Is this Separation Anxiety or something else?

[mybailey]

Sorry this is long..... It's a week tomorrow that Bailey had the lipoma removed and on the whole she's doing great but the last two days Bailey started licking obsessively her front right leg from where the lump was removed. We thought something was wrong so yesterday evening we were at our vet's office but there is nothing wrong, he checked the stitches which are in her armpit and they are healing nicely, no swelling, no inflammation, everything's looking good, he excluded her allergy problem since its just one leg she's licking and doesn't think that she is in some pain, she has medication for the pain and she jumps and runs as normal. He gave us some tranquillizers to use if the licking gets worse, I haven't given her any till now since I would like to avoid them if possible.

But today a friend of mine at work dropped the question if this could be SA, I was telling him that this thing started yesterday, (I was home with her till Tuesday), but still she's not home alone, my MIL comes home to stay with her till I get back from work, but I have noticed that both yesterday and this morning while I was with her she didn't lick her leg not even once but as soon as MIL arrives although happy to see her and wants to play, Bailey starts licking her leg and as soon as I get home she stops, right now she's sleeping on the couch and looks relaxed. I don't think it's boredom because we have started taking her out for walks on leash from Tuesday and she enjoys them alot.

Any suggestions if this is Separation Anxiety? Do you think I should give her the tranquillizers

[Kinderwood]

I'm not an expert, but I think maybe a touch of SA is a possibility and, no, you don't necessarily need a tranqualizer for that. There are herbal supplements out there, and I personally much prefer those to actual tranqs in cases such as these. I just got one from the vet yesterday for our foster who has some fear/anxiety issues.

Could it also be that she has some issue(s) with your MIL? Maybe it's something your MIL does differently that sets the episodes off. Dogs are all about consistancy. They do accept change fairly well, but they prefer routine. Just a thought.

[mybailey]

No issues with MIL, Bailey loves her, usually Grandma (MIL) means something yummy to eat, she loves to play with her and it's not the first time that Bailey stayed with her even for a weekend when we are away and she is very happy to be with her.

MIL arrives about 30mins before I leave for work, and the licking starts as soon as I started getting ready to leave, MIL stays home with Bailey for 4 hours, that's why I am thinking that it's SA, seems that she wants me to stay home.

What can I give her instead of tranquillizers?

[Kinderwood]

Just food for thought, but sometimes it's something as simple as another person not having the same "rules", whether it's an advantage or disadvantage to the dog. Just a thought as there are both good and bad stresses...I'm not saying this is necessarily the case here, but it's just something to keep in mind when treating anxiety issues.

Anyways, the herbal supplement I got from the vet for our foster is called Genesis Resources Anxiety & Stress: Canine Calming Support. I did manage to find a run down of ingredients online here: http://www.onlynaturalpet.com/produc...006&click=6875. I would imagine that this isn't the only herbal anxiety supplement out there, but this is the one that the vet gave me and it seems to work fairly well.

Hope that helps!

[mybailey]

Thanks alot for your reply, could be that she's getting nervous because MIL never stayed with her when I'm at work, she usually stays alone, so it could be that there is a change in the routine, but unfortunately I can't leave her alone because she would start chewing on the stitches.

Anyway it will be just till tomorrow, hopefully we will return to the usual routine on Saturday