My Dog Can't Get Up and Cries or Pants at Night: Pain, a Full Bladder, or Being Alone, and What to Check at 3am

We read eleven veterinary care sheets and nursing guides, most of them written for dogs who cannot get up. Some say what to do about panting or pain at any hour. The spinal cord injury consortium's tables come closest to the night: they mention diapers overnight and emptying the bladder "first thing in the morning". None of them says how long the night can be, or what to check when he wakes the house at two in the morning. So here is the check, in order. First, feel his bladder, because a dog with a spinal cord injury may not get the usual warning from it and cannot tell you. Second, look at which side he is on and whether the pad is wet. Third, take his temperature, which separates a hot room or a fever from everything else. Fourth, look at the clock against his last dose. Fifth, sit down beside him and wait. Crying that does not stop with you sitting beside him is a phone call tonight, whatever is causing it. Crying that does stop is not proof he is comfortable.

What do the discharge sheets say about the night?#

We read each source below looking for any instruction about the night: crying, panting, restlessness, the last check before bed, or a bladder or turning interval that names the hours between midnight and morning.

Look at how the instructions are written. Some owner sheets give hours: Langford checks the bladder every 6 hours, Partner turns every 4 to 6. Others give "times a day": a minimum of three, three to four, three to five. An every-6-hours instruction covers the night on paper, but none of these sheets says so out loud, and it is easy for a household to read "times a day" as times in its own day. The consortium's chronic-phase table is headed "in hospital management", and it pairs "Every 6 h" with "take dog first thing in the morning". The paper's text notes that "some owners find use of diapers overnight can reduce contamination of bedding", so its authors plainly expected dogs to spend nights at home. It does not say how long those nights can run. So a schedule written for 24 hours can easily end up kept in the hours the house is awake, and then the night becomes the longest gap of all without anyone deciding it. A household that empties his bladder at 11pm and again at 6am has a 7-hour gap before the working day has even started.

That may be why the crying is so hard to read. If it comes in the small hours, it comes near the end of the longest interval of his day, when everything that runs on a clock (the bladder, the side he is lying on, the last dose) is at its furthest from the last time anyone checked.

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Why can't he just tell you it is his bladder?#

Because he may not know. The consortium paper explains that the hypogastric nerve carries information about bladder overdistension, and pain signals during inflammation such as a urinary tract infection, back to the brain, "thereby providing a protective mechanism which may be lacking after spinal cord injury."^[1] The same paper says a distended bladder "might also be painful". Both can be true in the same dog on different nights, so his voice is not a reliable report on his bladder in either direction.

We looked for a veterinary source that names crying, panting or restlessness as signs of a full bladder in a dog with a spinal cord injury, and did not find one. That claim is common on blogs. The pages we found that describe a full bladder's signs, from the American College of Veterinary Surgeons and the American Kennel Club, are about dogs who can walk and strain: straining, frequent attempts, dribbling, a belly that may be painful to touch.^[25][26]

A dog who cannot feel his bladder cannot cry about it. Check it with your hands, not your ears.

Langford's owner sheet says that when the bladder is full "it will feel firmer and be easier to feel for".^[2] Southeast Veterinary Neurology's instruction for the moment you find urine in his bed is blunt: "ALWAYS palpate the bladder to make sure it is not full."^[3] A wet pad at 3am is not proof that the bladder emptied. It can be a full bladder overflowing, and the back-surgery page covers how to tell the two apart and how to empty it.

“Because your dog can't tell you how much pain he or she is in.”

Is the crying pain, or something that stops when you sit down?#

Phil Zeltzman, a board-certified surgeon, wrote an owner sheet called "Why is my dog crying after surgery?" that gives the clearest bedside test we found.^[12] It is written about surgery in general, not about spinal patients, and it names three main reasons:

• Dysphoria. The disorientation of coming round from anaesthesia: they pace, cannot settle, cannot get comfortable. It "should go away after a good night sleep – occasionally a bit longer than that." His test: this crying "should stop when you sit next to your dog, or you call his or her name."
• Pain. "This type of crying does not stop when you sit next to your dog, or you call his or her name." His instruction: "If you are convinced that your dog is in pain, please call your vet and get an additional pain medication."
• Attention. "It's a learned behavior, which you encourage by 'giving in.'" It stops when you sit down, too.

He adds a list of other reasons, including "Why don't you understand that I need to pee?", feeling cold, nausea, the cone and the crate, and says this crying should stop once you "address what they need."

Two things matter more when the dog is one who cannot get up and is weeks into a long recovery. The first is timing. Dysphoria from anaesthesia belongs to the first night or so home; Zeltzman says it "should go away after a good night sleep – occasionally a bit longer than that". A dog crying at night two weeks after surgery is not coming round from anaesthesia, so on Zeltzman's list the explanations left are pain, a need nobody has met, attention, or (see the medication section below) a drug. The second is that "I need to pee" may be the one need his body does not announce, which is why the bladder check comes before the sitting-down test, not after it.

And the test itself is not settled. A veterinary technician specialising in anaesthesia, writing for veterinary staff, describes dysphoric patients as "vocal, disruptive, and inconsolable", and defines an inconsolable patient as one that "does not respond to interaction", which is the opposite of Zeltzman's account. Her rule when unsure is "first rule out pain."^[16] And the Colorado State University acute pain scale, a clinic tool, scores a dog who may "whimper or cry … when unattended" as being in pain.^[17] The scale does not say that a dog in pain goes quiet when someone sits with him. It does count crying when he is left alone as pain, which means the quiet while you are sitting there does not settle the question.

Zeltzman's attention point is worth holding on to: sitting down every time he calls can teach the calling. So make the sitting-down the last step of the check, after the bladder, the pad and the temperature, not the first response to every sound. If the check comes back clean night after night and the crying keeps coming, that pattern is itself something to take to the clinic.

So read the test in one direction only. Crying that does not stop with you sitting beside him is a phone call tonight, whatever is causing it. Crying that stops is not proof he is comfortable. If it stops, look at him while he is quiet: whether he settles into a position or keeps shifting, whether he flinches when you touch near the surgery site, whether he starts again the moment you stand up. Then tell the clinic in the morning, even if the night ended well.

If it does not stop, Partner Veterinary's handout tells owners to report "any new signs of discomfort immediately", and lists flinching, vocalisation and muscle spasms among them.^[9] Cornell's canine health centre lists restlessness ("an inability to settle"), whimpering or groaning, "excessive panting even at rest" and sleep that changes because he "cannot get comfortable" among the signs of pain.^[13] Our pain signs page covers the quieter ones.

Is the panting heat, medication, fever, or pain?#

Three of the causes of panting are things you can check from the floor.

The room and the bed. A dog who cannot get up cannot move off a warm bed or away from a radiator. Zeltzman and Serfas, writing for hospital staff, name hyperthermia as a complication "that can occur in a patient who cannot get away from the heat source."^[5] VCA's post-operative guide asks for a quiet, draft-free room at 68 to 75 °F (20 to 24 °C).^[14] We found no source on overheating on foam bedding specifically. Check the radiator, the heating pad and the blanket you added at 10pm.

The medication. Southeast Veterinary Neurology tells owners that a dog on prednisone "might drink, urinate, and pant more. This is normal and will be temporary."^[3] Veterinary Partner's drug page calls panting "a well-described side effect" of prednisone in dogs, alongside the "classical" excessive thirst and urination, which matters at night because more urine means the bladder fills sooner.^[21] The same site says tramadol's side effects "are considered rare", and lists among them that "pupil dilation and panting may occur."^[22] The WSAVA pain guidelines list panting among the side effects of opioids, "usually associated with excessive doses", and say dysphoria should be considered where panting or vocalisation "occurs immediately following opioid administration."^[23] Trazodone, a calming drug, cuts the other way: in a JAVMA study of hospitalised dogs watched for about two hours after a dose, panting, lip licking and whining went down after trazodone and not in matched dogs who did not get it (nobody watched them overnight at home), though the paper's discussion also lists panting, vocalisation and agitation among side effects reported elsewhere.^[24] Read his medication labels before you read his panting, and ask the clinic which of his drugs could be behind it.

A fever. Veterinary Surgical Centers' discharge instructions tell owners that "an elevated temperature is our first sign of infection", give a normal range of 100.5 to 102.5 °F, note that evening temperatures can run higher than morning ones while staying inside that range, and ask for anything above it to be reported to their staff immediately. They tell owners to buy a digital thermometer at a pharmacy.^[8] VCA's owner guide gives 100.0 to 102.5 °F as normal and says to see the vet above 104 °F or below 99 °F.^[11] The two do not quite agree on the low end, and your own clinic's number outranks both.

Pain. If the room is cool, the temperature is normal and nothing on his medication list explains it, Southfields' spinal surgery factsheet is plain: "if they are panting without any reason or you feel they are in pain, please contact us to discuss alternative pain treatment."^[7]

One limit on the thermometer, so it does not reassure you more than it should. Bladder infections are common in these dogs: in one study the consortium cites, of 92 dogs with a thoracolumbar spinal cord injury, 12 to 20% had one in the week after surgery, despite preventive antibiotics. But in a study of dogs with chronic spinal cord injury, "fever and cloudy urine were not associated with infection."^[1] A normal reading tells you he is not overheating or running a fever. It does not tell you his bladder is clear. The consortium's own list of infection signs for owners is pain on expression or urination, a change in how often he urinates or how continent he is, foul-smelling urine, more licking of the penis or vulva, and more drinking.

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The 3am check, in order#

This is our order, built from the sources above. Your surgeon's sheet overrides any line of it.

Write down what you found and the time, every time, on the same sheet as the bladder and turning log. At 8am the clinic will ask what happened at 3am, and "he cried" is not an answer anyone can act on. "Bladder firm at 2:40, emptied, turned off the left side after five hours, 101.8 °F, last dose at 6pm, still crying with me sitting beside him at 3:10" is.

What the medication clock has to do with 3am#

If your dog came home with medication, every label gives a frequency. A frequency is a 24-hour instruction. PetMD's guidance, written by a veterinarian, is that a drug labelled for three times a day should be "given as close to every 8 hours as possible." The same page says many owners give medication around mealtimes because it is easier to remember, and that this is fine unless the drug must be given on an empty stomach.^[18] Both can be true for a drug that lasts all night. For one that does not, they pull against each other.

Here is the arithmetic. Three doses at 7am, 1pm and 7pm are breakfast, lunch and dinner, and they leave 12 hours between the evening dose and the morning one. Three doses at 7am, 3pm and 11pm leave 8. The label says the same thing in both houses.

How much the gap matters depends on the drug, and that is your vet's call, not ours. Gabapentin is the clearest case we found. In a pharmacokinetic study in six healthy greyhounds, its half-life was 3.3 to 3.4 hours, and the authors concluded that "frequent dosing is needed to maintain minimum targeted plasma concentrations", and suggested dosing every 8 hours. The paper also reports that twelve hours after a single dose, plasma levels were below 2 μg/mL in all six dogs at the lower of the two doses tested, and in four of six at the higher. That 2 μg/mL figure comes from people: the authors write that efficacy in humans is associated with it, "but the effective concentrations are unknown in the dog."^[19] That is six healthy dogs, single doses, a human target and no dogs after spinal surgery, so treat it as a reason to ask how the doses are spaced, not as evidence that a 12-hour gap leaves your dog in pain. Veterinary Partner adds that gabapentin's peak activity comes about two hours after a dose, and that sedation and incoordination are its chief side effects.^[20]

So the time on the clock is evidence. Restlessness that arrives near the end of a dosing interval, night after night, is a question about how the doses are spaced. Panting or crying that starts soon after a dose is a question about the drug. Write the time of every dose on the sheet beside the 3am entry, and you will be able to tell the clinic which one you are seeing. Do not move, add or double a dose on your own: PetMD's same page says missed doses should not be doubled up unless the veterinarian says so. Ask, in daylight, how his doses should be spaced across 24 hours.

Where should he sleep, and where should you?#

No source we read tells owners where to sleep, so this part is ours. Zeltzman and Serfas say being stuck lying on one side "is stressful for patients", and count owners' visits and petting as part of good nursing.^[5] Zeltzman's owner sheet suggests white noise to drown out the ordinary sounds of the house.^[12] For the first weeks, we would put his pen where someone can hear him without getting up, which in most houses means the bedroom or the room beside it. Hearing him is not the same as checking him, but it turns "was that him?" into a decision you can make from the bed.

Southfields says a dog in strict rest "may whine to be let out, but don't give in."^[7] That is about the pen door, not about you. Sitting with him is not letting him out.

Then shorten the night you control. Veterinary Surgical Centers' general post-op instructions suggest "the last to go to bed" takes the dog out.^[8] For a dog who cannot get up, that means the last handling of the day comes as late as you can make it: bladder, turn, a dry pad, water offered on his chest, the room checked. The consortium's chronic-phase table, written for hospital care, empties the bladder "Every 6 h; take dog first thing in the morning"; at home, the morning handling is the one that ends your night.^[1] If his sheet gives a bladder or turning interval shorter than the gap between your last handling and your first, ask the surgeon whether that interval applies overnight. If it does, it needs an alarm, and that is a question to ask by phone this week, not at 3am.

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What to buy, if anything#

Most of what settles a night costs nothing: your hands on his bladder, a dry pad, a turn, a cooler room, and you sitting on the floor. The one object worth having is a thermometer, because it is the only one of the five checks that gives you a number to read down the phone.

If there is a digital thermometer in the house already, you own the right thing. VCA's guide says a digital thermometer normally used under a person's tongue can be used rectally on a pet, and that it is best to lie the pet on its side first, which a dog who cannot get up already is.^[11] Keep it for him from now on.

If there is not, the better buy is a well-reviewed digital thermometer from a pharmacy, which is what Veterinary Surgical Centers tells its owners to get, with probe covers.^[8] We carry the card below only as the cheap online fallback, for a household that cannot get to a pharmacy before tonight, and we would rather say that than dress it up.

It is $9.99 (9 October 2026), sold by the maker and shipped by Amazon, rectal and digital with a flexible tip, and it remembers the last reading, so the 3am number is still there when you phone the clinic at 8.^[15]

What it is bad at, stated plainly, and it is bad at the one thing that matters. Of the 166 reviews Amazon counts as mentioning accuracy, 77 are positive and 89 negative; its summary says some owners find it very accurate and quick, while others report readings "off by 10 to 8 degrees", reads that take 30 to 45 seconds, and a display that shows only whole numbers. We could not confirm the display claim: the listing does not state the display's resolution. If it is true for your unit, it cannot show you the difference between 102.5 and 103 °F, which is exactly the difference the sheets care about. The listing claims "High Accuracy" and prints no tolerance; its specification table gives a "temperature range" of 101 to 102.5 °F, which is close to a dog's normal range rather than anything the device can measure, and calls a thermometer that runs on an LR41 coin battery "Rechargeable". No backlight is mentioned, so at 3am you will want a phone torch on it.

Whichever thermometer you use, check it once against the clinic: take his temperature at home on the morning of his next recheck and ask the nurse what theirs read. Take two readings before you act on one that does not match the dog in front of you. And remember it gives one number: it cannot tell you whether he is in pain, and, as above, a normal reading does not clear his bladder.

What we could not find#

• How long the night can be for a dog who cannot get up. Eleven sources; several say what to do about panting or pain at any hour, the consortium's tables imply a night at home, and none says how long it may run or what to check when he wakes the house.
• Any veterinary source naming crying, panting or restlessness as signs of a full bladder in a dog with a spinal cord injury. The claim is on blogs; the physiology says the warning may be missing.
• Whether bladder and turning intervals are meant to run through the night at home. The sheets that give hours (every 6, every 4 to 6) do not say whether that includes the night; the sheets that give "times a day" do not say which times.
• Any source on recumbent dogs overheating on foam bedding, as opposed to on heating devices.
• Any study of how often dogs recovering from spinal surgery cry at night, or why.
• An owner's tool for scoring acute pain at home. The 2022 AAHA pain guidelines say none has been developed, and that at-home assessment should be guided by the veterinary team; the Colorado State and Glasgow scales are clinic tools.^[27]

What to do this week#

The delay is the injury, and at night it is measured from the last handling before bed. Tonight, put the sheet, a pen, the thermometer and a torch beside his pen, and add one line to the sheet: overnight. Make the last handling of the evening as late as you can. Then phone the clinic this week, in daylight, with three questions: whether his bladder and turning intervals apply overnight, how his medication doses should be spaced across 24 hours, and what temperature and what kind of crying they want a call about at night. The pressure sore page covers the turn, the feeding page the water, and the home physio page the daytime work once the surgeon clears it.

He cannot tell you what is wrong at 3am. A few minutes on the floor, in the same order every time, will not always tell you either, but it will tell you what you have ruled out, and whether to pick up the phone.

Sources#

1. Granger N, Olby NJ, Nout-Lomas YS, Canine Spinal Cord Injury Consortium (CANSORT-SCI). "Bladder and bowel management in dogs with spinal cord injury." Frontiers in Veterinary Science. 2020;7:583342. doi:10.3389/fvets.2020.583342 — full text read via Europe PMC (PMC7686579) on 9 October 2026. Table 1 (acute, in hospital): bladder size checked every 4 h, emptied "Every 8 h or pending bladder size check", recumbency changed every 6 h. Table 3 (chronic, in hospital): bladder emptying "Every 6 h; take dog first thing in the morning"; "diapers overnight can keep contamination down but prefer avoiding their use if possible"; owner signs prompting a urine culture: change in urination frequency or continence, "Pain on manual expression or during urination", foul odour, increased licking of penis/vulva, increased drinking. Text: the hypogastric nerve "feeds back to the brain information on bladder overdistension and bladder pain signals … thereby providing a protective mechanism which may be lacking after spinal cord injury"; "A distended bladder might also be painful, rendering manual expression even more difficult"; Stiffler et al. found "between 12 and 20% of dogs with a urinary tract infection in the 7 days post-operatively"; in dogs with chronic spinal cord injury, "Fever and cloudy urine were not associated with infection, whereas pyuria was." No passage on crying, panting or restlessness at night.
2. Langford Vets (University of Bristol). "Bladder expression information sheet." PDF — read 9 October 2026: "We recommend checking your pet's bladder every 6 hours"; "When full it will feel firmer and be easier to feel for." No passage on the night.
3. Southeast Veterinary Neurology. "Resources for post-op care and recovery." sevneurology.com — read 9 October 2026: "If your pet has been prescribed prednisone, it might drink, urinate, and pant more. This is normal and will be temporary"; "If you find urine in your pet's cage, ALWAYS palpate the bladder to make sure it is not full. Please call us if you are unable to express your pet's bladder in a 24-hour period." No passage on the night.
4. Williams K. "Homecare for paralyzed pets." VCA Animal Hospitals, 6 March 2024. vcahospitals.com — read 9 October 2026: "Ideally, every few hours during the day, take your pet from their bed to another area of your home or outside for their exercises"; "aim to empty the bladder at least three to four times daily." No passage on the night.
5. Zeltzman P, Serfas K. "10 tips to manage recumbent veterinary patients." Veterinary Practice News, 28 December 2015. veterinarypracticenews.com — read 9 October 2026: "Patients' temperature should be checked frequently to discover hypothermia early and prevent hyperthermia. Skin burns and hyperthermia are two complications that can occur in a patient who cannot get away from the heat source"; "Being stuck in lateral recumbency is stressful for patients"; facilitating owners' visits and petting patients "should be part of excellent nursing care." Written for hospital staff.
6. Brooks W. "Paralyzed dogs: how to care for them." Veterinary Partner, Veterinary Information Network; revised 18 August 2026. vin.com — read 9 October 2026: "Emptying the bladder should be done a minimum of three times daily." No passage on the night.
7. Southfields Veterinary Specialists. "Spinal surgery recovery" (factsheet). southfields.co.uk — read 9 October 2026: "Your pet may whine to be let out, but don't give in"; "if you notice a swollen bladder or urine leaking while he is in the crate), contact your veterinarian because urine retention will make your animal uncomfortable"; "if they are panting without any reason or you feel they are in pain, please contact us to discuss alternative pain treatment." No passage on the night.
8. Veterinary Surgical Centers. "Post-op/after care instructions." vscdsurgerycenters.com — read 9 October 2026: "We suggest that the first person up takes the dog out, followed by the last to leave for work, the first person home, and last to go to bed"; "An elevated temperature is our first sign of infection"; "Normal values for a pet's temperature are 100.5˚F to 102.5˚F. Evening temperatures can be higher than morning, but should still be within normal values. Any temperature above this range should be reported to our staff immediately"; "Restless and panting? These and other observations will help our staff determine how we can get your pet feeling better"; "Please purchase a digital thermometer and probe covers at your local pharmacy." General post-operative page, not specific to spinal surgery.
9. Partner Veterinary Emergency and Specialty Center. "Caring for a recumbent pet." partnervesc.com — read 9 October 2026: "Rotate your pet every 4-6 hours if they can't move independently"; "Monitor for pain signs like flinching, vocalization, or muscle spasms. Discuss pain management plans with your veterinarian and report any new signs of discomfort immediately." No passage on the night.
10. Zlatinov VK. "Helping the spinal patient recover" (page title "Supportive care for recumbent dogs and cats with spinal injury"). Royal Canin Academy. academy.royalcanin.com — read 9 October 2026: "Recumbent patients should be turned every 4 hours to minimize atelectasis"; "Patients with acute paralysis usually have anxiety and discomfort." No passage on the night.
11. Llera R, Weir M, Buzhardt L. "Taking your pet's temperature." VCA Animal Hospitals; edited 26 February 2026. vcahospitals.com — read 9 October 2026: "Normal body temperature for dogs and cats is 100.0°F to 102.5°F (37.7°C to 39.2°C)"; take the pet to the veterinarian if the temperature rises above 104 °F (40.0 °C) or falls below 99 °F (37.2 °C); a digital thermometer normally used under a person's tongue can be used rectally on a pet; mercury glass thermometers discouraged; lie the pet on its side before inserting; do not force it if the pet clamps.
12. Zeltzman P. "Why is my dog crying after surgery?" Owner handout, hosted at hrvss.com (© Phil Zeltzman, DVM, DACVS). PDF — read 9 October 2026: "There are 3 main reasons for which your dog might cry after surgery"; dysphoria "should go away after a good night sleep – occasionally a bit longer than that … This type of crying should stop when you sit next to your dog, or you call his or her name"; pain: "If you are convinced that your dog is in pain, please call your vet and get an additional pain medication … This type of crying does not stop when you sit next to your dog, or you call his or her name"; other reasons include "Why don't you understand that I need to pee?" and "feeling cold"; "You can use white noise to drown out the normal sounds of the household." About surgery in general, not spinal surgery.
13. Cornell Richard P. Riney Canine Health Center. "Recognizing pain in dogs." Updated 21 October 2025. vet.cornell.edu — read 9 October 2026: "Restlessness: Pacing or an inability to settle"; "Vocalizations: Whimpering, yelping, or groaning"; "Panting: Excessive panting even at rest"; "Altered sleeping patterns: May sleep more or cannot get comfortable trying to sleep."
14. Weir M, Hunter T, Barnette C. "Post-operative instructions in dogs." VCA Animal Hospitals. vcahospitals.com — read 9 October 2026: keep the dog "in a quiet and draft-free room at a comfortable room temperature (68°F–75°F or 20°C–24°C). Your dog should remain indoors overnight."
15. Amazon listing B07BDFZCSV, iProven Dog & Cat Thermometer DTK-117. amazon.com — read via the Amazon Creators API and the listing page on 9 October 2026: $9.99, sold by iProven, ships from Amazon; "FREE 30-day refund/replacement"; 4.5 stars, 4,376 ratings; review summary: "The accuracy and read time receive mixed feedback"; accuracy mentions "77 positive 89 negative", with some reviewers saying readings are "off by 10 to 8 degrees" and that "it can only display whole numbers" (display resolution not stated on the listing); specification table: "Upper Temperature Range 102.5 °F", "LowerTemperature Range 101 °F", "Reusability Rechargeable", "1 LR41 batteries required. (included)"; no accuracy tolerance stated.
16. Carter H (LVT, VTS Anesthesia/Analgesia). "Is it pain or dysphoria? How to tell the difference and what to do about it." dvm360, 6 March 2020. dvm360.com — read 9 October 2026: "dysphoric patients are vocal, disruptive, and inconsolable. An inconsolable patient does not respond to interaction"; "When uncertain about appropriate treatment method, first rule out pain." Written for veterinary staff, in the anaesthetic-recovery setting.
17. Hellyer P, Uhrig S, Robinson N. Colorado State University Veterinary Medical Center Canine Acute Pain Scale, 2006. PDF (hosted copy) — read 9 October 2026: pain score 2 includes "May whimper or cry and may lick or rub wound or surgery site when unattended"; score 3 "Unsettled, crying, groaning, biting or chewing wound when unattended"; score 4 "Constantly groaning or screaming when unattended". A clinic tool; the 2022 AAHA pain guidelines say no owner-completed tool for acute pain exists.
18. Vogelsang J. "When is the best time to give my pet their medication?" PetMD, 20 August 2015. petmd.com — read 9 October 2026: "a drug labeled for three times a day is given as close to every 8 hours as possible. Missed doses should not be doubled up with the next dose unless instructed to do so by the veterinarian"; "Many owners give medications around mealtimes because it's easier for them to remember … Unless a medication must be given on an empty stomach, this is fine."
19. KuKanich B, Cohen RL. "Pharmacokinetics of oral gabapentin in greyhound dogs." The Veterinary Journal. 2011;187(1):133–135. doi:10.1016/j.tvjl.2009.09.022 — abstract read via Europe PMC on 9 October 2026: six healthy greyhounds, single oral doses; "the terminal half-lives were 3.3 and 3.4h"; "Gabapentin was rapidly absorbed and eliminated in dogs, indicating that frequent dosing is needed to maintain minimum targeted plasma concentrations." Full text (author manuscript, PMC2891228) read 9 October 2026: plasma gabapentin exceeded the 2 μg/mL target "in the 10 mg/kg dose group in 6/6 dogs at 6 h, 4/6 dogs at 8 h and 0/6 dogs at 12 h after dosing" and "in the 20 mg/kg dose group in 6/6 dogs at 8 h, and 2/6 dogs at 12 h"; the authors suggest an every-8-hour interval; "Efficacy in humans is associated with 2 μg/mL plasma concentrations, but the effective concentrations are unknown in the dog." Doses are quoted here only to identify the two study groups; they are not a dosing instruction.
20. Brooks W. "Gabapentin (Neurontin)." Veterinary Partner, Veterinary Information Network; revised 3 September 2025. veterinarypartner.vin.com — read 9 October 2026: "Gabapentin's peak activity occurs approximately two hours after taking it by mouth"; "Sedation and incoordination are the chief side effects of concern."
21. Brooks W. "Prednisolone/prednisone." Veterinary Partner, Veterinary Information Network; revised 20 August 2024. veterinarypartner.vin.com — read 9 October 2026: "Panting (in dogs) is a well-described side effect"; "the classical side effects of prednisone/prednisolone use: excessive thirst and excessive urination."
22. Brooks W. "Tramadol." Veterinary Partner, Veterinary Information Network; revised 14 April 2025. veterinarypartner.vin.com — read 9 October 2026: "Side effects are considered rare"; "Pupil dilation and panting may occur."
23. Mathews K, Kronen PW, Lascelles D, et al. "Guidelines for recognition, assessment and treatment of pain." WSAVA Global Pain Council. Journal of Small Animal Practice. 2014;55(6):E10–E68. doi:10.1111/jsap.12200 — read 9 October 2026 from the full guideline PDF: opioid side effects, "usually associated with excessive doses, include vomiting (pre-medication), dysphoria, nausea, panting"; "Dysphoria should be considered where panting, nausea, vomiting or vocalization occurs immediately following opioid administration." Superseded by the 2022 WSAVA guidelines (Monteiro BP et al., JSAP 2023, doi:10.1111/jsap.13566), whose English text we could not open; we quote the 2014 version and say so.
24. Gilbert-Gregory SE, Stull JW, Rice MR, Herron ME. "Effects of trazodone on behavioral signs of stress in hospitalized dogs." JAVMA. 2016;249(11):1281–1291. doi:10.2460/javma.249.11.1281 — full text read 9 October 2026: "Adverse effects associated with oral administration of trazodone include soft feces or diarrhea, vomiting, constipation, excessive thirst, signs of anxiety or agitation, vocalization, drowsiness, panting, somnolence, urinary incontinence, behavioral disinhibition, and aggression" (a summary of earlier reports, in the paper's discussion). Abstract (Europe PMC): "Lip licking, panting, and whining were reduced … in trazodone-treated but not environmentally matched dogs"; "Odds of reduced panting and reduced frenetic behaviors at time 2 for trazodone-treated dogs were > 2 times those for environmentally matched dogs."
25. American College of Veterinary Surgeons. "Urinary obstruction in dogs." acvs.org — read 9 October 2026: "If the urethra is completely blocked, your dog will strain without producing any urine. He/she will be in pain … An overly large urinary bladder will be easily felt in the back half of the belly by a veterinary professional (Caution: it may be painful when touched)." About obstruction in dogs who can strain, not spinal cord injury.
26. Coile C. "Why is my dog having trouble peeing? Signs of urinary retention." American Kennel Club; updated 9 October 2024. akc.org — read 9 October 2026: "Signs of urinary retention include frequent attempts to urinate, often with straining or signs of pain, and possibly a distended abdomen. An overly full bladder can sometimes dribble urine as well."
27. Gruen ME, Lascelles BDX, Colleran E, et al. "2022 AAHA Pain Management Guidelines for Dogs and Cats." Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association. 2022;58(2):55–76. doi:10.5326/JAAHA-MS-7292 — read 9 October 2026: the Colorado State University Canine Acute Pain Scale and the Glasgow short-form are "for use in the clinic"; "No owner-completed assessment tools for acute pain have been developed. Therefore, 'at-home' acute pain assessment by the owners should be guided by the veterinary team. Owners know their dogs' normal behavior. Deviations from that behavior suggest the presence of pain."
28. Veterinary Surgical Centers. "Post-operative instructions: intervertebral disc disease." PDF — read 9 October 2026: "Your pet should show steady, continual improvement. If he/she seems lethargic, acutely painful, simply not doing well, or declining neurologically please call us immediately." No passage on the night.

This article is educational and does not replace the discharge instructions from the hospital treating your dog. Where this page and your surgeon's sheet differ, follow the sheet, and ask the surgeon about the difference.