What to do with a dog with insomnia?

[williamsmum]

William has recently turned eleven and for some reason has decided to stop sleeping at night! For several weeks now he has been getting me up two, three or four times during the night. At first I thought he was needing a wee, so I would get up and let him out. Now, however, he just runs around the house making a whiny noise. My other cocker follows in hot pursuit and my poor GSD and I are suffering through lack of sleep! In every other way he is fine, eating and drinking well, lively and active, although I think a little deaf now. I don't know if this 'night-time prowling' has just become a habit, or if there is something more seriously wrong. Any advice please? I have tried giving him a little food during the evening so that he is not waking up hungry, but it hasn't made any difference.

[elaine.e]

Elderly dogs can sadly develop a condition similar to Alzheimer's in humans and William's symptoms sound like that. There's a drug called Anipryl that can help dramatically in many cases.

This link provides some information about the condition and treatment http://pets.webmd.com/dogs/cognitive-dysfunction-syndrome-dogs

I hope you can find a solution to help William and help the rest of you get some sleep at night 

[ollie nathan's mum]

I'm sure Elaine is right, I hope he settles soon.

[helshaw]

This same thing happened to our old dog and it was about 5 months before I took him to the vet as I just though it was old age & there would be nothing they could do. I had never heard of Alzheimer's in dogs but it does exist like Elaine says. He was given a drug which did help but he was 14 so wasn't on it long before we lost him. If it happened now with my two I would take them straight away. I sympathize with the lack of sleep, it was always me that got up never my OH who would just sleep through. Hope you get it sorted.

[williamsmum]

Thank you, Elaine. I had already been thinking along these lines. William is still active and playful, but he has appeared to be losing his hearing of late, and I know that dogs exhibit many of the same signs of disease or aging that humans do. I am in Bulgaria at the moment, but will definitely pay a visit to my vet. Fortunately we have some brilliant vets in our area, and I am sure that if I suggest this drug to him, he will be able to help William. The lack of sleep is hard, as I am a person who really needs a good, undisturbed night in order to be able to function properly the next day. Sadly, the days of being able to manage on a couple of hours' sleep per night are now a very distant memory! 

[Sarah.H]

Wow I've never heard of that before. I hope you get the problem sorted, as someone that suffers with insomnia I can sympathise