Doggie dementia

I had my 18 year old Parson put to sleep at the end of December. She had been suffering from doggie dementia for a couple of years. She would walk aimlessly around the house and just stop and stare at the wall. We often wondered what she was seeing. She was deaf, and had developed cataracts so couldn't see very well either. I'm glad she didn't do the barking thing though. We just loved her and made her as comfortable as possible.

hildajenni me too with our darling border collie, she was nearly 16.
First she became almost stone deaf, then did all this barking at night, in and out of the house. We left the door open for her, and she started off sleeping in our room, but became restless. Another symptom was her anxiety - she followed me around everywhere. And she had a few epileptic fits.
As we're doing a major house move soon our vet advised/supported us in the decision. Said she'd be even more confused in a strange place.
Yes it's a sad condition - I don't know of any successful treatments. They're only given to us for a short time, but give us so much love.

I’m another whose 16 year old border collie x developed dementia. She had arthritic hips and it began to take her a while to get to her feet, once she had struggled up, she’d stand in the middle of the room for some time before wandering somewhere to lie down, when the process was repeated. Our Vet was kind and her comment that the dog would be distressed and uppin considerable physical pain helped me make that last living decision.

Apologies ChrisCross, if we had an edit button, I’d say I wasn’t suggesting that time has come for your cocker Spaniel

No worries Iam64 - I know what you meant. Hopefully she has a couple or three years left yet. In the meantime, she will get all our love and much patience! We are hoping when the clocks go forward her body clock will give us an extra hour in bed!

My old terrier did exactly this and after a lot of research I gave him Aktivait, a non-prescription item which I bought online from Viovet

www.viovet.co.uk/Aktivait-Capsules-for-Dogs-Cats/c67/?quick_find=110132&gclid=CjwKCAjwq_vWBRACEiwAEReprOdThQrk_9X8RS4Uv2TiCHxu8lPNh0V7lMuy4mpTzcn8IBnWkL8iURoCH94QAvD_BwE

Be sure to get the correct size for your dog. The capsules easily pulled apart so I could mix the powder into his food - he had trouble swallowing them whole but another dog may well be fine - they helped him settle back into his usual routine. He had been waking between 4-5 am, barking to go out, then forgetting why he'd asked to - he didn't need to empty. I reckon I got 'my' boy back for another two years, before losing him to cancer at 17 1/2. Do some reading on these and of course check with your vet, mine was perfectly happy about it.

I tried Aktivait on recommendation from this site. They had no effect whatsoever. Talked to my vet and she prescribed some tablets that helped a lot.

So talk to your vet,

Blast. Just realised this is an old post. WTH reAktivaited it ?

My beloved dog developed dementia too, she would sit and stare into the corner of the room for ages.It was heart breaking to see, she lost some of her hearing and couldnt walk far in the end.When younger she would bound up the stairs to follow me but i had to carry her eventually. My heart was broken when she died but i have so many happy memories of this little dog she will always live in my head and heart.

Another sad fact of our dear best friend`s lives and just reading these postings have brought back vivid memories of how our corgi,whom had a distinct change of personality from sometime after his 13 robust years.
Luckily we loved him unconditionally and in fact this just brought us even closer together, but surely it is a great unfairness that our pets only have this short period of life which if troubled with dementia shortens it even more to some extent.
Time to wipe the tears though I think.
Believe me I feel for you all and I hope you find suitable help to get your pets through this hardship

We once visited a Cinnamon Trust home, where elderly dogs and cats are kept for the remainder of their lives. It was such a lovely place. One of the dogs, we were told, had dementia - it wandered back and forth, back and forth, just like some of the residents at my mother's dementia care home.

Also, my son in law's family had a Jack Russell that lived to a very great age. Son in law had been working overseas and having not been home for a couple of years was very upset when the dog no longer knew or remembered him at all.

I was reminded of the time a long grown up dd went to visit my mother in her care home on her birthday, with flowers and chocolates. 'Happy Birthday Granny!'
The only response was a grumpy, 'I'm not your granny!'

Dd understood enough of dementia not to be upset, but whether pets or humans, it's bound to be upsetting.

I also had a cocker spaniel who went blind and had ear problems.This meant that he heard sounds but from the "wrong" direction,so I would call him to the living room but he would run to the kitchen.Luckily,my border collie was an excellent guide dog to him,herding him in the right direction and helping him navigate steps,etc..
Sadly,the cocker also developed dementia and finally ended up just walking in circles.He never lost his appetite or stopped wagging his tail though.The vet could not do much apart from reassure me that the dog was not in pain.I had to make the decision to have him put to sleep at the time I thought was right and,one day, I just knew the time had come.
I'm so sorry to hear that your dog is going through this ChrisCross and I would advise a trip to the vet as there may be more help available these days.Try not to worry too much and enjoy your time together with him.

Our old JR developed dementia when she was 16. When she began staring at the walls we thought it was because she could hear mice behind the skirting boards but then she started the barking at 5am. She used to sleep in the kitchen with our ridgeback but started pestering the younger dog so we removed the kitchen door and put up a child gate so she could sleep in the small hallway on her own but still see her pal. That seemed to help.

During the day she would sleep in her favourite sunny spot in the garden and that's where we found her when she died. A happy end really for a lovely little dog.

ChrisCross...... if you’re on Facebook there are various sites you can join for owners of Coker Spaniels. ‘Cocker Spaniels Owners and Lovers’ is one of them. People share information on their dogs and it can be very informative. I belong to the Border Terrier sites and find them full of information. You can post questions and people are more than happy to answer them and give advice. My first dog had a bit of dementia before he died. He would stare at walls and bark very loudly at nothing, he was also quite deaf.

Some dogs can become a bit afraid of the dark as they get older so you might consider a night light for her. Have you tried giving her a biscuit before bed as this might help.

Our vet prescribed Vivitonin for one of our very elderly souls, and it made a big difference to her. Worth asking your vet about?

This is so sad but tell yourself that you are paying for a long lifetime of love and companionship.
None of my last five dogs has lived long enough to develop dementia and with each I felt robbed of the years I missed.

OldMeg I'm sorry to read that Aktivait didn't make a difference to your dog. It most definitely did for my terrier, in fact I looked back at my order history and he was on it for his last four years. He still went deaf, his vision still deteriorated, but the night waking stopped and his confusion reduced significantly. Some dogs do better on Vivitonin, some won't improve on either, but it's not a hopelessly expensive product to give it a try, after talking to the vet.

Dogs break our hearts, for sure. Best wishes to everyone seeing their pet through its twilight years.

My 18yr old cat had dementia for the last year or so of her life (she had to be put to sleep recently due to heart failure).

She used to walk into a room, meow a lot, then walk out again. She also used to wake me at least 3 times every night (sometimes up to 6 times)which was tiring for me, but I put up with it as I guessed she was lonely/scared/confused. I used to feed her at 5am if that's what she wanted. My vet prescribed Tramadol, to settle her down. I gave it to her once only, as it made her dazed and uncoordinated.

Now that she's gone, I miss her constant meowing for attention/reassurance. My other cat misses her too I think, but he's a quiet cat who loves to cuddle.

Dementia is a terrible condition (as a carer with 22 years' experience, I've seen it hundreds of times in people). Think of how confused and scared your dog might be, and try to be patient. You are all he's got, and his time with you might not be much longer.

Best wishes.

twiglet I think it was Vivitonin he was on in his final year. And don’t they leave such a hole in our hearts when they leave us? ?

My little greyhound girl is 14 today, quite a good age for a greyhound, and we think she has a little 'doggy dementia'. Generally though she still seems quite happy although her sight isn't so good, but she still enjoys her food and has two gentle ambles a day. We have noticed that she takes great comfort from the other greyhound being with her and likes to know,that we are round. I do worry though about when that dreadful time comes when we have to say goodbye, she is loved so much and will be terribly missed.

True and selfless love is knowing when to let go. Hard, but for the best.

We had a Petit Basset Griffon Vendeen who developed this problem. During the evenings he would walk endlessly up and down the hall. During the night he would wake up increasingly early until eventually he got back to the right time, he seemed to think it was morning and wanted feeding at 4am, 3am 1am and then reverted to his usual pattern. No amount of fitting black out blinds and draping an old duvet cover over the back door window did any good. The vet prescribed some medication but that did not really help.
He seemed to enjoy his food and short walks and responded to us during this illness, but increasingly lost some condition and eventually died in his sleep shortly before he was 17.
If we had thought he was too troubled or unhappy we would have considered PTS but really he seemed quite happy and you have to take the rough with the smooth with pet ownership as in marriage (many similarities!)

Talk to your vet there are drugs that can slow down the advance of Canine cognitive disorder it's been a while but my dog used to go outside and forget what he'd gone out there for and walk into corners and be unable to figure out how to get out of it.