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The doghouse

If you're worried about your pet's health, please speak to a vet or qualified professional.

Original poster

Old dog with health issues and dementia - when to pts

33 replies

Ridingthegravytrain · 23/01/2023 14:40

Hi. This is awful to be considering but I'm beginning to wonder if my dogs happiness and quality of life is good enough any more. It will probably be quite long so bear with me.

He is 13.5 yr old large breed and has recently progressed quite badly with his dementia. It's especially bad at night where he is destructive and anxious pacing and howling all night. We are currently having to take it in turns sleeping downstairs with him where he is still restless but definitely better.

But his anxiety is constantly through the roof. Especially separation anxiety. I can't leave him alone or even get up from the sofa without him getting up. You can see the fear in his eyes that he may be left. And if he is left at all he freaks out and chews door handles and has toilet accidents in his desperation to get out.

He also has degenerative myelopathy and lumbar sacral stenosis though his pain is controlled with steroid shots and oral steroids and paracetamol. But his back and leg issues make his inability to relax fully and get proper rest a really problem.

Unfortunately he seems to have a paradoxical reaction to all medicines so the usual anti anxiety medicines like Xanax, trazadone and gabapentin seem to increase his anxiety. It's really frustrating me and the vet. He is also on an antidepressant that is meant to help with the anxiety and the cognitive dysfunction but so far no difference. Otherwise his health is good and he can see and hear fine.

On the plus side he is very happy out walking with me or if I'm sitting with him but obviously that is not possible all the time and it's making him and me miserable.

Has anyone been in this situation with an elderly dog? Has anything helped? It breaks my heart but we are getting to the stage where he is so anxious all the time we are wondering if he actually has a good quality of life anymore

OP posts:
Newpeep · 23/01/2023 15:05

Yes we have. Our vet gave us a quality of life questionnaire which we scored her on for two weeks and realised she had very few periods of real quality of life in a day. She was a magnificent dog in her prime and still physically well and not in pain but she had dementia (pacing all night, not recognising us etc) and had started the decline into organ failure. She stopped eating and we were preparing ourselves to make the decision and then she had a huge seizure which forced our hand. We wish we'd been braver. She was nearly 17.

Better a day too early. It's not a mistake I will make again.

Myotherpetisamouse · 23/01/2023 15:10

I would second the QOL questionnaire. You can find them online.

DawdlingService · 23/01/2023 15:13

I'd have him pts now tbh. That's no life for a dog. He sounds so miserable and mental suffering is just as terrible as physical. I'm so sorry that you're having to face this decision.

ButterBastardBeans · 23/01/2023 15:34

DawdlingService · 23/01/2023 15:13

I'd have him pts now tbh. That's no life for a dog. He sounds so miserable and mental suffering is just as terrible as physical. I'm so sorry that you're having to face this decision.

This. VN here. Take him today. He will be hiding pain too. Stay with him and take his blanket from home too. There is no benefit waiting another day.

Original poster
Ridingthegravytrain · 23/01/2023 15:51

Thank you for your replies and sorry for your losses. I have contacted the vet and waiting for a call back

OP posts:
Mckmck123 · 20/03/2023 14:36

Our dog is 15. Still likes walks and food
Although he is losing weight but tests came back ok but is nearly blind and deaf
and he too cry’s and whines through the night unless I stay with him
its very difficult isn’t it
anti anxiety drugs haven’t helped so going to see if he can have sleeping tablets or we will have to think about having him put to sleep

tummatina · 20/03/2023 22:49

oh it's so awful isn't it . we've spent the last week crying all of us because of our lovely dog.
blind deaf poss dementia.
vet said if it was her did she'd have her PTS but then she seems to enjoy her food or a wander in the garden .
honestly didn't see how how tough this would be .

Enthrallingstoryofstillnessandlight · 20/03/2023 22:52

Honestly, these dogs are suffering, I'm sorry but they need to be PTS. I have animals, it's awful but you need to make the decision earlier rather than later.

CuriousMama · 20/03/2023 23:02

Been there last October. I got lots of lovely advice on here. I got a vet to come to the house. Ddog hated the vets
He'd been a wonderful rescue who I trained to be sociable. My absolute darling. Broke my heart but I sat with him at his bed and carried him to the van for his cremation.

Sorry to spout about my boi but I do know how tormenting it is. But they give us so many years of loyalty. It really is the kindest last thing we can do ❤️

EconomyClassRockstar · 21/03/2023 02:13

My very old dog has also been waking frequently at night. I hadn't even worked out the correlation between that and their age. I just thought they were being annoying. A few other health issues popped up really quickly and they are now also blind and we have decided that their life isn't that great and are putting them to sleep. Ironically, I just watched one of my parents die and I wish they could have had the same dignity.

Enthrallingstoryofstillnessandlight · 21/03/2023 02:16

EconomyClassRockstar · 21/03/2023 02:13

My very old dog has also been waking frequently at night. I hadn't even worked out the correlation between that and their age. I just thought they were being annoying. A few other health issues popped up really quickly and they are now also blind and we have decided that their life isn't that great and are putting them to sleep. Ironically, I just watched one of my parents die and I wish they could have had the same dignity.

So sorry for you and agree re parent, hugs xx

Mckmck123 · 21/03/2023 16:07

Upped my dogs meds on advice from the vet and he slept through the night
took him for a walk today and he was like a spring chicken ( well not quite 😉)
getting a good night sleep for him and us has made all the difference for now
but I know he will decline
just got to decide the right time
would rather not have to make that decision
but ok for another day

CuriousMama · 21/03/2023 17:53

Mckmck123 · 21/03/2023 16:07

Upped my dogs meds on advice from the vet and he slept through the night
took him for a walk today and he was like a spring chicken ( well not quite 😉)
getting a good night sleep for him and us has made all the difference for now
but I know he will decline
just got to decide the right time
would rather not have to make that decision
but ok for another day

That's good news. Every day is a blessing.

itsnotmeitsu · 22/03/2023 22:19

As somebody has said, better a day too early than a day too late. Dementia must be as distressing for animals as it for humans. We had a dog that I'm pretty sure developed dementia and It was upsetting to see her not seem to know where she was. Horrible as it is to have those decisions to make I think we know whether we're keeping the animal alive for us rather than them having quality of life. In this case our dog died at home due to an underlying health issue, but we've had to make the decision with other dogs (cancer) and much as I grieve I haven't regretted the decision to stop the dog suffering. Paw hold for you @Ridingthegravytrain x

itsnotmeitsu · 22/03/2023 22:46

@CuriousMama > With our last baby (who was nine and had cancer) we had the vet come to our house because he absolutely hated being at the vets. He went to sleep on the sofa he was always laying on, and he wasn't scared. Unfortunately, of course, this stuff costs, and we could choose to do that. The dog we had before him was fine going to the vet and they left us in the room with him for as long as we needed to be there.

PrincessofWellies · 22/03/2023 22:51

He's distressed, so now is probably the correct time. It's harder for you than the animal, so bear that in mind. 💔

Vanillacupcake33 · 23/03/2023 13:12

OP, we had this last year. Also a large breed. He actually had lots of energy still but started to wee, alot in the day and night, crying every night, so I slept downstairs with him and didn't leave the house for weeks. He'd forget where the door was, stopped grooming, lost weight etc. As he had so much energy, we thought it was just age related but as he got worse, I rang a vet who assessed him and said he had dementia and was getting worse and starting to suffer. I had no idea it was so bad and felt awful I left it the few weeks I did. We then made the decision to pts. It's horrible but we knew it was the right decision for him.

Spambod · 23/03/2023 13:22

My dog is very similar, I am not waiting until she gets worse, she doesn’t know what is going on. It is up to me to make sure she doesn’t suffer. Leaving it too late is a huge animal welfare issue. Vets just seem to want to sell you lots of medication which is not ethical. Please put your lovely dog down ASAP op.

user1471556818 · 23/03/2023 16:47

Hope you get the strength to make the decision to PTS
It's the final act of love we do for them
It's horrible and thoughts are with you you

Original poster
Ridingthegravytrain · 27/03/2023 13:15

Just an update as I see a lot of people have posted, I hadn't checked back into the thread.

We took him back to the vet and had a good chat. He was very on board with whatever decision we wanted so we booked in pts after that weekend but also as a what harm can it do also gave him a shot of librela.

It was like a miracle. Within two days he was so much happier and more relaxed. I think hidden pain was increasing his anxiety and stopping him sleeping thus making his dementia symptoms worse. He was chronically exhausted.

We still let him sleep with us and I spend a lot of time home with him, but he now happily snoozes in between walks and plays and potters about like he used to.

OP posts:
LawksaMercyMissus · 28/03/2023 20:09

That's good news, I do hope the effects last. They wore off after a week for mine and the vet is guiding me towards PTS.

Original poster
Ridingthegravytrain · 28/03/2023 22:25

So sorry @LawksaMercyMissus it's horrible. I'm fairly pragmatic and don't think it will last. We are looking at a few weeks I think. But if he's happy for now I'm happy

OP posts:
Itsjustme123 · 04/04/2023 16:34

I hope the medication is helping him .
monotone last week I had to face putting my dog to sleep with extreme anxiety and moderate dementia . We tried all the meds but nothing was helping him .
keeping my fingers crossed for you x

Mckmck123 · 12/04/2023 14:54

our Lurcher (15) is waking up at 5 even with all his meds and barking ,
can’t leave him for more then 2 hours if we are lucky and he has weed,leave paper out but he never goes in the same place
so hard to know what to do though because he still likes a walk and his food
we are tired all the time but feel like cruel owners to consider putting him down but it’s becoming such a downer now
Reading on this people put up with so much more then we have though

Sapin · 12/04/2023 17:53

I read a lot of these threads and I had my old dog put to sleep a year or so ago - I think we all (myself included) leave it just a bit too late and usually for our own sake rather than the dogs.