Melatonin for Thunderstorms

Dear Dr. Herndon

I read in a letter in the paper that said giving 1 1/2 Melatonin tablets per 24 hour time period might calm a dog that is afraid of thunder storms. The owner said they gave the dog, a lab, the Melatonin tablets when she "went into listening mode" (the dog could hear approaching storms before her owners could hear them). Melatonin would be safer and more readily available than, say, Xanax. Thought you might want to comment.



Melatonin is a hormone that the brain uses to help regulate circadian rhythms. These are things like when to sleep, when to wake, when the hair should grow, when a female should cycle into heat. Melatonin does have a sedative effect on the brain when taken in larger quantities. Many people have used it to help adjust to time changes when traveling, for instance. Melatonin may help your dog get through the storm if all they need is a little sedation.

In the case of thunderstorm anxiety the problem is one of intense fear and anxiety. The deep, booming sound, flashes of light, and all that extra energy in the air is too much for some pets to tolerate. It may only take a little sedation to make it through the event in mild cases. For others, they need something more.

I compare it to people who are afraid of flying. Some folks just have a vodka tonic before bording the plane and then drink another once they're in the air. The sedation effect is all it takes to get them through. True anxiety is typically worse. Sedation may not help that person and instead all you end up with is a drunk anxious that's so nervous they vomit in the seat next to them and end up finishing the flight in the toilet.

Thunderstorms are the same. If sedation is all that's requred, Benadryl might help (1mg/pound body weight diphenhydramine) or maybe your veterinarian will suggest a prescription sedative like acepromazine. These drugs make the dog drunk, but they really don't do much for anxiety. Acepromazine also drops blood pressure quite a bit and may not be safe for some dogs.

I tend to treat these guys with drugs designed to break anxiety (anxiolytics). These are typically drugs in the vallium family (vallium = diazepam; klonopin = clonazepam; Xanax = alprazolam). These work great at breaking anxiety in the vast majority of dogs. The difference between them has more to do with duration of action. I like clonazepam in thunderstorm dogs. Seems to last long enough and break the anxiety well enough. Alprazolam is fantastic, too, but very short-lived.

Dogs require fairly large doses of these drugs compared to people. They are also controlled, which means they are very closely watched by the federal government because of the potential of abuse. Your veterinarian has to be careful how much they prescribe. These drugs will also tend to sedate, so you get the double whammy.

Occasionally, there is a dog that acutally gets hyper-excitable on these medications. That's unfortunate. Always give a test dose before you need it. Finding out the medication freaks your dog out during a thunderstorm would not be enjoyable.


Don't forget about non-pharmaceutical options, too. Keeping a light on, the television on, or keeping the pet in a dark room where they can't see the lightening may all help. Cesar Millan has some good thoughts on this one.

AMH