Please help - dog with dementia

[pinktonyclub]

I’m struggling to know what to do about our old boy with dementia.

He is 10.5, and a husky GSD cross. A big boy! We rescued him as a 6 month old puppy and he’s been with us for a decade.

Earlier this year we noticed some behaviour changes. Lots of things, limping, sleeping a lot in the day, on and off his food (when off he doesn’t eat for a few days), but the worst is what we now know as ‘sundowning’. Initially it was 2-3 times a month he’d wake during the night barking/crying for seemingly no reason. This has ramped up, we now have 3-4 nights per week where he is very disturbed at night. He seems genuinely afraid, it’s the best way I can describe it. He gets so confused during the night too, running constantly between two corners of the room. Initially us going to him comforted him, but this also no longer helps (DH has taken to sleeping on the sofa to be with him but this just no longer seems to help / reassure him).

Hes been to the vets - full bloods and urine sample done to check for anything underlying and that was all fine, and so we believe it to be dementia, and that he is having quite a rapid decline. At our most recent visit he’d lost 2kgs in 6 weeks. He also has arthritis in all of his legs. He licks at his leg joints constantly until they’re sore. He no longer enjoys his walks at all and we basically loop the block and go home.

We’ve tried a 2 week trial on anti anxiety meds and they’ve made no difference at all. He does take meds for the arthritis each day.

We are due to speak to the vet on Monday to see how the trail went. I just feel at a loss. She mentioned a sedative if this didn’t work but I hate the idea of sedating him every night. On the other side of things, I had breast cancer this year - I’m out of active treatment but have a lengthy recovery plan which involves good quality sleep! As such poor DH takes on the dog night waking but he is utterly exhausted by it. It has started to affect his work. We also have 5-year old twins who he doesn’t wake as often as he wakes us, but he does wake them approx once a week. The broken nights with him are having such an effect on us as a family and yet I feel dreadful even saying that. I know it isn’t his fault.

Has anyone been through this? I feel so sad and so torn. I’ve read so many things that say to PTS before they’re struggling more than 60% of the time but how do you even know that with dementia? Are there other treatments that would help?

Thank you to anyone who can offer advice. I want to do what’s right by him and by the family.

I'm so sorry that you find yourself in this situation - especially so close to Christmas.

From what you are describing, it seems to be the kindest thing to PTS. Your boy has no quality of life. Even if you find a treatment to relieve some of the symptoms, in a few weeks or months you will be in the same position all over again.

💐

Yes we had a dog with what the vet said was dementia, he was a rescue so he was 10/11 we were not quite sure, when he started sundowning my Dc was was a young adults took the dog into their room at night we did that for 3 months, we had him pts after he went for our front door a few it was like he was feral, it was awful I probably would do it soon your poor dog isn't going to get any better and it could become unpredictable.

I would try the sedative it could help him and maybe arrange to PTS in the new year.

It’s time. Your dog is confused, in some pain with the arthritis (licking is classic indication of pain). He doesn’t enjoy walks and is frequently stressed. Please do the right thing. Stay with your dog when it’s happening too.

I think the kindest thing would be PTS. I’ve only ever had cats but if my current (elderly) moggie was in such a state we would be choosing to say goodbye.
Poor old boy, but please do it for his sake.

Oh how sad! This happened to our dog a staffy who lived until she was 13. I used to dread the nights, she would pant and looked scared from 4pm, and licked all her paws until they were sore.
She got worse and started to distance herself from us and would sit out in the garden all day no matter what weather, you couldn’t get her inside. Dying dogs start to distance themselves from the “pack” as they’re seen as weak.
We did use hemp oil in the end which we found on Amazon which is for pets. It did work and took the edge off and she slept better, our other staffy who lived til he was 11 was the same too. But he used to wander round the house at night.
I’d try hemp oil and live some lights on at night if you can

My DF’s dog had dementia and was exactly the same at night. A night light really calmed him and he would settle beside it. I’ll be honest though, it wasn’t long from this behaviour starting until they had to make the decision to PTS. Sending hugs xx

I'm really sorry, especially because of the timing and the year you've had. But I agree with pp that this sounds very close to the end of the line. It's not treatable so he's as healthy now as he will ever be and he will only decline from here. Comfort care may keep him around a little longer but personally I feel it's kinder to PTS sooner rather than later.

Please give him the peace he needs. Better a week too early than a week too late. DDog doesn't know it's Christmas and it's selfish to not PTS because of human feelings.
So sorry.

This must be a hard time for you.

Vitofyllin is amazing for dog dementia takes about 4-5 days to kick in. it transformed our distressed old girl.

Rimadyl is good for arthritis related pain. They can also have liquid paracetamol on top of Rimadyl for the pain. This helped our girl a lot.

ketamine injection will provide pain relief for the arthritis if the other 2 don’t work.

hope this helps.
please try vitofyllin. This time last year we thought our girl had to go, but it transformed her back.

He sounds scared and unhappy and for a big dog he’s a fine old age - I would seriously consider PTS, as they say, better too early than too late.

I think you’re finding it difficult because of the fact that you’ve been poorly and feeling guilt that your own lives will be easier when he is gone. Forget all that - just focus on his quality of life right now. Is he happy in himself? Is he still finding pleasure in walks, food, company with the family? It sounds like a no to all those things.

I’ve been through it twice before, first time I waited too long and will always regret it. Second time I was braver and made the decision earlier. The vet will be no help, they will not be able to advise you to PTS so I had to decide and I have no regrets about my girl. I thought I would die myself that night as I was so sad but now I look back on our years together so fondly with no regrets at all.

It sounds to me like you know what is best here and are just worried you’re being selfish because life will be easier - but it sounds like he will be easier too.

Sending love. It’s the great bittersweet joy of our pets, that they pack a lifetime of love into their years with us. Now I’m crying myself!! 💕

Thank you everyone for such kind messages. It’s been so hard. I can’t believe how quickly he is declining. To the poster who mentioned the dog being outside all the time, he is exactly the same - to the point I got an outdoor kennel to try and protect him from the elements! He of course hasn’t been inside it once.

Thank you all - I feel more prepped for the call with the vets next week now.

It is the absolute worst but the best for him I am so sorry.

My old dog had dementia, she was on diazepam to basically knock her out each night. She was keeping us all awake running up and down the stairs all night. The diazepam made a big difference, I would try that to get you though Christmas and reassess in the new year.

@Kendodd he is on an anti-anxiety already (trazodone) at the moment as the vet said this would be faster acting for him. It just hasn’t made even a tiny bit of difference to him.

Sadly, you need to put the dog's best interests first. His quality of life sounds poor, with arthritis in all 4 legs and worsening dementia. Let him go before Christmas so that he doesn't have to cope with having his normal routine disturbed on top of everything else. I'm sorry, it is never an easy decision but it is the last kind thing we can do for a beloved pet.

This is a big worry. We have a busy Christmas Day and Boxing Day, as my husbands birthday is Christmas Day too. The kids have broken up too so the house will get very loud! During the last half term he was so anxious he chewed through the architrave one night. We’d put this down to fireworks (he’s always hated them, but never to this extreme) but now I’m not so sure.

Even in writing that I can see how poor his quality of life is at the moment, it was so awful seeing the door that night and how distressed he was (it was the one and only night we’d gone out, because of trick or treating)

I am sorry you are going through this We have had 2 dogs with CDD , one we left far too long and I will never forgive myself.
We did find( full spectrum ) CBD oil helped our 2nd with the sundowners and night times but we still ended up broken with lack of sleep.
You have my sympathy it’s such a difficult thing to deal with - Good luck ,give your dog all the love in the world and make your decisions based on his best interests .

Our 14 year old girl started Vitofyllin a couple of weeks ago and it’s really helped settle her. Read up about it and see if you fancy trying it. My vet also recommended a SAD lamp for sundowning as humans can get help from it. I put it on in the afternoon for a few hours, not sure that’s done anything tbh as most days she’s up in my DDs room at that time so doesn’t see much of the lamp, certainly worth trying though,

I am sorry but it really does sound like he needs to be PTS asap. He has a very poor quality of life. It's a tough decision but I am sure that you will be at peace with it once it's done.

Has the vet spoken to you about librela for the arthritis? It really helped my German Shepherd. We gave him paracetamol for the first month whilst it took effect. He also had dementia, but not as severely as your poor baby. He would get up and stare at me in the night or stand with his nose against a cupboard or wall. Whilst it obviously won’t cure the dementia, his restlessness could be worsened if he is in pain/struggling to get comfortable. See if there’s anything else you can do for the arthritis.

For the dementia, I put dog TV on YouTube for him (he loved watching and listening to wildlife/running water videos, especially ducks). They also have dog music videos, or put the radio on for him. We bought pots of herbs to give him a variety of different smells and a snuffle mat. Stimulating his mind with little activities a few times a day seemed to cheer him up and fire him out. Also ice cubes with safe fruit/veg in is a nice treat for them. Just do anything you can think of that he might like and make the most of the time you have left together x

There are medications that can improve cognitive function in dogs with early dementia. Vitofyllin is one and the other is selegiline I think. Ask your vet if trialling one of those is an option, to see if your dog's quality of life might improve.

@hairypaws Ill ask the vet about Vitofyllin, she didn’t mention that last week just said about using a sedative.

@ThisCyanPoet hes on Rheumocam (I think that’s the name!) for the arthritis at the moment. Impossible to say if it’s helping as the poor wee thing can’t tell me. But as I say, he does still lick at his joints all the time. And really doesn’t like walks, so the pain must be there / present. It’s in every leg.
We have a doggy ‘lofi’ playlist just for him, the house is never quiet haha and he has a night light too. But I’ll try those other suggestions; thank you

I have an old dog and have a mental list of what are my lines in the sand for him, to me the pain, not enjoying walks and distress from dementia are all on there. I'd think about speaking to the vet re additional pain relief and dementia drugs, but if they're not making a big difference in a very short timeframe (1 week or so) I'd pts. But I've seen your update re how distressed he got over half term. If you do decide to do a meds trial I think you need to give him a quiet space over christmas, keep the noise down and try and make it as normal a day as possible for him. If the vet doesn't think meds will help, I'd take the decision to pts now so he doesn't have the stress of christmas. I'm sorry OP.

Thank you for this. I think this is what we will do. We had a dreadful night with him last night, one of the worst we’ve ever had. I actually called the vet today because of it, and we’ve scheduled a check up this weekend. If she’s open to trialling something else we’ll do it, but as you say, not for long - I can’t prolong this misery for him for long.

It’s so sad though. Every time I look at him today I cry.