Recap

So this is what I'm thinking about the last week with Stella, and what I want the doctors at Tufts to know.

*Stella has been on clomipramine for three months. After six weeks, she seemed to make major progress with the separation anxiety, but no progress with noise phobias.

*In the last week, Stella has experienced almost complete regression with separation anxiety, and has developed extreme anxiety around meal times at home. (She was okay in Princeton this weekend).

*Stella has also not only reverted to "freezing" when she goes outside, but her tendency to seek out and hide in dark corners of the house has returned, and has even become more pronounced.

*Xanax seems to help Stella, but it is not a long-term solution. It does not prevent Stella from experiencing anxiety; it only helps to subdue it once it occurs. And, it is relatively short acting.

*Although it might be possible to supplement the clomipramine with buspar or another medication, my gut feeling is that clomimpramine is not the drug of choice for Stella. I think it might be time to switch her to an SRRI. As I have heard that Prozac can decrease play drive in dogs (and in people), I would might opt for Zoloft. Admitedly, I know little about whether Zoloft also causes decreased play drive in dogs, and how it compares to Prozac in studies of dogs with separation anxiety and phobias. I am hoping that Dr. Dodman will have some good suggestions for us soon.