Girly pug has been being treated for an ongoing inner ear infection for about six weeks now; she started with a round of antibiotics and some ear drops, which seemed to work, but a week after stopping both, she started shaking her head again. Back to the vet, for another round of antibiotics. Which seemed to work, until last Thursday night. She was up pretty much all night, panting and shaking her head, despite the half-valium (also prescribed by vet) we’d given her.
So after a sleepless night for me, it was back to the vet in the am. This time, the vet reported her ear looked red & inflamed, but not so much infected. Great! But not perfect. This time, we left with her getting a steroid shot and another round of a different kind of ear drop.
The good news: she’s stopped shaking her head, so I think her ear is better.
The bad news: OMG she’s a freakin’ maniac nut. Pacing, panting, drinking a TON of water. She kept me up pretty much all night Friday night too. Called the vet, who confirmed all her weird-ass behavior was likely a side-effect of the steroid shot, and should wear off “soon.”
Last night, we took the precaution of giving her an entire valium (well within the dosage the vet gave us). It did nothing. I went to bed early (see above: two sleepless nights). Mr. Athena stayed up with her a while, and when it was time for bed, he cautioned that she was still very agitated. OK, we’ll try. HE went to sleep in the guest bedroom (which I envy, but don’t blame him; he’s a much lighter sleeper than I).
Doggy slept for maybe an hour before waking me up. I unceremoniously dumped her in another room and shut the door. This hasn’t traditionally been a solution for us, since even without steroids she tends to bark when left alone. But this time, she was quiet until 4am. So I trundle her outside, give her a drink of water, try to get her to sleep again. It lasted until 5:30. Rinse & repeat. I finally got up at 7am when she started again.
I’m going on 3 nights of very interrupted sleep. When will these @#$@# side-effects from the steroids wear off? I swear, this is worse than the ear infection itself. Does anyone have any experience? Vet told me “soon” but I didn’t think to make her qualify that, and they’re closed today.
