Sorry if this is long but am looking for help re my 14 year old who in the last fortnight has started to behave oddly.
He sleeps with us and our other older girl, recently he has started jumping on the bed, off the bed and back on constantly, he then paces the room. He did have some tummy upsets so I thought it was that. If I take him downstairs and put him in the lounge he seems to settle after a drop of recsue remedy.

I took him to our vet on Saturday as the night before he had been non stop all night and crying, glancing around anxiously. His hearing and sight have been getting worse. The vet was lovely, said he was slightly tender in the tum but said that he is a very fit dog, heart strong and all the bloods we ran were in normal range. He gave him anti inflammatories and a broad spectrum penicillin as he had a tooth that looked a bit angry. He said that we should go back after a week and see how he had got on and if no change we should consider medication for dementia.

My worries are that the medication will just make him dopey, has anyone used any of them?
Should I just treat him like a fearful pup, ie not excessive reassurance even though my instinct is to comfort him? I am considering a thunder shirt and a DAP collar.

This may sound awful but if the vet had found a physical cause it may have been easier to accept, to have a very fit 14 year old but with other issues is making me wonder when we have to make a decision about the future I will feel guilty that it may be viewed that we have considered his behaviour a nuisance. I know that will not be the case as his quality of life comes above everything for us. The vet said to me that in his opinion even though they may be physically fit when they are starting to loose it then they have already started to leave us. This has come on so quickly so we feel a bit stunned by it.

All opinions/ experiences welcome.
Thanks.

    

Hi - I had this recently with my old boy and as with you in other times it was due to a tummy upset but did not seem to be this time - they eventually found out he had an ulcer when he got very poorly ( he was still eating, not being sick and normal poo) the vet had also thought dementia but he got better with antepsin and zitac !!!
Obviously may not apply to your lad but thought I would mention it.

Thank you Red Dog, will give anything a go. It has just come on so quickly, I know he's 14 but I would have thought the dementia would have been more gradual. Glad to hear about your boy :)

Sorry to hear your oldie is havig these issues.
I had something similar with one of mine years ago. The Vet put her on a drug called Vivitonin. she really improved on it. Vivitonin increases the perfusion in the brain and the dog becomes brighter because of it. Once they are on this medication though, it should never be stopped.

All the best.

Dawn R.

My first dog Louie went a bit doolaly in his latter years, he would, in the main, be a bit forgetful and not recognise people he had previously been friendly with, or he wouldn't notice visitors had arrived until some time later and do a " hello ! when did you arrive ! ? " . He'd also bumble about on walks, not really paying attention, I really had to keep an eye on him as he wouldn't always notice if I'd changed direction.
He was only ever agitated when we went to visit people, in his youth, Louie loved visiting peoples homes, he was quite nosey, sneaking off upstairs for a look around. But when he got dementia, he grew restless and upset if he was taken out of his home, pacing and whining the whole time.
I didn't medicate Louie as his symptoms were pretty mild.
If I were in your situation, I'd give medication a go, you've nothing to lose, and everything to gain, if it doesn't work, at least you tried :)

One of my girls could not cope with losing her hearing and sight at the same time and would throw herself to the floor.  My girl who is almost 13 has started jumping on and off the bed, but only if I'm not actually there with her in the bedroom.  Though how warm is your bedroom?  My old girl couldn't cope last night, although I didn't feel it was that warm last night she definitely had other ideas and it was too hot for her.

While at 14 dementia is a strong possibility, I would get his B12 checked just to be sure.  I saw a lot of dementia symptoms in my dobe boy (who was 10 this year) last year, lots of vacant moments, totally unresponsive to affection, some disinterest in treats which was totally unlike him.

I tried him on B12 as an experiment and within 2 days I had my old boy back - recently he was off it two months to be tested and the signs started creeping back in again.

As I say at 14 it may well be bona fide dementia but I'd want to be sure, and low B12 can mimic it very well.

Thanks all for your input. I appreciate at his age dementia may well be the issue but it has happened in the past 2 weeks, not gradually. I have trawled the internet and am quite surprised I can't find more info.

Last night we had a terrible night, we got about 2 hours cat nap. This morning he settled a bit and snoozed, this afternoon he is a bit brighter and I wonder if the medication he has been given is kicking in although why an anti inflammatory should help I am not sure, maybe he has got tummy pains. He has still done a bit of pacing but nothing like yesterday. Am keeping fingers crossed that he has a better night, one of us will "sleep" downstairs with him.

I will update the vet as I had made an appointment to see him tomorrow after I see what tonight brings. I will be going at some stage to discuss further testing.

Thanks again.

I hope this resolves for the good but sometimes what seems to show up all of a sudden was really insidious and devoted pet owners that we are, we are just too close to notice.  Often a visitor who sees our dog infrequently picks up on changes we miss.

But I can't help noting your comment on pain.  My field trainer went through this with his Lab and one of the things discovered was a fractured back molar.  Sadly, after dentistry and an initial return to eating and more normal behaviour, it was determined dementia was also at play.  The dog was put on a dietary supplement supposed to help but my understanding is that it works best as a preventative, not as a cure.

Yes, and you want to know what the supplement is of course and I don't know.  You can google and find several.

My westie (15 in sept) has been looking vague in last 2 weeks so I was wondering about dementia too. He doesn't always eat as doesn't seem to realise its there despite hand feeding to get him going, his eyesight terrible and hearing gone but sense of smell seems to be diminishing now. He wee's outside good as gold but doesn't seem to realise he needs to poo so he will just go while walking round the kitchen.
The thing is he looks blank sometimes but still potters around the garden and will go on a walk everyday. We do get sick at least 2-3 times a month but only at night (always has biscuits before bed to try and help) and he is quite snappy with us but I think that's because he can't see us and he gets frightened.
Might ask the vet about these tablets for dementia!

UPDATE:
Wanted to share this with you and maybe of some use to people who find themselves in this position in the future.

Had a terrible few days with Ed, he was pacing, crying, anxious. We went to the vet and I made it clear that it was not acceptable for him to be experiencing this, he has given us 14 good years and we owed it to him to make him comfortable. The vet asked if I would try the dementia medication as she thought he would be a good candidate, his blood profile was very good, his heart was strong. He was prescribed Propentofylline which is also known as Vivitonin, he had one dose and that night we had about 2 hours sleep, the next morning another dose but no change, I was ready to go to the vet and ask them to release him but my husband persuaded me to give it a bit longer. That afternoon after his next dose ( so 3 doses in total) he was back to exactly how he has always been, no signs of being drugged ( the tablets actually increase blood flow to the brain) tail wagging.

I am so thankful for any quality time we have with him. He went back to vets, they checked his heart and gave me a 6 month prescription. They said this does not work for all dogs but it appears we are the lucky ones.
Thanks for all the help and advice, a good nights sleep and a happy dog is a wonderful thing :)  

Long may it continue Karen for your boy.

So glad he's doing well. I love Vivitonin. As your vet said, it doesn't work in them all...but some it does wonders for.

My dog. Sam, has been showing signs of dementia, which the vet confirmed yesterday, along with arthritis which has begun to trouble him, he is not the happiest of dogs! He has been put on Metacam for the arthritis, and the vet has suggested trying him on Selegiline for the dementia. Has anybody ever tried Selegiline on any of their pets? It is going to cost me a small fortune for these pills, which I will manage to pay for somehow if they will help him but it's money that I can't afford to waste. The vet has had to order selegiline in for me and I have agreed to the initial 2 weeks supply (£72 for 2 weeks) but I hate giving my dogs drugs that I know nothing about so if anyone can comment I would be very grateful.

I think the brand name is Selgian, isn't it? At work we've had a dog on that for some time - the owner thinks it helps. Have a look at the datasheet.

If he is staying on them it would be a lot less if you get a prescription from your vet, found this price but others may be even less - you will need to check the strength he has been given.
http://www.vet-medic.com/dogs-c348/prescription-only-medicine-c351/ceva-selgian-film-coated-tablets-p7682

I'm assuming you've already tried Vivitonin and Aktivait? Both have fewer potential side-effects than Selgian.

Ed is still going strong on Vivitonin, he has had a few restless nights so my homeopath has prescribed Alba ( white arsenic) and it is working a treat to settle him at night.

Is there a reason your vet is not trying Vivitonin before the other tablet you mention?

Good Luck.

sorry for the delay in getting back - storm damage has kept me busy! I did ask the vet about Vivitonin but she just said that she didn't think it would help him. I use a few homoeopathic remedies so will speak to my homoeopath to see if she can help Sam. It's not the cost that is worrying me as much as the unknown effects, he is such a sweet boy that I will do anything to help including cutting down on our weekly shopping! The reason it is costing so much is his size - giant breed - so has to have 2x20mg daily, but I have made it clear that while I am willing to give these meds a trial, I will not continue for too long unless we see a marked improvement. Many thanks for the replies, it makes the situation a bit less lonely.

Wishing you both all the best, I am sure everyone understands the over whelming desire to do the best for our dogs. I didn't think about the size difference, I have a medium sized breed so he has 3 tablets per day.
The vivitonin has worked really well for us but I would say it is the homeopathic remedy that has made him more comfortable at night. My husband is sceptical about some of my choices ( raw food, homeopathy) but even he has said that he is glad we tried this route.

I hope you find a good solution that works for you both.