Elderly dog with night problems

Apoorwoman

My friend has a female labrador, exact age unknown as a rescue from Ireland, but we think around eleven years old. She is a very laid back, loving dog but was beginning to get a little stiff in her back legs.

She recently started chewing the wooden furniture at night and the vet put her on Metacalm to help with arthritis as we felt this behaviour was due to pain.

The chewing has stopped but she wanders about at night panting heavily, and seems unable to settle. During the day she is absolutely fine, jumps in and out of the car and enjoys a good walk. In fact you would not know she has a night time problem.

Has anyone come across this before and can offer any advice?

Tiddlywinks

One of my old cats used to get restless and loud at night - a bit of senility was setting in - I used to leave a couple of flameless candles on timer around the house to create some light and movement (from the flicker) plus I left a radio on in the kitchen.

The lights and sound seemed to help her know that someone was around and they calmed her down.

Hedgehog99

Our dog hated night time in his later years - used to pace round the kitchen and didn't seem to sleep. We tried the pheromone plug-in, but it didn't seem to help. We tried settling him in to his bed, or just making bedtime a very matter-of-fact event, but neither of those helped either. We also tried giving him the run of the house (had been used to just the kitchen at night), but that seemed to make him more nervous. He just caught up with his sleep during the day instead.

Has her heart been checked?

Is there anything the vet can suggest about the time of day she's given her arthritis meds or meals and whether they would affect her night time behaviour?

sheramber

We found leaving a nightlight on helped one of our elderly dogs.

There are supplements available for elderly dogs. It is a case of trial and error to find what works for each dog.

Speak to the vet about Selgian, Aktivait and Vivitonin.

Some are available online without a prescription and are cheaper online.

Apoorwoman

Thank you all for your kind advice.

I will phone my friend in the morning with your suggestions.

Thank you again for your time.