Setbacks With Toby
Feeling extremely frustrated and backed into a corner. I've come to realize that Toby's days with my family may be numbered.
My vet never wanted Toby to be on fluoxetine (Prozac) long term and I wanted to try and wean Toby off of it at some point, to see if he still needed it. I believed that he probably would never be able to be without it but hoped that maybe he'd do ok on a lower dose eventually.
I'd been told that generic fluoxetine was MUCH cheaper than Reconcile, the veterinary form of fluoxetine that Toby was on. This was also really important to me since we're spending $75/month medicating Toby.
I was greatly distressed to find out that due to the strict regulations in Canada regarding prescription drugs, that generic fluoxetine is 3x as expensive than in the united states, making it only a few dollars cheaper than what he was already on. I cannot find a cheaper source that my vet will approve.
Even worse, its been only a few days since he started taking 10mg generic fluoxetine exclusively and he's already exhibiting worrying behavior.
Toby has had three full out panic attacks on his last two walks and a panick attack in the house.
The first time when a person let a door slam shut behind them. Toby has not startled at a door in ages, let alone gone into a full panic attack. Toby even saw the person and saw them open the door, which did not even slam loudly. Toby has not exhibited this type of behavior for approx. 6 months.
Toby then proceeded to have another panic attack, this time worse, when he heard someone using a staple gun or hammer. This is a sound he's familiar with and at the very most Toby should have only barked a few times, which would have been acceptable. Instead he had an anxiety attack, attempted to escape and yelped like he was in physical pain.
The next day he had a panic attack over a sign he saw that we walk by all the time. Again, he has not reacted from this sign for 6 months, when we first put him on Reconcile.
In addition, Toby has also begun lunging at other dogs and people when startled or over excited.
He's started barking at sounds again in our yard, is jumpy in the house and startling at random, every day noises and had a mild panick attack at a slight banging noise my husband made.
I've paid for two months worth of this medication because it was less expensive to buy it all at once. Now it looks as though I've wasted over $70.00 on medication I can't use AND we'll have to go back to the more expensive Reconcile. I'm not even sure that my vet will allow Toby to remain on Reconcile long term, as she's indicated she doesn't like the idea.
I just don't know what I'm going to do, we're struggling with the cost of his medication and our tight budget won't allow us to make much in the way of cutbacks. We're already living frugally and trying to get our house some much needed renovations, not to mention paying for my own medical bills.
I guess I made a mistake in adopting him. I took into consideration that we could pay for something like thyroid pills or even insulin, but I never expected to be paying almost $100/month for medication, especially for a young dog.
I don't want to lose him, Toby is a very important part of our family and giving him up will be like giving away child, but at this point we've spent a fortune of money we don't have on training, anti-anxiety supplements and vet bills.
The thought of giving up my sweet, goofy boy just breaks my heart, but I need to do what's best for him. I'm in contact with the sheltie rescue I adopted him from.
