Clemmie is my first dog - I've always had cats. So, I had my first puppy experiences with Clem, my first adult doggie experiences with Clem, and now my first elderly poochie experiences.
About five months ago, I noticed that Clem was starting to develop some behavioral oddities - nothing nasty. More like worry wart kinds of things. We'd go to bed, and she'd just start whining and worrying - it as if the weight of the world was on her shoulders. About two months ago, her arthritic knee became much worse. As a result, she developed very understandable stair anxiety. And I couldn't get her to for a walk for all the cookies in China. Even if her leg wasn't bothering her - she just wasn't interested.
During this period she started waking up at 3:00 AM - her internal clock was all messed up. And we just couldn't get her out of it - so we gave up and started giving her breakfast at 3:00 AM. It was just easier to feed her, take her out for her doggly duties and then climb back into bed. She'd usually then sleep until about Noon.
However, a month ago, she could no longer easily fall asleep - too anxious. And then when she finally did get to sleep, she'd wake up two or three times in the middle of the night. This was not good for any of us. Sleep deprivation was the order of the day.
I started checking around with folks - I wanted to find something to take the edge off of her anxiety - I didn't want to dope her up. I just wanted to do a little titration.
A friend recommended the doggy supplement, Happy Traveler made by Ark Naturals - my favorite doggy supplement provider. So, we tried Happy Traveler and voila - it actually worked, it cut the anxiety level just enough so that she could get to sleep.
Joy and Happiness Reigned.
For three days. And then the Happy Taveler was no longer effective. sigh...
At this point, it was clear that we needed to bring in the big guns. So, I talked to my vet. We decided to start out with a very low dose of Valium. Wednesday night was our first night. I gave the Clemster 10 mgs at bedtime. She carried on with her now usual major bed time whining - but then after about ten minutes, she slowed down, and then sort tipped over on her side with a big thunk and started snoring.
She slept and slept and slept. It was the first time in five months that we all had slept through the night.
It was heaven. Although, Peter thought I had committed dogicide. Clem was pretty much a big lump until about 10:00 AM the next morning. However, when I got home last night, Clem was perky and bouncy. She hadn't looked this good for months. Oh Boy!
Last night, I gave her five mgs instead of ten. She took a little longer to get to sleep. But she still slept through the night and got up at 8:00 AM instead of 10:00 AM.
I think we may have hit upon something here. I just hope it lasts.
10:16:59 PM 
|
