UF DVMs help dog catch a snooze

Gainesville, Fla.- Veterinarians at the University of FloridaCollege of Veterinary Medicine (UF) aimed to reverse a dog's violent sleepdisorder after successfully treating it with seizure medication.

The Golden Retriever, which began thrashing in its sleep at 8 weeks old,has been diagnosed with a rare case of rapid eye movement (REM) behaviordisorder.

To pinpoint the problem, the dog recently spent two nights at UF's VeterinaryMedical Teaching Hospital where DVMs collaborated with UF's Center for SleepStudies to run a test called polysomnography, says Cheryl Chrisman, a UFveterinary neurologist and professor of small animal clinical sciences.

Polysomnography measures brain wave activity, muscle tone, eye movementsand heart and respiration rates during first- and second-stage sleep knownas REM sleep. Other tests ruled out brain disease, and the REM disorderwas confirmed.