Blind and deaf dog

[Monicageller221]

My dog will turn 14 in February. She has been blind for the past few years and she is also now mostly deaf. I struggle to know whether she’s happy and still has a good life. It seems awful to know that she is living in darkness and silence. She still eats, drinks, toilets outside, and likes to go on very short walks around the block slowly.

She also just stands around the house though staring at nothing. Like she will just stand in the middle of the room for ages looking at the wall. I wonder, is she bored? Fed up? Confused? Miserable? Does anyone else have an old dog that is blind and deaf? Am I just projecting my own feelings onto her?

The questions to ask yourself is - is she going to get better? Does she have a reasonable quality of life? Is she in any pain?

The standing and staring behaviour may be dementia rather than a response to deafness and blindness. My dear old terrier was like this for his last several months. He was also very deaf and I tink his sight was impaired quite a bit.

If it is any reassurance for you, I did get the impression that my dog was still getting enjoyment out of life through this period, and that he was not distressed.

He spend longer sniffing on walks than he had before, and it was lovely to know that he still had this resource for happiness. It surely makes growing deafness and blindness less of an obstacle to the happiness of older dogs than it may be to the happiness of elderly humans.

Well that’s what I’m questioning. I don’t know

My dog is 14 in Jan. He's totally deaf and rapidly blind in the last month. He also has some weakness in legs and probably a bit of dementia. He wanders the house and I'm not sure who he's looking for. I found him in a dark room lying looking at a cupboard. When I took him away, he was shaking afterwards.

He has just lost control of his bladder. I saw a vet today and got medication that might help the incontinence. But I know I really do need to let him go, even if it works. Even though he's a chilled dog who just copes with everything, I don't think he can be deaf and blind and unable to get up steps (in our household which is busy with 2 toddlers). I say this but I desperately want to keep him with us.

one Thing that is quite good for blind deaf dogs is having a different scent in each room so they know where they are. So for example, the living room might smell of oranges (dried peel on/down the back of the radiator) the dining room might be dried lavender etc.

another thing that is really good for blind deaf dogs is to have a specific textured mat at steps up/steps down (if you have steps in your home) so for example, if you have a step down into the kitchen as we do, a rough texture Matt to indicate there is a step up (from kitchen to dining room) and in the dining room a soft Matt to indicate there will be a step down into the kitchen. If you have other steps to navigate daily, make sure you’re consistent with which texture is up and which is down.

once you’ve got the matts in place and the scents set up, do a walk around with the lead at a slow pace as if it’s the first time they’ve been in the house and take time for them to slowly investigate with you holding the lead and guiding.

i hope this helps! X

I adopted a blind and deaf old dog a couple of years ago and totally get where you are coming from - it’s very difficult to know what they are feeling and how much discomfort they are in… you have an advantage in that you knew your dog before whereas I didn’t! So look out for signs that you know she is not coping well. I do the following:

• pain/anti inflammatory medication every few days (even if I don’t know for sure if there is any pain…)
• some outside time walks and sniffing about at his own pace
• good, soft meals easy to eat.

I cook for my dog aswell because smell is his last sense and like you say you’re worried she’s not stimulated etc so I make the most of scent! And also give marrow bones and kong toys so he’s got some interesting things to do sometimes.

Watch out for ear infections- I find any inflammation in the ears makes him extremes lethargic. He had chronic infection in one ear which we have at last treated and honestly the difference is mad. So I’d advise being hyper alert on small infections elsewhere teeth/ears/eyes as these have knock on effects. I felt exactly like you before but since the ear has cleared up (had surgery in the end) he’s definitely ‘happy’ and more comfortable now even though his life is very small. Good luck xo

Make a list of all the things she used to enjoy and another list of what she can still do.

That should provide you with an answer. Once a dog has very few pleasures in life and has to endure pain/discomfort and confusion (from mental decay, deafness, blindness) I think it's time to let them go.

This is brilliant! Thank you ❤️

I wouldnt worry about scenting a room your dog will already be able to smell which room they are in by the existing smell in the room.

I dont think you are projecting you own feelings onto her. Her life must be hard and lacking a lot of enjoyment.

I agree with Edith that it is often easier to look at what they have stopped doing rather than what they are doing to judge their quality of life. Dogs are very clever at adapting and just letting things drop rather than show a lot of distress.

She does still do all of the things she used to love. She just can’t do them to the same extent. She loves eating and going for a walk which she still does. The walks are a lot shorter because she gets tired and we can’t really walk in new places that she isn’t familiar with because she bumps into everything and gets herself stressed out as she doesn’t know where she is. So we can only walk her around the block now but she still gets excited to go. She can’t play with toys anymore because her favourite game was fetch but she can’t see it when I throw it and she can’t hear it if it makes a noise 😭

As she tends to go on the same walks, could you/family perhaps collect up a few twigs/ leaves if you happen to be venturing a bit further out to areas she doesn’t go to? She might enjoy a sniff session of things from areas she’s not visited 🤭

Ohhh yes what a good idea! Thank you

She doesn’t have any teeth. Do you think she could still get things out of a kong without teeth?

I'm sorry to say this @Monicageller221 I would PTS. Especially as doggo is very elderly anyway. She will start to develop other issues soon. I have one cat now and she is 17, and is 90% deaf. If she went blind as well I would not hesitate to let her go. I would not like to live like this myself, and would not allow a pet to live like this if I had the choice to euthanize (which I very likely would.)

This is JMO. You did ask.

We soak kibble for a few hours, mash it up and stuff it in the long then freeze it. Our dog licks it like an ice lolly! So no teeth required 🙂

It’s so sad to see them get old isn’t it. The problem is with us, because she is blind we are unsure if her hesitancy to do things is down to arthritis, dementia or just simply that she can’t see. She won’t jump up or down onto things, and stares at the wall but she could just be staring at the wall without realising because she can’t see it. She went to the vets not too long ago and they said she seems healthy. We do have her on yumove anyway just in case her joints are sore but it’s hard to pinpoint the cause of things

What a cutie she is! She looks just like a tiny bear!

Oh my, she is just like my Kiki pops who is 12.

What a little poppet your darling dog is 😍

Kiki has started with osteoarthritis and now has monthly Librella injections which have given her a new lease of life. She also only has one eye and selective hearing...