Food and medicine question

[Ashley V]

Smokey has severe separation anxiety, which as of late, has been getting worse when he senses a storm. I've been handling it for the last 3 years by just trying to keep a stable environment for him and always keeping him with either Chip or one of us. He came to us almost 4 years ago after a rough first 6 months of life and had really bad anxiety problems, so this isn't anything new. Since it has gotten a lot worse in the last couple months and after trying several over the counter "calming" aids like rescue remedy and different holistic stuff coupled with other coping mechanisms for him and training, I consulted with my vet and she said she recommended Clomicalm. I started giving it to him Sunday evening and my vet said he may have some minor side effects for the first couple weeks. Last night he had some bad diarrhea, so I called the vet to see if maybe I should give him some anti-diarrheal medication or try something like canned pumpkin or what I should do. She said to make sure he eats a full meal before taking the Clomicalm, but if that doesn't help then to call her back. Here's the problem: Both of my dogs are free fed and refuse to get on a "schedule". Smokey likes to eat at night when everyone is asleep. Chip eats whenever. Both are in their perfect weight range, so they are not over eating or under eating. Every evening both of the dogs get a joint supplement for their LP that I crush up and mix with a spoonful of wet food, since it is the only way I can get them to take the supplement. SOOOO this evening I mixed a handful of Smokey's kibble, gave him a couple of spoonfuls of the wet food, mixed it with the supplement, and gave him his Clomicalm in one bowl. He ate every bite. If I have to mix wet food with his kibble to get him to eat a bowl of food to take this medicine I will, but how much of each should he get? He's about 11-12 lbs. For this evening I just grabbed a handful of kibble (maybe about an 1/8 of a cup?) with about 2-3 tablespoons of wet food. He just needs to have some food in his belly to keep his stomach settled for the medicine. Is that enough? He'll still have access to his kibble to eat whenever he wants.

[AlicetheYorkie]

I'd say that's a good amount of food for a little meal to cushion the medication, especially if he's going to be free feeding more thoughout the day.
Is his anxiety all the time? Have you looked into the Thundershirt? I know alot of people on here use it with great success, not sure how long of a time period it could be left on though.

[Ellie May]

For an average sized Yorkie, 1/8 mixed with wet would be an adequate meal. If he is closer to 10-12 pounds, then you might want to increase it a bit. It shouldn't hurt him any. He'll just eat less kibble during the night.

The only thing you need to do is make sure he isn't gaining.

[Ashley V]

Thanks for the replies! It is much appreciated.

As for the Thundershirt - I'm not sure exactly what it is, but I'm going to look into it for days that I can predict may upset him. He will still need to be on something though because his anxiety is really bad. Even taking him to PetSmart for an hour or so will cause him to end up sleeping for over 24 hours after coming home because he gets so stressed out. The vet assured me that with this medicine he will still be himself, just more relaxed.