As a respiratory therapist, one of my job duties is performing sleep studies. To help me prepare for my clinical rotation, I had a lecture at the VA hospital today on sleep disorders. One of the topics was narcolepsy (also referred to as cataplexy). While the doctor who presented the information was duller than dirt, he did manage to toss a few jewels into his lecture. He had video of canine cataplexy. Basically the dogs have a genetic problem, where their brains don't ever allow them to get enough deep sleep, and their bodies begin to suffer. I want you all to know that I am currently searching the internet for a video, but I must tell you that it is, by far, one of the most amusing things I have seen in a while. In the picture above, the owner threw a frisbee and about 10 yards into the chase, the dog just fell over and was out cold! In another video, the dog was following a trail of "treats" and by the third doggie biscuit, he just keeled over and went to sleep. Now, I have no idea how this will assist me in my future indeavors, but the videos was the only thing that managed to keep me awake during that sleep-study lecture.Thursday, January 12, 2006
Canine Cataplexy
As a respiratory therapist, one of my job duties is performing sleep studies. To help me prepare for my clinical rotation, I had a lecture at the VA hospital today on sleep disorders. One of the topics was narcolepsy (also referred to as cataplexy). While the doctor who presented the information was duller than dirt, he did manage to toss a few jewels into his lecture. He had video of canine cataplexy. Basically the dogs have a genetic problem, where their brains don't ever allow them to get enough deep sleep, and their bodies begin to suffer. I want you all to know that I am currently searching the internet for a video, but I must tell you that it is, by far, one of the most amusing things I have seen in a while. In the picture above, the owner threw a frisbee and about 10 yards into the chase, the dog just fell over and was out cold! In another video, the dog was following a trail of "treats" and by the third doggie biscuit, he just keeled over and went to sleep. Now, I have no idea how this will assist me in my future indeavors, but the videos was the only thing that managed to keep me awake during that sleep-study lecture.
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3 comments:
Good to know how you respiratory therapy folks get your jollies.
i was wondering today if they make a cat that has CATAPLEXY or do they call it cataplexy because cats sleep all the time anyways. I dont know just a tohought.
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