Weird behaviour at night

[laurenmay]

We've had our girl a year now and she's been a dream. No problems with separation anxiety, house training etc. She's bonded with us but is also an independent dog - she is happy to take herself off when she wants a bit of alone time. However, occasionally she has been displaying some weird behaviour at night. She has a bed in our room but also likes to sleep on the double bed in the spare room, sometimes alternating between them in the night. She'll come in and wake us up if she needs to go out in the night. Last night though, I was woken by her high pitched whining from the spare room. So I get up to have a look and she is sitting up like a sphinx and looking all round the room as if there is something there. She didn't seem to notice I was there and if I tried to get her attention she'd just keep looking past me as if I Was in the way of something. The weirdest thing was that she seemed to be stuck on the bed. It's a low bed and she's gotten on and off it plenty of times but it was like she'd forgotten how to do it or the floor was lava or something! She has these episodes infrequently so I don't know if it's a big concern. It's just a bit unsettling, like she's sleepwalking or something. She hardly ever whines normally and she's happy sleeping both with and without us so I don't know what's up.

has anyone else experienced behaviour like this? Is it a harmless quirk? As long as she's not in distress, I'm happy to live with it.

[sharonhigh45]

Sorry no advice but hope it works out. x

[Lisa]

Could be petit mals ie very mild epilepsy leaving her slightly confused. Keep a diary of when it is happening and watch for any un usual behaviour when you have left her like signs of incontenance or distanced behaviour and over tiredness incase it progresses. I would also take her to the vets for a once over and ask for routine bloods, and take a urine sample in case she has a slight infection. Petit mals and grand mals can actually happen occassionally if they are harbouring something

[laurenmay]

Thanks Lisa. She's due at the vets for her jabs etc. so I will mention it then and ask for a full check up. It seems to happen about once a month or less but I will start writing it down in a diary as you suggest. Thanks again!

[sassbu]

My boy had what the vet described as a petit mal, must have been a couple years ago now when he was about seven. It's the only be we've ever witnessed. We took him to the vet who said he might never have another one or have them occasionally but to keep an eye on him and take him back if they got more regular. He was just fixated on the wall and we couldn't capture his attention at all, it was like he was in a trance and then we he did come out of it, he seemed unsure of where he was and then a couple moments later he was fine. See what the vet has to say x

[loopylou]

My girl behaved similarly but her legs totally went and when we managed to get her to her feet she was lurching all over the place. An emergency trip to the Vet and overnight stay for tests really found nothing significant so she was given IV antibiotics and sent home wuth a weeks course too as out Vet suspected an infection whuch she;d probably had for a while caused her seizure. That was about four uears ago and she has been fine since .

[laurenmay]

Well we took Joanie to the vets and got a thorough examination done as well as her boosters. They couldn't find anything wrong and her breathing and heart etc. are all fine. She had to get her anal glands done (bleugh!) and the vet said she could stand to lose a little weight, but other than that fine. So we are going to keep an eye on it and record any incidents in a diary, and go from there. Thanks for all your help - I'd never heard of petit mal before but it is definitely something I am glad to be aware of.

[Milothemonster]

Petit mal now more commonly known as absence seizures can affect animals. We have a son who is epileptic and has both absence and grand mal fits and also had a cat that suffered with seizures.

It may be that your girl is having absences and it may be a short term development that may settle and not happen again or it may develop further.

Animals like humans can develop seizures when they have an underlying infection or condition so I am glad you got her checked out.

Sometimes an allergy or sensitvity to their food may cause or worsen underlying epilepsy. This was certainly true of our cat who developed grand mal. She had been eating a certain food for years with no ill effects but suddenly started having seizures and after trial and error we found she was worse on this food which previously had not affected her, so we changed her diet and her seizures did lesson although sadly did not disappear.

Do keep a diary and note when these episodes occur, how long they last, what activity she has done and also note what food she has that day.

Hopefully this is a little glitch and nothing further develops.. it may not even be epilepsy.

But if she does go on to develop more symptoms then dont despair as the meds today are very effective and lots of dogs do well.

Let us know how she goes on.