It's been a month since I posted about the problem we're having with Kasey roaming and being anxious at night. I've learned a lot that I didn't know before about senior dogs and the problem of roaming the house at night! Been PM'ing with another member and we thought it would be a good topic to bring up in case others are having the same issue.

Kasey, who just turned 7, is fine during the day, no separation anxiety or acting different than normal. He plays, eats, drinks, obeys commands, and shows no signs of dementia at all. But at night he seems anxious and gets up and down a lot, roaming from room to room and not just sleeping all night. I got a complete physical exam and senior blood panel done and they said he looks excellent - all tests completely in the normal zone. His vision was checked and is good, and there is no signs of arthritis. So we have ruled out pain as a reason.

He has his own sleep area and a crate he likes, we have turned on a night light, played quiet calm music on a radio in that room, made sure he's got comfy bedding, etc. All to no avail! But recently I have learned that this is a common problem for some senior dogs. We are playing with some 'natural' types of anti-anxiety meds such as l-theanine and passionflower, valerian root, etc. And also making sure he has enough mental stimulation during the day. Exercise has always been in the mix. The vet has offered am Rx for an anti-anxiety med called Clomicalm which I am considering if the more natural approach doesn't help. They are definitely not hot on using sedatives like valium these days!

Have any of you experienced this with your dogs? and if so, how did you deal with it?

This is a good topic.

Two people in our club are having this with senior dogs, and my granddog Milo (an old Border Terrier) went through this to a very disruptive and upsetting extent.

He seemed confused at night. If he had any confusion at all in the daytime, it was minor enough not to show.

They went through three (maybe four) antidepressants before finding one that did work.

They also added a small heating pad to his bed (small enough to be off it if he chose) in case joint pain was contributing to wake him up.


Now I am seeing they were relatively fortunate to have found the right med within a matter of weeks, because my other two friends have been battling it for many weeks.


One thing I wanted to add to the thread was that I suggested to the one friend whose dog has not been marker-trained that tiny short marker-training sessions (first just loading her marker) could help tire his brain and probably also give him some added confidence. He's old and arthritic, and also has bad pollen allergies, so I wanted to come up with stuff to help wear him out a bit indoors.


Has anyone had success with any of the "Nutraceutical and Pheromone Interventions" or "Pharmacological Treatments" here? http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?A=3189




http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?A=3189

We had that same problem with our last senior dog, Tasha, a shepherd mix. The vet prescribed Prozac as a way to help regulate her sleep cycle but it didn't seem very effective. Eventually, we tried closing her up in her cage at night. Before, she just had a bed next to ours. It worked for a few months but over time, she became restless again in the middle of the night. She would wake up and panic and start crying and panting. Finally, we had to resort to tethering her to the nightstand on my side of the bed along with a softer bed. That seemed to work the best. When she woke up and wanted to wander, I would just hang my arm down, pat her, and that seemed to help her relax and get back to sleep. With her diminished hearing and eyesight, I think is was just easier to be fearful and to panic, waking up and not knowing where we were in a dark room. She seemed to be comforted just knowing where we were and that allowed her to sleep.

It was tough and over time only got worse. I'm so sorry for you and Kasey going through this.

I had this problem to a much lesser extent with my last dog, he would awaken in the middle of the night would start pacing, panting, previous vet check reported him in fine health. He had a previous history of lyme, rmsf (then subclinical rmsf). I suspected pain, did not have a work-up done at the time. I started using a heating pad with him, some days he wanted it, some days he didnt . I also on vets dosing began giving him an asprin, just before bedtime, within a week there was a huge reduction in the pacing and panting. He was sleeping throughout the night.
Fast forward when he was brought to the ER for an unrelated problem they xrayed his abdomen, his spine on the xray was severely arthritic (I believe caused by the rmsf), he also had an enlarged prostate.
IMHO, I would never rule out pain as a cause unless I had done a trial with pain medicine for at least a week or two. Muscle pain, visceral pain etc won't show up on an xray and pain is often the worst at night because the are fewer things to distract from it, a pain that is relatively minor in daytime can easily escalate at night. With my dog I also made a point of a second potty trip at night. I hope you're able to find a solution to your guys problem.

"IMHO, I would never rule out pain as a cause unless I had done a trial with pain medicine for at least a week or two. Muscle pain, visceral pain etc won't show up on an xray and pain is often the worst at night because the are fewer things to distract from it, a pain that is relatively minor in daytime can easily escalate at night."


Yes, this was what Milo's vet said, almost exactly, and she was planning on trying tramadol at night if the heating pad and the mild antidepressant had not ended up successful.

ETA
She realized that he seemed confused at night (he's quite old ... he was 16 or 17 at this time), but also thought that anything waking him up at night for any reason was a bad thing .... pain, stiffness, full bladder .....



Edited by Connie Sutherland (10/28/2013 04:41 PM)
Edit reason: eta

I've been experiencing this with my Cairn Terrier...age 16. She is in generally good health, but has some arthritis and is losing her sight/hearing. We actually had a problem with her pacing and being anxious during the day, which is the opposite of most senior dogs.

What's really helped her is to keep her confined to a smaller space...so she spends her time in the kitchen. Shrinking her world to that smaller space really lessened her anxiety. Our house isn't that big, but she'd find herself getting stuck in odd spots, pacing endlessly in circles, etc. I really cannot complain, because she is much happier and my carpets are being saved since she will use the bathroom in the house. At night, she is crated and sleeps like a log.

I'm wondering if anyone has tried Anipryl, its for CCD.

My vet, who I really trust, talked about it this weekend when we were there. It's a option for dementia, CCD, etc., but she said she's had limited success with it. She said Prozac is much more effective.

 Quote: Melissa Hoyer

I've been experiencing this with my Cairn Terrier...age 16. She is in generally good health, but has some arthritis and is losing her sight/hearing. We actually had a problem with her pacing and being anxious during the day, which is the opposite of most senior dogs.

What's really helped her is to keep her confined to a smaller space...so she spends her time in the kitchen. Shrinking her world to that smaller space really lessened her anxiety. Our house isn't that big, but she'd find herself getting stuck in odd spots, pacing endlessly in circles, etc. I really cannot complain, because she is much happier and my carpets are being saved since she will use the bathroom in the house. At night, she is crated and sleeps like a log.

Several of you have mentioned a small space at night. We tried that with Kasey and that's what seems to set him off. Put him in a nice extra bedroom right next to ours (it has his crate in it and he chooses to sleep in it during the day), but he starts panting and whining in the early morning. If we let him pick where he sleeps, he has several places he picks, but moves around a lot - no panting or whining though. We can't let him in our room (we put a gate across our doorway so he can see and hear us) because he snores SOOOO loud we don't get any sleep at all.

Lori,I don't have any experience with night roaming. I have never thought of my dogs being seniors at 7, but I still call my 15 year old cat "the kitten." Your post got me thinking about age.