146 Clonidine

Episode 146 – Clonidine

Welcome to the first in a little duo of episodes on oral alpha 2 agonists. This week, I'll be talking about clonidine, and next week, I'm going to talk about guanfacine – another oral alpha 2 agonist – and compare and contrast the 2 for you in terms of use and indications.

Clonidine is a really useful psychopharmacological agent that is quite commonly used as both an event medication as well as a daily adjunct to baseline medications.

So, I thought we'd do a bit of a deep dive into clonidine and the things you, as professionals, need to know about this medication.

Here's what you'll learn:

·         Indications for and uses of clonidine as both an event- and a daily adjunctive medication in Veterinary Behaviour Medicine.

·         Why clonidine might be a good choice for hyper-aroused, hyper-active and hyper-vigilant patients.

·         When clonidine might be a better choice than guanfacine.

·         Potential drug interactions and contraindications.

Here are the 2 published papers I mention in the episode:

Ogata, N. and Dodman, N.H., 2011. The use of clonidine in the treatment of fear-based behavior problems in dogs: an open trial. Journal of Veterinary Behavior, 6(2), pp.130-137.

Pflaum, K., Albright, J., Cox, S. and Smith, J., 2026. Pharmacokinetics of Orally Administered Clonidine in Dogs. Journal of Veterinary Pharmacology and Therapeutics.