Anxiety toilets at night

[Klord]

Hi all

We've had Lady for almost a year now, she stopped racing in March 2022 and she’s turning 4 this year. She has a pretty consistent routine which she’s seemed happy with until now. We live in the city in an apartment complex, we have a private carpark where she usually does her wee before bed. But a cat has moved into the block which roams freely and has totally changed how she is. When we now take her out at night she wants to we're outside the complex and is waking up several times in the night crying wanting to go out, so we take her and she ends up having diarrhoea, panting a lot and crying. We muzzle her and originally ignored her crying (thinking she just wanted to see the cat) but it seems to be giving her so much anxiety that it's making her toilet routine off and uncomfortable. 
If anyone has any advice how to readjust as getting up at 2/3/4am is not ideal and we don't want it to become routine!

Thank you! 

 

 

 

[EllenEveBaz]

Have you already had the vet check her out, especially the diarrhea?  

[Klord]

Yeah been to the vet she took some antibiotics in case it was a stomach bug but vet confirmed that she’s perfectly healthy

[greysmom]

When she sees the cat, is she staring at it fixated and you're unable to break her concentration?  Does she try to chase it?  Is the cat interested in the dog and seeking her out when you're outside at other times??  Have you tried taking her further afield from her normal potty spot to see if you can break her fascination with the "cat in the yard?"   A high prey drive dog can sometimes become obsessed with seeking out prey, but this seems to be a pretty extreme reaction. 

Did your vet look at a fecal sample to make sure there was no disease or parasite present??  Is she having diarrhea all day every day?   Have you changed her food or eating schedule at all recently?? 

Will she sleep quietly/normally during the first part of the night?  Does she display these same anxiety behaviors during the day?

If this is only a nighttime, 4am in the morning thing then I would speculate she may be waking up on her old racing kennel schedule (they usually wake them up early to get the day started), and has to go urgently, then gets outside and sees the cat.

If she's truly not having a medical issue, and you can't break her habit, you may need to try a course of anti anxiety medication at bedtime to get her calmed down.  

[cleptogrey]

i agree with vet check up. but try some of this: VITAMIN RX CLAY- great for the gut and works almost instantly for the runs. a professional handler told me about it. i never leave home without it. stress does hit the gut first.

i have a female w/ a high high high prey drive. mango will sit on the back porch all night and scan the yard for critters. it drives us crazy when we are watching TV and she knows there stuff out there and she paces.  i tell her to knock it off, but sometimes it presents itself as a need for an emergency turnout at 3 am. yup, DH has gone out to find opossum playing dead and one wild and crazy beast. when this occurs i resort to a crate at bedtime. i happen to have a huge airline crate but if you have a wire crate cover it with a sheet or blanket.  so, this can be a normal behavior for a hunter. but with the passing of 4th of july, summer heat etc a possible round or two of flagyl might be in order.