE, if her dog was a brachycephalic breed.

OP, I'm glad you called the E-Vet just to be on the safe side. I had to give my JRT acepromazine any time we went to the Vet for over 14 years. I'm sure this scared the bejeezus out of you! Keep us posted on how she is doing.

I wish i could be sure of that. You'd be shocked at how many of my bulldog friends have had their bulldogs given ACE. A few have died.

 

[LiveYourLife]

I wish i could be sure of that. You'd be shocked at how many of my bulldog friends have had their bulldogs given ACE. A few have died.

That is a shame. We try to do right by our pets and you think they are in trustworthy hands with their Veterinarians, and then you hear stories like that. Very sad.

 

[LiveYourLife]

My sweet playful doggie is back. She slept with me last night. I kept checking on her all night. This morning I took her outside, when we came back in, she went and got her toy and brought it to me ready to play. She has now eaten and drank some water. Next time, if I decide to use the medicine, I will use 1/4 tablet.

You just don't realize how much you love your pet until something like this happens. I was really scared. Thanks again everyone, your kind words made me feel better last night.

Here is a picture, its not recent, so she is just a little bigger now

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/155644_176567282371765_2437244_n.jpg

Hi Tink! What a cutie she is!!! Glad to hear that she is back to her normal, playful self today

I agree, so scary when things like that happen to our pets.

 

[mjperry]

ACE Is a strong drug, it will knock them out cold.

 

[KO242]

Hi. I gave my 5lbs Chihuahua 2.5 mg of ACE at 4am in Tuesday. It didn't kick in for 3 hours...or an hour into our flight. I tried to give him water at our connection airport and he drank very little of it. I also tried to give him a little piece of turkey for my sandwich and he did not want it. My little guy just dropped on the at 4pm at our final destination, when we cleared customs. I picked him up shook him up a little bit, and gave him 3oz of milk with very a tea spoon of sugar in it to wake him up. Then lots of water after. It's next day (Wed) now at 7am...almost 26 hrs later and he's not the same as before the medication. He walks and go to the bathroom on his own but it's at a much slower pace. I am really worried. Please help.

 

[doggydoc]

I am not a big fan of using acepromazine for instances of anxiety or other behavioral control. It is a sedative not an anti-anxiety and sometimes is metabolized at a slow or inconsistent rate causing effects described here.

Having said that it is a pretty safe medication, even in brachycephalic breeds. Despite the internet hysteria I have used it countless times in brachycephalic breeds with no consequence, you just have to use lower doses and monitor for respiratory depression(which brachycephalic breeds are particularly sensitive too due to anatomical restrictions to airflow) and drops in blood pressure.

I prefer a true anti-anxiety medication like Alprazolam(which unfortunately is a controlled substance so some practitioners are reluctant to dispense/prescribe) or a medication like Gabapentin, which is a centrally acting analgesic producing less profound sedation than acepromazine.

He walks and go to the bathroom on his own but it's at a much slower pace. I am really worried. Please help.

He sounds like he is just very slow to recover but on his way. Just continue to stimulate him and encourage activity. As I said above Ace is pretty safe I just do not care for the variability in reactions and the occasional case like yours where sedation is profound and persistent causing my clients this type of concern. If you need sedation in the future for the little guy you may want to discuss alternatives like the two mentioned above with your Veterinarian.

Also I would be careful with the milk. Dogs are very prone to lactose intolerance and can be subject to gas and diarrhea from dairy products.

 

[Kelsey Kirst]

Found this forum while googling for information for my dog. We have a 75-80 lb yellow lab. The vet prescribed this medication for her for a move. We gave it to her at 11:00 pm last night, it is 8:07 pm the next day. The inner eyelid is still swollen given her the droopy eye look, she is clearly not herself and she peed in her bed last night, and on another bed today. Now she keeps peeing a bit as she walks around the house. I am able to stimulate and excite her, and she ate. But she is still seemingly very drugged and the random pee puddles are worrying me. I am contemplating taken her into emergency care, but don’t know if I am over reacting.. any advice?