Doggy dementia?

[Stickerbunny]

Does anyone have experience with an elderly dog who is going through dementia? My poodle/doxie mix is nearly 16 years old and my mother thinks she’s going through dementia – she’s nearly blind, has trouble with her sense of smell and has arthritis, the poor girl, so a little confusion is normal. But, she’s having trouble sleeping, she gets scared to death over normal things – can’t clip her without her crying like you are killing her, at night instead of sleeping she walks the floor crying, etc. She still eats and runs around during the day, but you have to be careful not to spark a panic attack from normal things, she can’t even sit in my mothers lap anymore (which used to be one of her favorite things!). She chases my mother around and clings real close now and to feed her, my mother has to basically put her head in the bowl before she realizes there is food.  

I don’t live there anymore and though she is “my” dog, I didn’t remove her from my mothers home when I moved out cause she would have been miserable in an apartment – she has 5 acres there, full run of the house, a doggy door, a secure fenced in yard with lots of holes to be dug and she can bark to her hearts content without disturbing neighbors. But, I still put money towards her care – so I am having my mother take her to the vet to see if they can prescribe anything for her to maybe calm her down a bit.

She shows no symptoms of being in pain, beyond the arthritis which is manageable, she’s still energetic most the time for her age and she still jumps in the bed to sleep. If her quality of life ever declines too much, we’ll have to say goodbye, but that will be hard – I won’t be able to be there for her, because I am over 1,000 miles away  we rescued her from someone in my family who abuses dogs, who let his dog have puppies and so we took the pups we could and the momma away from him, she’s been my baby since she was 8 weeks old. I wish I could bring her up here, but a drastic change wouldn’t be any better for her now than it was then. *frown* My mother and my grandmother are both with her though. Hoping the vet can do something to make her at least able to sleep a little better.

Anyone have any ideas on things we can do to maybe help her stay calm? Had to deal with dogs with cancer, heart worms and other things, but never had a dog get anxiety/panic attacks from not seeming to know where she is some of the time.

[Tipsy Bunny]

how long as her loss of smell and blindness been going on?

[Stickerbunny]

A couple of years, she has cataracts and a few other things – all treatable though. My grandmother says she can sympathize, cause she has all the same things going on with her too.

[KytKattin]

I can’t give you any suggestions, though I can say that my family has a dog that seems to be suffering from doggy dementia. She goes outside and barks in the middle of the night, can’t remember to go outside to use the bathroom, so every morning there is something to clean up. Our worst fear is that she is going to go into the pool when someone isn’t there. I have thought about trying the Thundershirt with her, but idk…

[Stickerbunny]

I thought about that, but since she panics if she is held and the shirt seems to be a tight “hug” all the time, I was thinking that might freak her out even more cause she won’t know what is going on…

[Elrohwen]

My dog got this later in life. She wasn’t blind or deaf and didn’t really have any other health problems, but she would get very confused and had accidents in the house almost every day.

Have you gone to the vet and tried meds? I forget what it’s called but they do have a med for this now and my dog did pretty well on it.

I’m wondering if your dog’s panic attacks are caused more by discomfort at being blind and deaf, rather than dementia – I don’t remember severe anxiety being one ofthe standard symtoms (at least it wasn’t in our dog – maybe it is in some, but the vet can tell you that)

[Michelle&Lolli]

I don’t have any advice. Just wanted to say………..(((((HUGS)))) to you all.

[Stickerbunny]

She’s going to the vet soon to get a checkup and see if there are any things the vet can give to lessen the stress she’s in. She paces the floor crying (which is a symptom), barks randomly, forgets to go outside to go to the bathroom, etc. So she’s got 3 out of 5 of the symptoms that are listed online for possible dementia. I’m not there, or she’d have gone already, so my mother has to wait for when she has a day off work. She’s been blind for a few years and has lived in the same house her whole life, dogs are supposed to adjust quickly to that, which is why we are worried!

[KytKattin]

Yes, dogs are suppose to adjust to being blind, if they have a good sense of smell. If she is losing her sense of smell that might be the reason for her panicking. The way I view it is dogs literally see with their nose. Obviously you and I would be fine with losing our sense of smell. It would be a bummer, but not nearly as tragic as losing our sight. It is reverse for dogs.

Not that it isn’t dementia as well. Maybe she forgets she can’t smell/see and starts to panic.

[Elrohwen]

That does sound like dementia – let us know what the vet thinks. Even if it is anxiety unrelated to dementia, they can prescribe things that could really improve her quality of life, like prozac. IMO, for older dogs, it’s all about making them comfortable for the last few years and if that takes some meds to get them there, then that’s ok.

[Beka27]

This is so sad. I wish they could just stay young and healthy and happy forever. Keep us posted on what the vet says about possible medications that might help. And I would also take your mother’s opinion into consideration since she’s the one providing the daily care. At a certain point, it might be better for your pup and for your mom to just let her go peacefully.

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