Ageing Dog

[Zug Zug]

Mozart (the bichon in my photo) is 12 years young. Slowing down, but still puppy-like when he wants to be. Still gets all silly and bouncy when the other dog isn't around and he has me to himself, and also still loves to play about with the other dog when he thinks I am not around.

Anyway, I found a small black lump on his face (under the fuzz) on Saturday while I was grooming him. Took him to the vet this morning and he suggested I keep an eye on it but it might only be a wart. I hope that's right.

Also got the vet to look at his eyes, which I was pretty sure were starting to fail. Yep - cataracts in both eyes. I know it's a normal part of ageing but I feel really sad about it. I kind of knew because there was a reflection coming back from his eyes and he's been doing some funny things at times, but it's different when it is confirmed by a vet. Seems more final.

There have been some funny instances over the past few months of him running the wrong way to find us in the park or on the beach. There was one day when my sister and I were in hysterics as he has run around in circles to where he thought we must be - and then kept running in different directions randomly until we were able to intercept him. But they're poignant moments, too, aren't they?

I gather cataracts progress and he might now go blind. I also know most old dogs cope with blindness really well. Honestly he is coping really well at the moment (in spite of the fact that I suspect his hearing is fading a bit also). At home you wouldn't even notice most of the time.

We won't be doing any surgery on him. It's not hurting him and I don't think it would be right.

[kirst_goldens]

Hrmm my boy is 15 this yr and his eyes are nealry shot he has has cataracts slowly progressing for about 6 yrs now so u have a while to go if he is a battler like mine! he is loosing his hearing now so we cant let him off lead as much if he gets too far away i worry and i dont want him near roads as he doesnt hear the traffic Going strong though at his age im lucky he is still here at all!

[spottychick]

My old girl got cataracts and skin tumors. I treated them both with natural remedies (she was too old for operations on either and they didn't think it would be a good idea anyway). Got rid of the tumors and helped her eyes (tho never cured it of course). She eventually got more and more blind but she was still as happy as anything, keen to go for walks, full of energy and enthusiasm for life. She developed clever ways of compensating for her loss of sight. She lived till nearly 19 still with no problems with her lack of sight.

I used to marvel at her mapping out a new area - sort of doing a grid of it and finding the obstacles so that she knew where they were. Then she'd run around confidently. Once or twice she fell into unexpected holes or trenches on walks but it never seemed to worry her. I had nothing but admiration for her and never felt sorry for her - there was no reason to because she was so amazing and didn't let anything worry her. Oh and she remained the boss of the other two dogs right till the very end - but a gentle boss

I still miss the beautiful lady.

[puggy_puggy]

Blind dogs cope amazingly well it's us as owners who take longer to come to terms with their loss of sight. If you make their world constant and safe they can live a happy life.

My pug old boy went totally blind suddenly at the end of last year due to SARDS. He is 8 & 1/2. He is basically living his life the same way as he did before he went blind. He knows the layout of the house and the garden and gets around really well. Ocassionally he will bump into things or get a bit lost but he will call out for help if he is really stuck. He uses the doggy step to get on and off the couch, even sometimes jumping off the couch. He still loves his walks and I am still able to let him off the lead at the oval. Apart from putting baby gates on the bottom and top of the the internal stairs, as I don't trust him to go up or down on his own, and pulling out a few spikey plants from the backyard there really isn't anything else I have had to change for him.

[Zug Zug]

Thanks - and you're right he is still a happy chappy it's just me getting used to it.

Right now I can see him out the window trotting around the garden with his tail held high. It doesn't seem to be bothering him at all.

And so handsome! Photo below

[mutt lover]

My old girl lady is 16 and has wart things on her head and body and is also losing her sight, she does bite at the warts and rubs her head on the carpet so they must be itchy, tried some of that wartner on them but didn't do any good, vet said it was just an age thing and not to worry about them. Spotty Chick would love to know what you treated you dog's with.

[spottychick]

Spotty Chick would love to know what you treated you dog's with.

I'll try to remember how I did it. The process was fairly complicated and I kept meaning to put it up on a web site because people kept asking me how I was doing it. She had 3 very large tumors on her side tho, fast-growing, scarey, ugly things - not just small wart-like growths - so it was pretty heavy-duty.

I can tell you some of it tho. I gave her natural treatments both internally and externally (as a poultice) and it included boosting her immune system, high doses of Vit C, changing her diet, giving her a cottage cheese/flax oil mix and essiac tea, turmeric, garlic and kelp, amongst other things. I also used similar ingredients, including the herbs from the essiac tea, in a poultice that I thickened with wheatgerm and placed over the tumors and then wrapped with a bandage. Pretty smelly but it sucked the toxins right out of her tumors. I also washed the area after removing the poultice with hydrogen peroxide. WHen the tumors changed and looked more like open sores than growths I changed some of the poultice ingredients to more healing ingredients such as manuka honey. This took about 3 months to achieve success.

But that is a very simplified, cut down version of what I did and I should add I had a vet keeping an eye on what we were doing. He was quite stunned at the results!!

If I get around to putting it together properly and posting on a website I'll let you know if you're interested.

With your dog, if they are warts and itchy, I'd be inclined to start by making up a spray of calendula tea and filtered water and maybe a bit of colloidal silver, to spray on the area and reduce the itchiness. Also, maybe get some Vitamin E capsules and puncture one and spread the oil over the wart/s and perhaps give her some Vitamin C (ascorbic acid form). You can also apply Vit C topically, directly to the skin - as a paste. Adding spirulina, kelp and/or dandelion to her food can help with overall health as they improve organ function in the body.

[kirst_goldens]

i was told if they are just warts then u can have them removed by a vet or like i do on the bad ones - tie horse hair arounf the base and they fall off... then i just use tee tree oil spray on it - am looking at ways to stop them groing back though - thats the hard part lol

[Zug Zug]

Oh my god I don't think I have the spine for that.

Mozart has a number of other warts, but nothing as angry-looking as this one, which is black in colour. Bit hard to get to with horse hair also - it's just at the corner of his mouth, under all the fuzz.

[gila]

Mozart (the bichon in my photo) is 12 years young. Slowing down, but still puppy-like when he wants to be. Still gets all silly and bouncy when the other dog isn't around and he has me to himself, and also still loves to play about with the other dog when he thinks I am not around.

Anyway, I found a small black lump on his face (under the fuzz) on Saturday while I was grooming him. Took him to the vet this morning and he suggested I keep an eye on it but it might only be a wart. I hope that's right.

Also got the vet to look at his eyes, which I was pretty sure were starting to fail. Yep - cataracts in both eyes. I know it's a normal part of ageing but I feel really sad about it. I kind of knew because there was a reflection coming back from his eyes and he's been doing some funny things at times, but it's different when it is confirmed by a vet. Seems more final.

I thought that cataracts block a reflection when you shine a light into the eyes. Dogs have something called a tapetum lucidum in their eyes that reflects light back through the retina. That's normal.

There is also something called lens nuclear sclerosis that is quite common in older dogs. It's a cloudiness in the eyes that can be mistaken for cataracts, but it doesn't affect the eyesight.

Anyway I'm sure the vet would know how to distinguish between the two, but just thought I'd say something because of what you said about the reflection. If it turns out that Mozart doesn't have cataracts but nuclear sclerosis, there might be another cause for his confused behaviour.

[Tara and Sam]

Mozart (the bichon in my photo) is 12 years young. Slowing down, but still puppy-like when he wants to be. Still gets all silly and bouncy when the other dog isn't around and he has me to himself, and also still loves to play about with the other dog when he thinks I am not around.

Anyway, I found a small black lump on his face (under the fuzz) on Saturday while I was grooming him. Took him to the vet this morning and he suggested I keep an eye on it but it might only be a wart. I hope that's right.

Also got the vet to look at his eyes, which I was pretty sure were starting to fail. Yep - cataracts in both eyes. I know it's a normal part of ageing but I feel really sad about it. I kind of knew because there was a reflection coming back from his eyes and he's been doing some funny things at times, but it's different when it is confirmed by a vet. Seems more final.

I thought that cataracts block a reflection when you shine a light into the eyes. Dogs have something called a tapetum lucidum in their eyes that reflects light back through the retina. That's normal.

There is also something called lens nuclear sclerosis that is quite common in older dogs. It's a cloudiness in the eyes that can be mistaken for cataracts, but it doesn't affect the eyesight.

Anyway I'm sure the vet would know how to distinguish between the two, but just thought I'd say something because of what you said about the reflection. If it turns out that Mozart doesn't have cataracts but nuclear sclerosis, there might be another cause for his confused behaviour.

Thats interesting

I had the vet out to my boy today and his eyes are bluey haze to them almost like cloudiness

my girl ( both about 13 yrs old ) her eyes started to deterirate last year with the cloudiness and her hearing also is becomeing worse

the vet today suggested Ester C to help the eyes , and ease any fluid there

Zug Zug your boy is gorgeous

oops sorry misread it the first time

Edited February 23, 2010 by Tara and Sam

[Zug Zug]

Thanks - I think they're both pretty cute. Mozart is the white one - a boy although many people think he's so pretty he must be a girl.

Hmm I probably didn't describe what his eyes look like very well. It is a kind of bluey grey colour. Not red or bright white or anything. Just kind of a wrong colour inside his pupils. More obvious when a light is behind me when I look at him.

There are a number of signs that his sight isn't good. When I throw a treat for him when we are playing/training, I need to help him find it if it goes more than 20cms away - even in broad daylight. And in the evenings I need to go and tap him on the shoulder to remind him to come back inside after a wee.

But most of the time you just wouldn't know. He seems to follow cues from the other dog, and know the layout of our home and yard down to the last blade of grass.

[gila]

This dog has nuclear sclerosis:

It does look a lot like a cataract. But if there are signs that Mozart's sight is deteriorating and the vet has diagnosed cataracts I would go with that. It's great that he's coping so well and is still doing his thing

The only reason I know about nuclear sclerosis is cos I noticed a very slight haziness in my 8 year old dog's eyes and did a bit of research. If my boy gets cataracts and loses his eyesight I'd have to be his guide dog, he's already so friggen clumsy and unco. He manages to bump into door frames and things with normal sight!

[Zug Zug]

To me that looks just like Mozart's eyes look. How can you tell the difference between that and cataracts?

Edited: Oh - I see now. Nuclear sclerosis doesn't affect vision. Mozart is definitely losing his vision. I can throw treats on the ground right in front of him and if I throw them more than 30cms he can't find them.

Edited February 24, 2010 by Zug Zug