A Question On Dementia In Your Older Pets

[yellowgirl]

Please let us know how you go and what your vet says xxx

[Starkehre]

I always say a day to early rather than a day too late

Yes. One of the best & kindest vets I've known, said about his own dogs... That he'd never regretted putting one to sleep too soon. But he'd suffered agonies from putting one to sleep too late. And he meant even just a day or two.

My rule of thumb is not to wait until the pet 'has to be put out of its misery'. But to pick the time before the slide into 'misery'.

It's so, so hard, tho', even when you know this is the 'time'.

+1

This is the rule I live by also.

A very personal decision and we are all different.

Best wishes Trisven.

Edited September 24, 2013 by dyzney

[Sandra777]

The biggest difficulty we face is that, of course, he never does it at the vets and they see a seemingly perfectly healthy, albeit older, dog.

Personally I don't think this is a problem - your vet should trust you enough to be able to discuss what you see and make some educated guesses about what may help - know that specific drugs have no serious side effects and be willing to go 'try this and see what happens' - with close and constant feedback of course.

Knowing what is wrong doesn't really help if there's no cure, or if the "cure" is worse than the illness (eg drugs which make the dog a zombie aren't necessarily going to make the dog feel any better, they just make your life easier)

Very personal decision and don't let anyone ever beat you up for "not trying hard enough".

[westiemum]

Hi Tris,

Gee its hard to know what to do. Here's an abbreviation of a post from the Dementia thread in Health and Nutrition. The research suggests that 60% of dogs over ten have at least one dementia symptom. So its not uncommon. Hopefully Sheridan might pop in too to talk about Grumpy who went over the bridge in December and she faced the same decision athough from memory Grumps went downhill pretty quickly (RIP gorgeous boy).

From what you've said I'm too going to go against the flow and if your vet agrees, suggest you try some Vivitonin first and do a baseline blood panel if you haven't already. I started Mac on Vivitonin right at the beginning and its been brilliant. Makes a huge difference to him but apparently it doesn't work for all dogs. Its not overly expensive and is a good safe drug. There are other dementia drugs available but I think they are for more severe cases. Mac doesn't need them and does fine on the Vivitonin. Incidentally, I ran out of Vivitonin ten days ago and had to wait for the vet to get a box in for me - and I really saw a difference in him - he wasn't as alert and spritely as he usually is. Within a day or so of being back on it he was much better again - so I think it really helps him. I have also used Herb Robert which I think also helped. Its highly antioxidant and the Romany people have used it for centuries. Essentially just gave him his 'herbal tea' with his breakfast and dinner in it. Someone also has had good success with Chinese herbs (dogmad?) but I haven't needed to try them. I also have kept him on a raw diet with very very little processed food and I think that helps a lot too. Back in June Mac started 3 am night pacing. This is where it got tricky for us as he was waking me up most nights and I work full-time. I was so sleep deprived and he was miserable and panting (I thought it was dementia panting). It was becoming a real problem. I took him to the vet and we thought it was an exacerbation of his dementia and he prescribed Prozac (human not canine as the human is a fraction of the price). He also gave me some valium to use until the Prozac kicked in. That was Wednesday 19 June.

On the Saturday night the 22nd he didn't settle at all and neither of us slept at all that night. - the valium didn't work even with doubling the dose under the vets instruction. He paced ALL night. The next night he had emergency surgery for laryngeal paralysis to clear his airway. He hasn't paced since he came home from hospital on the 25th of June and he hasn't had the Prozac or Valium since. We clearly mistook his panting for dementia panting when in hindsight he was clearly heading for respiratory crisis. I also thought his slowing down at the dog park was just part of his age when in fact his gradually closing airway and difficulty getting air meant he was becoming very exercise intolerant. I didn't connect the dots and neither did the vet. So overall an easy but not good mistake to make. Once he had his laryngeal tie-back surgery he was a seriously new dog. The improvement was incredible. And he came through the surgery really well despite being three weeks off his 14th birthday. If your dog being unsettled overnight continues and becomes regular, he starts to not to enjoy his walks and he starts panting or seems to be a bit breathless then he needs investigation IMO. Don't assume like I did that its his dementia and miss something serious. So Mac continues on his Vivitonin, Herb Robert and raw diet. He gets very very little processed food. His immune system is very good for a 14 year old, and his blood panel is perfect. Hope that helps. Will be very interested to hear how you get on.

Edited September 25, 2013 by westiemum