At my wit's end with Jesse

Jesse slept both Friday and Saturday nights for 6 hour stretches, then went back to bed. I don't understand LOL!

Thanks, Pawz! Jake (our other springer) had been miserable for a while-not eating, really mopey, etc., and it turned out to be a double ear infection. The vet put in some sort of drop that lasts two weeks and he's been fine. Jesse's ears have been checked and there's no sign of infection and he's showing no signs they are bothering him. Gabapentin did nothing as well. Fortunately I am not working right now. I get up and get the dogs settled while my husband gets ready for work (it's such a long commute to the basement LOL!) but then go back to bed. I can handle getting up a couple of times a night-I finally had to go on diabetes meds so I'm up a few times myself. I just wish we could get him to settle in for his own well-being.

Crowe, we've been dealing with a somewhat similar sleep issue with one of our dogs. I haven't listed her in my signature line yet (need to do that), but she's been with us since late March. We "failed" at fostering her and formally adopted her in May. She's probably a Lhasa Apso or a mix, and is estimated to be 8 years old. She had always been a calm, somewhat independent dog, and an excellent sleeper until the very early morning hours of 9/22. She seemed to wake up from a sound sleep in a full blown panic or pain attack--shaking, panting, pawing at us, wouldn't settle down at all. This went on for hours and hours, well into the next day. She didn't sleep at all for almost 24 hours.

On 9/23 I dropped her off at the vet for a thorough exam and blood work. Everything checked out fine. The vet suggested trying some Gabapentin at night to see if that would help her. It didn't do a thing. We were up with her anywhere from a couple of hours to all night. Every night. We tried melatonin for several nights but that did nothing. We had to strategize every evening about what we would try for her, whose night it was to get up with her (or stay up with her if she wouldn't settle at all), etc. She continued to have the panic/pain attacks, and to have very prolonged periods of not sleeping at all. The longest we timed was 25,5 hours without sleeping.

I took her back to the vet Monday, this time for a urinalysis and xrays to see if there were any masses, spinal or joint issues that might be causing pain, or anything else that jumped out. Her xrays and urinalysis looked fine, but the vet (different one than the first time) diagnosed her with infections in both ears, and one of them was particularly bad.

The vet who saw her the first time noted some wax in her ears, but nothing else remarkable. But her ear pigment is very dark and it's very hard to see in them. Anyway, we don't know if the ear infections were percolating all this time and are the root cause of her sleeping issues or if they're recent/coincidental and unrelated. The vet treated them and gave me some Trazadone to help her (and us!) get some rest. The first night it didn't do anything, but last night she slept through the night for the first time in three weeks. It was glorious!

It's going to take a little while to see if the ear infections were the actual cause of her lack of sleeping or if it's something else. We've got Trazadone for eight more nights, so we're hopeful that all of us can get rested up, and then when that's gone--and by then her ears should be feeling much better--we'll see if she'll go back to her normal good sleeper self. If not then I'm hoping the vet will give us an ongoing script for Trazadone (assuming it continues to help her). Not getting enough sleep was really wearing on all of us after just three weeks.

Anyway, I don't know if there's anything there that's helpful to you. I mainly wanted to let you know you're not alone in dealing with a dog with sleep issues. Good luck!

We are now having good nights and not so good nights. Last Saturday he only got up once at 3:30 a.m. Most nights now it's every 2-3 hours which is tolerable but not great. And we still have the "every hour on the hour" nights. No rhyme nor reason as far as we can tell except the calmer he is when he goes to bed the better he does. Trouble is we can't figure out what's setting him off. Not sure it's us doing anything but it's now "it is what it is".

Deb and Ed M wrote:
Crowe, I don't have any advice - just my sympathy. This is almost the same path I walked with my Jimmy (mini Aussie-poo) - the biggest problem I had was his perpetual "puppy state of mind" - he would play like he was a kid again (despite being blind), and kept hurting himself. And then being diabetic, the injuries didn't heal unless he was on antibiotics. He too was getting clingy at times; or would get "lost" at night (he slept with us, wearing a male diaper at night) And he too was losing weight, in spite of eating a large meal twice a day.... I have no idea how many times he had me in tears for him....

Thanks for the kind thoughts. That sounds so familiar. When I think of how he was up until about 6 months ago it just breaks my heart. He's still happy to walk when it's light out and if we put a flashlight beam in front of him he will walk at night. He loves the cooler weather and that's giving him incentive to walk. If we take him outside with us when we are working in the yard he is so happy but won't stay outside in the kennel like he used to at our other house, even if Jake is with him. Thankfully Jake is still Jake-a big ole dopey dog. He responded very well almost immediately to the insulin. His eyesight is starting to fail a bit but no where near as bad Jesse. It's tough having two diabetic dogs in the house but it is what it is.

Crowe, I don't have any advice - just my sympathy. This is almost the same path I walked with my Jimmy (mini Aussie-poo) - the biggest problem I had was his perpetual "puppy state of mind" - he would play like he was a kid again (despite being blind), and kept hurting himself. And then being diabetic, the injuries didn't heal unless he was on antibiotics. He too was getting clingy at times; or would get "lost" at night (he slept with us, wearing a male diaper at night) And he too was losing weight, in spite of eating a large meal twice a day.... I have no idea how many times he had me in tears for him....

agteacher wrote:
My doctor does not want me to do keto as I had initial kidney failure when I went into the hospital in January and was diagnosed. I eat more of a paleo natural diet but limit carbs to natural low sugars. I am down 50 pounds and making/ responding to my own insulin again with no kidney problems.

That's fantastic! I think Paleo and Keto share the concept of getting rid of those processed, useless carbs. Ditching the cheap simple carbs seems to be the big factor. Scary how much sugar is in fruit. Just not worth the fiber as you can get plenty from veg sources and nuts.

Eating keto, my gut has straightened out too. Couldn't eat dairy/lactose before without taking lactose pills. Now I'm good to go on all of it. Seemed to clear up a skin nerve disorder I had as well, that made my skin burn and itch like mad. Big relief that's subsided!!!
Glad you've had success!!!

My doctor does not want me to do keto as I had initial kidney failure when I went into the hospital in January and was diagnosed. I eat more of a paleo natural diet but limit carbs to natural low sugars. I am down 50 pounds and making/ responding to my own insulin again with no kidney problems.

agteacher wrote:
As a diabetic, I can say that water is desirable at night because I get dehydrated. That being said, I am controlling my diabetes with diet, not insulin now. Have you looked at the food? A meat based food is going to do more to control diabetes than a grain based. I find that if I eat grains in the evening, I am much more thirsty at night and my sugar level fluctuates more. I would look for a food with chicken, beef, or other meat and very little rice or corn. Supplement with green beans, broccoli, or other vegetables if he will eat them. Just some suggestions

Good thinking. Food is a pretty good thing to look at with dogs. And don't by into the stuff they sell at the vets. It's just a point of purchase profit maker for the office. No better then Dog Chow or other grocery store junk. Reading labels is a good start. At a RAW diet does wonders for some dogs. It's a PITA though if you travel due to freezer space requirements.

And good for you for squaring up your diet to control your DB and avoiding the needle. I'm not here to preach about it, but have you thought of giving eating Ketogenic a try? It seems like there's a lot of folks with DB that are kicking most if not all of their meds eating Keto. Dropping weight like a bad habit helps immensely too. I'm at 2+ yrs Keto and am down 65lbs. And that's without counting measuring or any of that and I still "over eat" calorie-wise.
Just wanted to throw that out to you as I know a couple people personally that have both stopped all their meds and are doing incredible.

agteacher wrote:
As a diabetic, I can say that water is desirable at night because I get dehydrated. That being said, I am controlling my diabetes with diet, not insulin now. Have you looked at the food? A meat based food is going to do more to control diabetes than a grain based. I find that if I eat grains in the evening, I am much more thirsty at night and my sugar level fluctuates more. I would look for a food with chicken, beef, or other meat and very little rice or corn. Supplement with green beans, broccoli, or other vegetables if he will eat them. Just some suggestions

I am a diabetic as well but just had to go on meds because I have Symogi effect. I fully understand the need for water during the night. Jesse is on a prescription diet called Glycobalance which helps a lot. Last night he was up 4 times (every 2 hrs or so) which I can tolerate because I need to get up that often myself most nights. I think at this point it might just be a roller-coaster of ups and downs. He loves the colder weather and is much more active with lower temps which helps him sleep better. I'm hoping that helps some.