How to help a dog with dementia

[Avelandra]

Posting for MIL as she is looking for any help she can get. She has an elderly beagle, 13.5 years old. For around the last year she has been going downhill and has dementia. She can still eat and drink properly, she is playful and will happily go on walks. However, she doesn’t understand night and day or any kind of routine anymore. She will bark for tea at 2pm and doesn’t stop until you feed her. I’m talking barking for hours if left to. She also wakes up around 3am and barks for breakfast, then forgets she’s had it and will keep barking and barking constantly. She has also forgotten her name. She never used to be like this. Luckily they have no neighbours so nobody to disturb. The vets have refused medication and basically said deal with it or put her down, but she doesn’t feel it’s time to yet as she’s not in any pain. Is there anything they can do to help her sleep at night and give her some kind of routine? Obviously they love her and will do anything to help her, but being woken up at 3am every morning is starting to take its toll

I would change my vet if he ever spoke to me about either of my dogs like that. That is cruel and uncaring.
My elderly Labrador (15) is on Vivitonin for his brain and also takes gingko biloba. And I read only this week about turmeric being helpful in dogs with cognitive decline. I am not a veterinary professional, by the way.
Complain to the veterinary practice manager and find a more compassionate vet. Try and meet the new vet before swapping or at least a chat on the 'phone. It's worth changing even if your dog hasn't got long left (I know from experience) as you need to feel that any decisions you take are timely and that you will be adequately supported.

I'd be seeking a more supportive vet, tbh. Even if they think medication is not appropriate in this specific case, there are brain-healthy supplements they might have mentioned that can sometimes help. They might not but it seems like a gap if the vet has not mentioned them.

Other things that can help:
Regular, rock solid routine.
Regular, gentle exercise.
Brain games and training.
Generally reducing anxiety or stress for the dog. This might also include pheromone or scent diffusers shown to help reduce stress (i.e. Adaptil, Pet Remedy).

Some dogs may also be helped with feeding routines by moving to free feeding - but this very much depends on the dog and whether or not they are likely to just eat everything in the bowl at once - which many do.

Lots of TLC for the owners because it can be so hard to see a much loved pet slowly degrade into this.

Change your vet and research a vet prescription for Aktiv8. Really good stuff worked well for my old girl

Change your vets.

Selgian is the licensed medication for cognitive decline in dogs.
There are also a variety of nutritional supplements that can sometimes help

www.theveterinarynurse.com/review/article/management-of-canine-cognitive-dysfunction-syndrome

I would definitely change vets. I loathe the attitude that old dogs naturally just decline and there’s nothing that can be done about it.

I found this website really helpful when my 15 year old boy started showing signs of CCD last year. We caught it early and so far Aktivait has helped him quite a bit. You don’t need a prescription for it, you can buy it online Aktivait . It works best if started as early as possible when you first notice signs of decline though.

My dog who is 12 in June has just been diagnosed very early stages.we have same issues with getting up at night and the not knowing what she wants
I have started doing research and we are trying activait for a couple of months ,we got it from pet store online.our vet was very helpful but even she said it really is a bit of a new subject to tackle with your average vet.definitely change vets.The dog can also be given a relaxant to help with anxiety etc and as a previous poster mentioned there is Selgain which is fairly new and was suggested to us but would probably get better results maybe in a dog in early stages of ccd.

At 13.5 and getting distressed at not understanding life as such, I'd be inclined to PTS. I wouldn't want to live with dementia myself, and certainly wouldn't want my elderly dog to suffer with it.

If they're starting to get tired and stressed it will only make the dog worse - better a week too early than a day too late.

My late dog did the barking for food. I had to feed him every hour or so from 2pm till evening. It was very difficult - obviously I gave him less at a time but if it was too little it didn't satisfy him. i also had to vary it a lot.

My dog slept through the night, but I must admit to deciding that if he confused night with day I would have him put to sleep. Selfishly I knew I couldn't cope with disturbed nights long term but also because I wouldn't have wanted him to suffer distress.

I have a lovely book called 'Remember Me' by Eileen Anderson. I bought it when my lovely old dog was showing signs of dementia.
I think you and MIL might find it helpful. Best wishes for the old fella

Thank you everyone. I have to agree that it doesn't seem nice that she is always so distressed and confused, and I think if it was mine I would probably make that decision too as it can't be nice for her. It's hard as she doesn't seem to be in any physical pain, it's just affecting her mentally

It's very hard. I totally sympathise.

In a way that was made easy for me as my dog developed a very painful physical complaint and that made the decision for me.

However, mental distress is also awful.