Elderly dog suddenly gone strange this evening

[Sprookjesbos]

Hi all.
Our terrier is 16 next month. He has his ups and downs but generally does remarkably well for his age. This evening, all of a sudden, he started walking on the hearth in front of the fire which he usually avoids (it is tiles and he skitters on them so just walks round it). Thought it was a bit odd. Not long after, he started circling the coffee table. He did it about 6 times before I interrupted him and since then has been pacing the house, mostly making right turns. I ended up pushing the coffee table against the wall because he kept going back to circle it. He usually sleeps in the evening and it is seriously unusual for him to be awake at this time but he's now been pacing for 2 hours. Doesn't seem in pain or particularly distressed. Think it might be a long night.

Anyone know what this might mean, or experienced it before? Not sure if it warrants a vet trip!

Sending love

@Sprookjesbos walking round in circles in 1 direction is almost always a sign if a stroke.

If his breathing is shallow then I think the time has come to call the vet and have him pts.

Sending huge love, my pup was 16 earlier this month and whilst I am lucky that other than sleeping heavier and less interested in long walks she is normal, but I am aware she could change overnight.

This

So sorry OP..💔 let us know how things go..

Oh dear it does sound like a stroke. Hard call to make . Be lovely if he just fell asleep at home with you all. Perhaps your vet or on call would come to your home ? 💕

This is very similar to what happened to our old boy, except he had a couple of seizures as well as the circling. The vet gave him some drugs to stop the seizures which worked and DH wanted to wait for bit to see whether he got worse before PTS. Unfortunately he deteriorated badly quite suddenly overnight and it was very distressing for him and us. I really regret not going by the "better one day too early" saying.

Sending lots of love to you and your lovely dog xx

Thanks all. We really thought he was going to go this morning, he was shivering with cold extremities and making a sort of grunting sound. We lay him on our bed and curled up with him and he fell asleep. He then woke up and hour later and has since been wandering around the house. Definitely seemed lost a few times. Couldn't find his food but ate it out of DHs hand. It's been a couple of hours now and he's sitting quite happily watching the kids eat their lunch.

The problem is we've had a few moments in the last 18 months we thought his time had come! He was having seizures for a while, then those stopped. The vet has always just said "you'll know".

I feel awful saying this but the other side of it is it's taking its toll on us, he soils in the house every day such that I've just given up on our lounge carpet, we can't go for weekends away or long days out because we can't leave him for long periods yet he's not well enough to be taken out.

We are considering just calling his time. We are in bits over it because he still has good days. But my DH said this morning, he's 16, we can't be cheating him out of much. It's so hard.

Really appreciate you thinking of us and checking in!

We've read that "better a day too early" quote and were discussing that this morning. Thank you

Also, our village vet doesn't do call outs to PTS, we asked them that last time be bad a bad turn. We could see if there's another vet in our nearest city that would.

I'm so sorry but I think your DH is right - at sixteen, he isn't going to get better. You'll end up fixing one "issue" only for another to pop up. It's really hard when they still have good, lucid moments but a previously trained dog who is toileting in the house everyday must be suffering in one way or another, even if it's not obvious on the outside.

It's much, much better for them to go while they still have some dignity left - waiting until they can't walk or eat anymore isn't fair on anyone

Thank you. I think I needed to read that! The guilt is really hard. DH pointed out this morning that he doesn't really have a personality anymore, it went without us really noticing. But he does still love a cuddle, he just loves us all so much 💔That's what's hard.

It sounds like the poor old boy has had a stroke. I'd be taking him to the vets and saying goodbye. He's reached a grand old age, you're all struggling, I'd say it's the kindest thing for him

My old dog did odd things for a good 18 months before his time came. Like old people lose their memories and have funny turns, dogs do too. It doesn’t mean they’re going to die. Sometimes they do. We knew when the time was near for our old boy, and prepared ourselves, but let him happily potter around whilst he still seemed to be getting pleasure out of things. He would circle and be restless, look confused at times and do odd things. But he loved his food, pottering around the garden, destroying teddies, loved ‘guarding’ us. We said so many times, should we or shouldn’t we? And we didn’t because we weren’t 100% sure, and didn’t want to regret making the decision too soon. One day he just couldn’t get up and there was nothing in his eyes, and like the cliché goes, we knew it was time.

Truly, I would wrap him in a blanket or jumper that smells of you, and take him to be PTS. He can't help himself. Only you guys can help him, as a last act of love, love which hurts and is unbelievably hard, but is absolutely an act of deep love. You're not letting him down whatsoever by doing that, in fact, you are giving him freedom from any fear and pain❤️

What sort of a life has he got if he's blind, deaf and pooing everywhere? Id suggest go and really look at him, put aside the fact you love him and think what you'd advise someone else to do in that situation?

You can't just wait for his poor tired old body to give up so you don't have to make a hard decision. Keeping him going is not in his best interests.

This.

I'm so sorry.

My Yorkie started having odd moments and it was the start of canine dementia. Made the call at the same appointment he was diagnosed.

Elderly DDog had a stroke and was walking in circles. Best to get your dog to the vet asap to evaluate him.

The kindest thing you can do sometimes is to let them go. I had to take my old boy aged 15 for his final journey last year. It's really hard but I know that he would have deteriorated further and wouldn't even be able to tell me that he had enough. As others have said, better a day earlier than too late.
I do understand how you feel and send you a hug.

Sorry to hear OP. I will post and then unfollow as I find it so hard thinking of losing my 16yo boy who went this year. Like you, he was deaf, poor sighted, bit incontinent, needed hand feeding etc for quite a while towards the end. At about 14 he had something that looked exactly like a stroke in the night - I was convinced we were losing him - took him to the vet as soon as it opened and turned out it was just an inner ear thing that a lot of the oldies have and it looks terrifying but isn't so bad. So don't panic with things like balance/circling furniture, he's an oldie and they have good weeks and bad weeks.

With respect, fuck the carpet, it's a carpet and like you said it's ruined now anyway. Likewise we had a kind of sacrificial rug for the last 6m or so in the front room, was cheap and got pissed on / vanished etc a lot , and we threw it away once he'd passed.

He loves being part of your family and that is the main thing. I agree that "you'll know" when the time is right for him. It's our job to love and care for them until then.

My boy went on for a very long time months after we thought "surely he's going to pass tonight" but he was such a fighter, and he absolutely loved us, he would never have wanted to go "a day too soon" and that is why he kept going. We gave him a lot of painkillers and sleeping pills from the vet to help him in those last weeks, half expecting he'd pass over, and he could have given up sooner with all of that, but he never did. I so hoped he'd go on his own terms but ultimately we had to PTS as his pain and weight loss was severe and stopped being helped by the medication and the balance had tipped from manageable for him to unfair. Hardest day of my life and I have never stopped mourning his loss. Even then, we made the most of every day - the day before PTS I gave him his sleepy meds and carried him around town to all his favourite places, he managed to eat a sausage (!), and he loved it.

No one knows your dog better than you. I can only say having been through those very uncertain late stages where you can feel like today might be the day they go and the. they go one for months and make tons of wonderful new memories - give him every chance. You will be amazed at how resilient they are and you'll know when the time is right when there's absolutely no doubt at all left in your mind (and his eyes) about it. That moment does come and you'll know when it does. Don't underestimate how hard it is to lose them and make the very most of every precious day together you have. xx

@Sprookjesbos it is so hard, I am sorry

When we had to make the decision with 16 y.o. Newly diagnosed Diabetic girl, we called a visiting vet.
It was so peaceful for her, in her favourite spot.
Our dog before her suffered a stroke, walking all wonky. Kindest thing was to let her pass quietly.
Best wishes to your family

You will know when it's time. And what you do you'll do out of love.
Our old girl had a walk down the street, handful of hot dog sausages and went to sleep in my arms.
You'll know.

Hi OP sorry to hear your boy isn't well. It's a really difficult decision to make and the hardest for you but kindest for your boy when it's time.

Our vet couldn't come out so we found a company who had a vet who came to the house and put him to sleep on his bed with me and DH cuddling him, he then left and around 30 minutes later they collected him, DH said when he carried him out they had a dog bed in the van and he tucked him under one of his own blankets, and then they individually cremated him, and we had him back within 48 hours.

They're based in Bury and cover Manchester, most of Lancashire and some of West Yorkshire if that's any help. They really were excellent at a very sad time for us. There are similar companies over the country, I'm sure you could find one on Google.

I'm crying 😢 it is really sad

Our local pet crematorium, Cherry Trees ( Kent) has a vet who comes to your home . We used her for my sisters dog and will do the same for ours when the time comes , she was lovely . Might be worth seeing if there is anything similar in your area . If anyone in Kent is reading this I highly recommend Cherry Trees , we’ve had all kinds of animals cremated with them from horses to Guinea pigs and the service has always been caring and respectful.