Associations between osteoarthritis and duration and quality of night-time rest in dogs

Human patients with chronic pain from osteoarthritis often report impaired sleep, but it is not yet known if sleep is also impaired in dogs with osteoarthritis. This study aimed to compare the night-time sleep behaviour of osteoarthritic (N = 20) and healthy control (N = 21) dogs over a 28-day period, using an actigraphic device (the FitBark activity monitor) and an owner questionnaire designed to measure sleep quality (the SNoRE). Actigraphic data were aggregated to estimate the time each dog spent resting each night, and questionnaires were completed every 7 days. Data were analysed using robust mixed-effects linear regression. The presence of clinical signs of osteoarthritis had a significant effect on actigraphic recordings, with osteoarthritic dogs spending lower proportions of the night period resting (and therefore higher proportions of the night period active) compared to control dogs (z = 2.21; P = 0.0268). However, there was no significant difference between the SNoRE scores of osteoarthritic and control dogs (z = −1.01, p = 0.312). The actigraphic findings of this study suggest that dogs with osteoarthritis may experience impaired sleep, which could have important welfare implications and merits further study. • Chronic pain conditions can lead to sleep disruption in humans. • Osteoarthritic dogs had higher pain questionnaire scores than healthy dogs. • Osteoarthritic and healthy dogs had similar SNoRE sleep questionnaire scores. • Actigraphy showed that osteoarthritic dogs rested less at night than healthy dogs. • Actigraphy suggests that, like humans, osteoarthritic dogs may have disrupted sleep.