I need help. Please. (LONG and sleep-deprived)

[mrs.jacinthe]

Yesterday, Dot went in for a routine dental and to have a small mass removed from her eyelid. Everything went fine, except that due to the size/location of the mass, they were unable to use the laser for the surgery - which means she has stitches. On her eyelid. So she's wearing an ecollar. The vet was less than enthusiastic about putting a soft collar on because she could still potentially paw at her eye through it ...

But she's been stress panting all night. Literally, we went to bed at 9pm and she woke me up at midnight with the stress panting (the cone also awesomely acts as an amplifier so it's even louder than usual). We tried shutting her out of the bedroom and that did not work. So I offered to lay on the floor with her - no dice. It appears that part of the stress is caused by the lights being out. The second I turn the lights back on, she calms down. So here I am in my office, lights blazing - door shut, so H can get some sleep. Dot's passed out on the floor. I'm unable to sleep because even with a sleep mask, there's a LOT of light. If I turn the lights out, the stress panting begins.

I need ideas because I'm about to lose my mind ... help??

[secondhandscottie]

Oh, poor Dot! And poor you! Hopefully you got some sleep last night!

If you need to tonight, could you turn out some of the lights, but still leave a small one on? Even if you have to move a desk lamp from another room or something. Does she stress less in her soft e-collar? If so, I would probably try that. Some dogs never bother with stitches - she might leave them alone long enough for you both to get some sleep at least.

Hope tonight is better!

[mrs.jacinthe]

I got down like 4.5 hours of sleep last night. 2 hours of that was on the floor of my office, with literally a pillow, blanket, and the carpet. Plus a panting dog. Ugh. Coffee is my friend.

We're thinking about leaving a living room light on ... and I've been thinking about getting one of the kong-branded clear collars, in case the loss of peripheral vision is bothering her too.

Unfortunately, she has a nasty habit of "rubbing" her eyes when she's tired/stressed, and she's been pawing at her face with fervor since we brought her home. The vet was pretty firm about the soft collar being a nono in this case. Someone on my FB feed suggested a blow-up style collar, but I'm not sure if she could reach her eye or not with one ... anyone have experience with one?

[kellbell191]

I would talk to the vet and see if you can get a sedative until the cone can come off.

[mrs.jacinthe]

Called the vet. Was essentially told that I'm going to have to tough out the first few nights, since she doesn't feel comfortable prescribing a sedative with the combination of medications she's already on. CRAP ON A CRAP CRACKER. That is all.

[dirtyred]

I had a dog in the exact same situation. The surgeon said she had to stay in the collar all the time, but she panted and paced like crazy at night and neither of us slept.

I called my vet in the morning for some pharmacological help and he said "Just take the collar off. If she doesn't go directly for the stitches, she'll be fine. If she does, call me back." I took the collar off and the dog never once paid any attention to her incision. We were both much happier.

[mrs.jacinthe]

Update! Last night I left the light on in the living room (it's remote-activated). Dot fell right to sleep.

Woke up in the middle of the night, turned the light off, went back to sleep. Woke up 1/2 hour later - dog was stress panting. Turned light back on, stress panting stopped.

Our dog is now afraid of the dark. Which is, I suppose, understandable. Andplulsalso, she may be constipated a bit. *sigh*