Thursday, April 4, 2013

This Bed Can't Hold All Of Us

Something's going on with Ozzie, one of our two puppy mill rescue Maltese dogs.

Lexie and Ozzie sleep in individual beds on a shelf just below our mattress on my side of the bed. They've been sleeping in this arrangement for many months without incident.  Early every morning, they wake up and jump up onto the bed with us for a little head scratching and play before our morning walk.

But a few weeks ago, while we were still in North Fort Myers, Ozzie had a episode of night time trembling.  It started less than an hour after we all were tucked snugly into our beds. He awakened and began looking around the bedroom with his ears up.  Only the flickering light from the television was on. The volume was low. Wayne had just dozed off while watching a movie. We thought it might be the flashing light in the dark room. Wayne turned the TV off.

Within a few minutes, Ozzie jumped up onto our bed and I could feel his whole body shaking. I held him close, stroked him and tried to get him calmed. Nothing was working.  We got out of bed and took both he and Lexie for a walk.  No emergencies there. 

That was the first of many more trembling episodes.  The next one occurred in the early morning a few days later. This time the television had not been on. Once again, it's easy to see he's scared; trembling hard and constant. 

For two nights this week, Ozzie has slept on the bed.  He wants to get on the pillow but I manage to keep him down around my chest.  He always does fall asleep and the trembling stops.  One night he woke up and got back into his bed.  Another night he stayed beside me all through the night. 

We've tried to determine the source of Ozzie's strange behaviour, but to this point, we've not found any real possibilities.  We've kept the television off, we've turned on a light with (and without) the television being on.  We've tried opening the windows and closing them. 

Last week we took our little guy to see a veterinarian -- a visit he detests.   He got an examination,  complete blood count and his electrolytes were checked.  We came away knowing just that he has no chronic health issue or hidden disease that blood work would show.  From my explanation, the vet ruled out White Dog Shaking Syndrome too.  In a nutshell, we know more about what it isn't than what it is. 

Yesterday, Ozzie got a Thundershirt.  That's the expensive dog sweater that's suppose to calm dogs.  Following the maker's instructions, I've been putting in on and taking it off for a few minutes at a time, getting him use to it.  He gets a treat every time we put it on.  It's suppose to give Ozzie the sensation of being cuddled.  The ads say it's proven and vets recommend it.
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The photo's blurry, but you get the idea.
Of course, like children, we think Lexie must have something new if Ozzie gets something new. So today, Lexie got a new, bigger pink bed.  She might like it, but didn't seem to care that Ozzie jumped into it as soon as we put it in the back seat of the car. 

Ozzie thinks he looks real good in Lexie's new pink bed.
For those who know Lexie and Ozzie, you might have noticed Lexie has a new, real short haircut.  She thinks it looks real cute and it's cool for those hot summer months of traveling.

We'll update this post if/when we see some change in Ozzie's sleep with the Thundershirt.  Keep your fingers crossed 'cause that big ole king sized bed seems small when we're all in it together.

1 comment:

  1. Hope the thunder shirt works for Ozzie. We had one for our boy but I think he was too old when we got it - he never did take to it. Our old girl has night terrors but the vet said it is old age (dementia). So she gets acepromazine every night to help her sleep. We always want what's best for our fur kids, don't we?

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