Stroke Recovery & Insomnia in Dogs

Neurological Disorders Resources. Treatment and care for pets having pain or trouble walking or standing due to spinal injuries or neurological disorders like IVDD, FCE and DM.
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pbj_33
Posts: 36
Joined: Wed Jun 23, 2021 10:00 am

Stroke Recovery & Insomnia in Dogs

Post by pbj_33 »

First of all, I want to say thank you to everyone who has responded with helpful tips, tricks, and advice to help us get through this time.

Kujo is slowly but steadily making a recovery. We had PT down in Tally yesterday & Ms. Kathy (his rehab vet) said that when Kuj was in the water treadmill he was correctly using and placing his left leg/foot 90% of the time. His right side isn't as strong, so they followed with cold laser focusing on his weaker leg.

NOTE- Kujo has stopped taking his bladder medication. The only medication he is currently on is Acepromazine 10mg (sedatives, one every 12 hours) & he's being weaned off of his pain medication (I do not know the name off the top of my head) due to his vet and us not seeing any signs of him being in pain. He gets his sedative once at 10-11 a.m. and same time again at night.

Since we have seen improvements in Kujos bladder, we can allow him to snuggle with us at bedtime with the help of his male wraps. We enjoy having him in the bed so much & knew he missed being in his usual resting place. Bedtime for us is around 10:30 and that's when we get him in the bed with us. We spend about 2-3 hours of relaxing time with Kuj in our bed. Even if he isn't sleeping, he is fully spread out and relaxed. He has been given his sedative before "bed" time or during, seeing as us getting into bed may be earlier/ later on some days whereas his medication does not change times.

For the past couple of nights, going on a week, Kujo has been seemingly uncomfortable or unhappy when it's time for HIS bed time. Note that the bed time phrase used above is regarding my personal bed. When we start nodding off, we make sure to get kujo to his bed, wrap off, wiped down, and given water or food. Usually, Kuj will simply go to sleep. Even if there were a few minutes of getting comfy, once he was asleep, he would sleep pretty good minus moving himself when he would need to pee, but very little noise or movement.

Within the past week (give or take), Kujo has really struggled staying comfy at night. He will be completely still in our bed but the moment we move him to his bed, he will move it seems every 15 minutes. Starting at 2 a.m., when he gets put on his bed, going until 6 a.m., when I get up for work. Usually, Kuj would only move himself if he had to use the bathroom or had went on the pad he was on.

NOW, it doesn't seem that his movements are tied in with his bathroom routine. It seems as though he is just simply not comfortable or not pleased with the spot he was in and will slide over an inch or two. In ten minutes, he may move to the hardwood floor beside both of the beds where we have kept a potty pad since we brought him home. The hardwood is so much cooler than his bed.

We have not slept longer than an hour at a time for the past few nights. Normally, he would just gently adjust, which would wake me, but he'd go back to sleep like a flip of a switch. It doesn't bother me one bit to have to get up out of bed in the middle of the night to help him move. But I would simply be lying if I said that continually not getting rest didn't effect me. It makes me way less pleasant to deal with as well as making my body more exhausted & in exchange, has made getting Kujo around more difficult. I feel weak, almost, from exhaustion. My boyfriend cried at 6 a.m. this morning just because last night was so bad for our sleep. Maybe 2.5 hours. I think we both feel like we're losing our sanity.

Is there anyone who has experienced insomnia in their dog like this? Even though he's on his sedatives, he wants to be moving constantly but only when its the wee hours of the night/ morning. I have given Ms. Kathy a call and am waiting on a call back but it wouldn't hurt to have some advice, tips, or opinions given to me to help out my baby.

He does not seem to be in any pain as I stated, just not content with where he is when it get's later into the night.

Anything is very appreciated, as I type this with my eyelids falling lol.

EDIT: Kujo's primary vet says that his sleeping schedule is more than likely backwards and advises we hold off on his morning medications. He will sleep all day, though we can't. I still am waiting to hear from CVS in Tallahassee. Since they are his trauma vets, I also want their opinion before I stop medicating Kujo.
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