Have you heard of late-onset separation anxiety?

16 years ago

I've posted here before, several times, about my two elderly dogs, the younger of whom is Wolfy, a Husky-Shepherd. He was adopted from a shelter when he was one or two years old, which makes him around 14 now.

Wolfy is on Previcox and Tramadol for arthritis. A couple of months ago he started going in the pantry at night, as soon as I go to bed. He gets stuck in corners in there, as his arthritis makes it difficult to back up. What usually happens is that I'll get in bed and within a very short time have to go back downstairs to rescue him. We often go through this more than once per night. Even when he doesn't need rescuing, he bangs around in there, keeping me awake or waking me up. The pantry is just an extension of the kitchen, so there's no door or doorway. I've tried blocking his way in various ways, but he's a strong and determined dog. My sleep routine is in the pits, and the pantry is getting seriously trashed. And it's becoming increasingly clear that Wolfy is seriously unhappy.

I'm finally recognizing this as a type of separation anxiety. I don't know what he does while I'm at work, but I think he sleeps. It just seems to be at night that this behavior starts. A few times I've stayed downstairs after freeing him from the pantry. At those times he will pant and pace and make unhappy little noises. If I have the stamina to do it, I've waited it out until he winds down and falls asleep. They we're okay for the night. But most of the time I'm too tired to do that.

I tried sleeping on the sofa one night, and he didn't go into the pantry. But he kept me awake panting and nudging at me, so that didn't work.

The vet put him on amyltriptoline two or three weeks ago, but I haven't seen any improvement since. In fact, it seems to be getting steadily worse. I hate the thought of putting him on yet another med, but I put in a call today asking if there was something else we could try.

Wolfy belonged to my daughter Jill, who died eight years ago this Memorial Day. He's been a wonderful dog, and she and I created many beautiful memories with him. I don't know how many times over the years I've told him that he's not allowed to die. It seems inconceivable to me that I've reached the point where I'm thinking of taking that decision into my own hands.

Is it common for older dogs to develop anxiety? Do you have any advice for me? Your thoughts are appreciated.

Susan

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Comments (5)

weed30 St. Louis
16 years ago
My 15 year old dog had some of the same issues. I think it is a combination of senility and pain. Panting is a sign of pain in dogs. Senility can cause anxiety.

About my dog: At about 14, she forgot how to drink water from her bowl. Seriously. I tried every type of bowl, raised it, lowered it, whatever. I ended up having to give her water by using a needleless syringe and squirting it into her mouth. I also could put a cup or so of water in with her food and she drank that fine. Weird. She was also restless at night. Pacing, panting. I think from general confusion, (senility), and probably pain.

I had her on deramaxx for arthritis. When that seemed to stop helping, I switched to steroids. Normally I would not put a dog on constant steroids, but at her age, it wasn't like I had to worry about long term effects. I also gave tramadol - twice a day. Increased to 3 times a day towards the end.

I think that just like when people get old, old dogs do not need as much sleep/cannot sleep well at night. Think about how many old people get by on 5 hours a night. Part of that may be because they sleep a lot during the day, just like dogs do. Just a theory.

Anyway, I would consider switching to steroids for the arthritis, and giving your dog an extra tramadol at bedtime. Good luck, I know it is heartbreaking. My Maggie would get "stuck" too. Behind doors due to senility, or on slippery areas (tile, wood laminate), because she didn't have the muscles in her back legs to be able to get up :(

And, I'm very sorry about your daughter Jill. I know the pain of losing a child never goes away.
mazer415
16 years ago
I agree your dog is probably in more pain than he is being treated for. I would ask your doc about a pain medicine, and a sleep aid for the dog. You might also want to look into getting a wheelchair for him, he may be pacing due to restlessness and the fact that he is not getting out much anymore.
I hate that you all are having this experience and I hope you can come to a resolution which is best for everyone soon.
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alisande
Original Author
16 years ago
Thanks, Weed and Mazer. I appreciate your concern and suggestions. I gave Wolfy an extra Tramadol at 1:30 a.m., after going through our usual routine, and he settled down at some point after that.

I'm expecting a call from the vet today, so we'll see how that goes.

Thanks again.
goldgirl
16 years ago
Very common. Just went through a similar experience with our 14-year-old Golden, who we lost about a month ago. Although she was originally being treated for pain from arthritis (mostly in the back), we eventually did an MRI and discovered she had a brain tumor, which was making everything worse.

She never went downhill mentally but did get clingy - and this was an extremely independent girl who would only accept loving when she felt like it. Panting is usually a sign of discomfort, but can also be anxiety.

We did physical therapy with her for several years, which helped tremendously, and over that time used Adequan injections, Metacam, Rimadyl and Tramadol. Each worked well for a period of time, but we eventually ran out of pain options and switched to steroids. Sometimes they can be used infrequently to sort of blast the system, but we had her on them continually for a short time.

Our situation was a little different because we knew she had a tumor and it was a matter of letting her go when we could no longer control her pain. Each day we'd ask ourselves (don't laugh, but we'd look in her eyes and ask her too) if keeping her with us for another day was good for her, or really only good for us.

It's so hard. Sending you positive thoughts to get through this.
Ninapearl
16 years ago
i have to agree with everybody else, i went through this with my old husky.

i also want to extend my deepest condolences for the loss of your daughter. i know how you feel the connection with your daughter through wolfy. i have the same thing going on with my male corgi, diagnosed with degenerative myelopathy recently. the thought of losing him is bad enough but the thought of losing him because he is something my late husband and i shared such joy in is almost intolerable.