Is this an early sign of dementia?

[TellEmAboutTheHoneyMummy]

Dm (nearky 80) has always loved animals and is gentle and sweet to them.

Today when visiting she picked up our cat and I could see he was wild. His eyes were staring. I said in a warning tone “He looks wild”. She shushed me thrn crept up with the cat to DS who was relaxed and deep in thought.

She brought the cat closer behind DS, the cat reached his head out and sniffed DS back. She brought the cat closer still then the cat struggled and scratched DS with his claws disturbing and hurting him.

What do you think? We thought it was out of character. We also thought it was cruel. There have been other jncidents too not involving animals that had us worried but don’t want to out ourselves.

It could be. People with dementia lose empathy with other people/creatures. But it's hard to tell from one isolated incident.

Yes it does sound odd. There are different types of dementia ,like frontotemporal, that are characterised by odd behaviour, though I think it's more common in the 'younger' old.

Yes it could be, sadly.

My adult DD recently reminded me of the time my mum pulled her hair when she was a child. Completely out of character.

The incident itself is not so important, but that it is out of character. If I were you I would be researching next steps.

Tthank you!