My dog has dementia. Any advice please.

One thing to remember with dogs is that they don't always show that they are ill. I had a Westie who occasionally used to do a little yelp as though she had stepped on a tin tac. One day she was sick and had diarrhea so the next day she went to the vet. It was though that she'd eaten something bad and she had antibiotics etc. She should have shown signs of getting a bit better but no change so the next day (Sunday) I took her back. He kept her in overnight, on a drip, with the intention of xraying her. Next morning I had a phone call to say she'd died earlier that day. At that point they were able to feel her body and she had cancer - whilst she was alive they couldn't feel anything.

I asked the vet why I hadn't noticed anything and he said that because they are pack animals they often won't show signs of being ill because they must stay with the pack. I thought afterwards that the little yelps might have been because she was sometimes in pain.

So, please remember that whilst your dogs may seem to be happy they are often hurting and not showing it.

kathsue you've just described the last few weeks of our darling border collie. She was 15. As well as the symptoms you describe she was almost stone deaf which would add to her confusion.
we were moving back to England from France and the vet said this would add to her confusion so we made the dreaded decision. It's so hard because they trust us to look after them .

My 15 year old dog has dementia, I took him to the vet who said if he's happy in his dementia leave him be, if he is unhappy then that's the time to say goodbye, my dog whinges a lot but always wags his tail madly when out in the woods, or when the children talk to him though he's stone deaf he just grumbles but is not in pain, I give him valerian drops on a biscuit at night and shut him in the front room with a night light, otherwise he is up and down the stairs all night wandering, he goes out into the back garden last thing and whoever is up first lets him out again , there will be a time when he is obviously unhappy and then that will be the time to say goodbye

Shel - I still wonder if we made the right decision at the right time, so appreciate your post.

Shel - my nearly 15 year old cocker has dementia, for him it's been quite gradual, but he is awake a lot at night and he does bark angrily at the fridge and the washing machine. He can't see 100% and he's completely deaf, but he has got used to sign language for the main commands. To us he seems really happy, loves his food, trots round the park as if he owns it, still "laughs" when he manages to spit out a tablet we've given him. You have some useful ways of managing the problem that we haven't tried, thank you. I realise his quality of life will deteriorate as time goes on, but he's far from that stage yet, only my DH is finding the interrupted nights a trial.

Yes we had a much-loved old dog, 18, who had developed dementia. It went on for several years.
So many times we thought it was the end, then he'd have a steroid injection at the vets and he'd bounce back again.
He went off his food but would enjoy pasta, baked beans, vegetables so I cooked these for him.
He lost his sight and hearing so we had to keep him on a lead when we took him out. One day he refused to walk and I had to carry him home: he was quite a big dog!
He went to a lovely pet sitter whenever we went away and it was while we were on holiday one time that I got the call from the vet to say this was finally the end.
Our son came out of work to be with our dog and the pet sitter while he was put to sleep. The vet kept his body in the freezer until we came home so we could say goodbye properly.

We do have another dog now, but I don't think I'd move heaven and earth for him like we did for the previous one ?