melatonin & dogs

[Karen]

Having done some research lately on melatonin & having just started taking it myself (I am a diagnosed insomniac who has been having trouble sleeping even for me lately) I was wondering if anyone has any idea of the dosage rates for dogs. I friend of mine wants to try it on her Scottie who can get worked up enough in certain circumstances to pee .. any other suggestions apart from Rescue Remedy which does help but only to a degree would be welcome.

[Lushbaby]

I use Tranquil paste,for dogs & horses,for one of my boys when he gets too upset when girls are on heat & its not his turn to get lucky. I also used it on one of my old dogs when he had a bad back & needed to rest. Not drastic but works nicely. Obtainable from most fodder stores.

[Karen]

Thank you so much for that. I'll pass the information on to my friend. I have been very lucky & have never needed to use anything beyond Rescue Remedy for my dogs for stress etc (touch wood - no make that embrace wood )

[auntie c]

I use valairium on harry, its a herbal based valium, easily obtainable at any health food shop. not to expensive. I need to give him 4 every new years eve... it just relaxes him enough not to get majorly stress with the whole fire works thing. he certainly isnt sedated, just calm and we can actually talk him through sitting with us without him passing and hiding under the bed. his heart used to race, jumping out of his chest, but this doesnt happen with the valarium..

hope this helps, but you will need to figure out your own dosage as all dogs weights and stress levels are different.

carlene
harry who and pearl the girl
australia

[zefi]

I used to give Melatonin to Pagan when she first started showing fear at thunderstorms. I'd give her one pill only. It was enough to take the edge off the nerves and after a few storms she got over it. Pagan weighs around 21 kilos at most.

[Michael]

Looks like others have used melatonin with dogs as well:

http://www.canine-epilepsy-guardian-angels.com/Melatonin_info.htm

From their site:

Generally a dose of 3mg is appropriate for a 35-100 lb dog. Smaller dogs get 1.5mg, and larger dogs may get 6mg.

That's pretty comparable to a few other links I ran across, so if you use the rough 35-100 pounds (18-50 kilos) for the 3mg dose, and under 30 pounds (15 kilos and under) would get half that...1.5mgs. You can probably slide that scale a bit if you're inbetween on mgs of melatonin or dog weight.....but that should give you a rough idea.

PS...let us know if it helps!