Korean Journal of Veterinary Service (한국동물위생학회지)

The Korean Society of Veterinary Service (한국동물위생학회)
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A case of clomipramine and alprazolam on behavioral modification for the treatment of storm phobia in a Maltese

말티즈에서 폭풍공포증 치료를 위한 클로미프라민, 알프라졸람의 투여가 행동 수정에 미치는 임상 1례

  • Sei-Myoung Han (Department of Animal Health and Welfare, Semyung University) ;
  • Jae-Hyeon Cho (Institute of Animal Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Gyeongsang National University) ;
  • Chung-Hui Kim (Institute of Animal Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Gyeongsang National University)
  • 한세명 (세명대학교 동물바이오헬스학과) ;
  • 조재현 (경상국립대학교 수의과대학 수의학과 동물의학연구소) ;
  • 김충희 (경상국립대학교 수의과대학 수의학과 동물의학연구소)
  • Received : 2023.04.27
  • Accepted : 2023.06.13
  • Published : 2023.06.30
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Abstract

An 8-year-old female neutered Maltese dog exhibited signs of serious thunderstorm phobia including panting, wandering, shivering, hiding, crying or whining, or trying to escape from the house. In this study, we administered clomipramine and alprazolam and observed behavioral improvement for 3 years. Clinical symptoms measured according to the storm phobia assessment (SPA) were significantly high with an initial total score of 19 points. However, it improved to a total score of 8 on day 176 after drugs administration and returned to the normal level with the total score of 5 points on the 983 days. When the symptoms for the first 4 treatments and the last 4 treatments were compared in 2 groups, the total score of all clinical symptoms decreased to -62.83% in the last 4 treatments. This study found that treatment with alprazolam and clomipramine was associated with a decrease in clinical signs of storm anxiety, suggesting that two drugs would be effective in reducing symptoms caused by anxiety, thunderstorm phobia, and noise phobia. In this follow up study, we hope that more studies would be conducted on behavior modification for treatment of storm phobia in veterinary medicine.

Keywords

References

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