AVA Conference Adelaide 2016

Veterinary visits can be extremely stressful for pets, and the peri-operative period of confinement may lead to a spike in anxiety. Providing for these patients with the use of short-term, effective anxiolytics is important from a welfare perspective. In doing so, this would help to ameliorate the situation and reduce the formation of negative associations and fearful reactions to the clinic setting. Staff safety will also improve. Trazodone, a serotonin 2A antagonist and reuptake inhibitor, is a great adjunctive anxiolytic for use in the clinic setting. It is also useful as an “event” medication alongside long-term medications (tricyclic antidepressants and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors). Trazodone has a favourable, broad margin of safety. Its use generally is without significant side effects and it can be safely co-administered with many common veterinary medications. This presentation will review the literature on the use of trazodone, particularly in the general practice setting. We will also cover in which situations it would be effective, and in which situations its use should be avoided.