For the past 3-weeks, our 13 year old Belgian Malinois wakes us up in the middle of the night with his excessive panting and pacing.

A little history. A few months ago he was treated for blown discs in his neck which led to an infection. Vet put him on antibiotics and x-rays showed he recovered. Vet also changed his Tramadol (for his arthritis) to Previcox, a different pain drug. Fast forward a few months. For the past few weeks, he will wake up at odd hours of the dead of night and start panting and pacing the room. It is so bad wife has to take him into living room where she sleeps on the couch and he paces the house till he finally lays down and goes to sleep. This panting/pacing IS NOT related to the room/ambient temperature. He does it in all weather.

Trip to the Vet. Vet took him off Previcox, did blood test and stomach x-rays. Vet thinks he has 'acid reflux' which manifests itself at night. Suggests bland diet, pepcid and OTC Zantac. Blood test are normal. X-rays showed maybe pneumonia? so she gave him antibiotics again. His heart checked normal. Radiologist ruled out pneumonia so off antibiotics.

He will do this behavior during the day also. Example, he will be sleeping on the floor. I vacuum the house so he has to move. Just getting out of the way of the vacuum, he starts this panting like he has run a marathon, plops down and after panting awhile..back to sleep.

No weight gain/loss, eats and drinks as normal, stools normal, an occasional wretch when he drinks water. Vet wants an ultra sound to rule out stomach/chest tumors. Ultra sound pending.

No kidding when I saw he pants and paces, he works himself up into a frenzy panting.

Anybody experience this in their dog? Thanks in advance for the help and suggestions.

UPDATE; Just had an ultrasound done on his gut parts. ALL is normal, "the best ultrasound I have seen in a dog his age" according to the Vet. Congestive heart failure and Cushings all checked negative also. So, Diagnosis is Dementia/alzheimer's. Vet prescribed Prozac said she has had good results with calming dogs down with that. Thanks to those who posted thoughts/suggestions. Will see if Prozac works. Fingers crossed.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: urbanwarrior238,

My answer might leave you with more questions than answers, I'm afraid. Ruleouts for this behavior include pain (especially if on pain or arthritis meds that wear off during the middle of the night), declining mentation (i.e., dementia, cognitive dysfunction), panic bronchitis (I can't breathe!), noise phobias (appliance hum, new noise outside, etc), congestive heart failure (ask the vet if they did a heart measurement, or VHS-Vertebral Heart Score- anything over 10 is abnormal), or Cushing's disease (hyperadrenocorticism, overactive adrenal gland).

Were this my patient, I would do chest rads, general chemistries, and either a low dose dexamethasone test or an ACTH stim test looking for cortisol related disease. If ALL of this came back as normal, I would try a behavior modification medicine like amitriptyline, fluoxetine, or clorazepate and see if that helps.

If you're seeing other behaviors during waking hours, like the dog maybe "wandering" around the house more, or walking into the room and looking around (like that "where'd I leave my keys?" look) then it's likely cognitive dysfunction, which is like doggie Alzheimer's. There are several medications you can try for that, with the best being selegiline. It can make a wonderful difference for older, confused pets. And remember, while we always look for one cause of any issue, it doesn't mean that in older pets there can't be multiple issues coalescing into a big pile of crappy existence.

Good luck with figuring it out!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: slabsides45,

Here is a list of some causes of panting:

http://healthypets.mercola.com.../25/dog-panting.aspx

CoEnzyme Q10 would be good for his heart.

https://www.drsinatra.com/pets-for-heart-health

http://shop.mercola.com/produc...r-container-1-bottle

BTT for update