Some questions which you ask to your doctor 1

Q: Dear Dr. Mike, First off let me say that your column has been a valuable source of information, as well as interesting reading. We have a 7 month old mixed breed dog "Angel" which we adopted from our local animal shelter. She has good overall health, only vet visits have been for vaccinations, spaying, and allergies. However, we have always had a problem with separation anxiety which has gotten worse over the last month. Originally , her behavior would include crying, whining, barking and occassional property destruction when we left her alone. Lately, however, she not only exhibits her prior behaviors, but she now salivates excessively when we leave. We took her to our vet and explained the symptoms and they concurred that she is suffering from separation anxiety. They gave us training suggestions similar to tthe ones you have in your column and also prescribed Elavil. My question is: What, if any are the side effects of this medication in dogs. Our vet didn't have much information on that and the pharmacist was useless. Any information would be helpful. Thank you so very much. Lisa

A: Lisa- The most common side effect of amitriptylline (Elavil Rx) is sedation. Some dogs also experience "dry mouth" effects from a decrease in salivation and sometimes increase their drinking, which may be an effort to combat this effect. Low blood pressure (hypotension) is possible when using amitriptylline, as well. In severe instances, this could lead to symptoms like fainting when getting up or after exercise. Constipation and urine retention have been seen in some pets on amitriptylline. Serious side effects include seizure induction and blockage of conduction in the heart but these seem to pretty rare. I have not seen either one of these effects and we have used amitriptylline for several years in our clinic.