Movement disorders during sleep in cats and dogs
Hendricks, J.C.; Lager, A.; O'Brien, D.; Morrison, A.R.
Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 194(5): 686-689
1989
ISSN/ISBN: 0003-1488 PMID: 2925485 Document Number: 331563
Spontaneous sleep movement disorders in 5 cats and 3 dogs were studied. Objective abnormalities during sleep were confirmed by electrographic or behavioral monitoring techniques in all animals. The cause of the disorder was CNS disease in 3 animals. A cause was not discovered in the other 5 animals, although at necropsy, 2 were found to have thyroid tumors. Many pharmacologic treatments were ineffectual, but trials with the benzodiazepine tranquilizer, clonazepam, suggested it will prove useful in controlling violent movements during rapid-eye-movement sleep.