Dementia Canine Style?

[Sorcha]

Maxie is my Llewellyn Setter (English Setter) and she is 18 years old (yes, eighteen). She is healthy in all other ways except head tremors when she gets very startled. She has not had an incident of what I call "doggy dementia" since early last summer. Saturday night I fed the dogs dinner, all was normal, I then had plans to go out for the night. The dogsitter came at bedtime to let them outside, all was normal. I arrive home at 6 am, take the dogs out and all seems normal. Maxie squatted to pee, then abrubtly stood up and stiffened, standing like a statue. I got no response from her when I called her name, not even a tail wag like she usually does. Her head hung low and she was simply out of it. I went over stood right next to her, she did not move. I gently touched her and she snapped out of it but was disoriented and made a huge loop back to the gate to go inside (instead of just going directly in a straight line to get there). She comes back inside, goes to my bedroom and stands on her dog bed, frozen again. She comes back to reality after a couple minutes and then started pacing before suddenly freezng up again as if someone said "Simon says STOP". She unfreezes and I call to her from the bed where I was laying down and observing her actions. She hops up, and freezes up yet again just standing there on the bed. I touch her and she scuttles up to me and acts like she cannot get close enough to me. I held onto her and said comforting things and she became less anxious. No more episodes since. What is going on? I fear the worse (brain tumor) but at her age do not want to subject her to testing to try and figure it out.

 

I have mentioned it to the vet in the past, when she was initially having ths behavior but she had nearly a year without them. He felt it was age related and agreed there was no sense in running tests unless she was in pain which she does not seem to be.

 

Anyone have a similar experience with a (much) older dog?

[KF_in_Georgia]

I've run into it with a seven-year-old greyhound. In her case, the vet said it could be absence seizures. But, on the grounds that she might have had a dormant tick-borne problem, we treated her with a course of doxycycline. It hasn't happened again since then (last September). At this point, of course, we don't know if the doxycycline knocked out a problem or the problem just stopped on its own...or just went away for a while. (She'd had several episodes over a few months, and when I took her to the vet's, she'd just had two episodes in three weeks.)

 

The vet agreed that Jacey is a bit old to be developing epilepsy. He didn't advise an MRI because if the MRI showed anything, it would probably be something untreatable (like a tumor). She had all the routine lab work, and her numbers were fine: except for becoming the occasional Spacey Jacey, she's in perfect health. He gave me a prescription for valium, so that if it came up again and seemed to be behaving like cluster seizures, I could give her the meds without having to resort to the emergency vet on a weekend. The pills are still on the shelf in my kitchen.

[cleptogrey]

my welsh terrier had doggie dimentia when he was in his 13th year. if first was recognized up when i boarded him at the vet. he had been boarded there quite a few times and he could not find his way to the door to get out to the outside run. at home is nights and days became mixed up, he marked on his bed as he tried to settle down, could not be contained in the kitchen w/ a gate- broke it(all 24lbs of willie killed the gate) and no longer could be crated.when crated he knocked his smaller crate over and was freaked out in the large greyhound crate. sedatives did not work, we had a staggering stoned dog trying to do all of the above. willie couldn't sleep w/ us due to the urination and he even started getting lost when he wandering around the yard. it was a hard decision to euthanize old willie, but he was so uncomfortable and scared that it wasn't fair to have an anxious disoriented dog panting all the time. a good friend who is a vet basically told me that there was nothing else that i could do to keep him comfortable, so after a good hearty walk on his 14th birthday the decision was made.

 

i hope sharing this helps a tad, it's difficult dealing w/ some of the aging processes of an older dog.

Edited April 12, 2011 by cleptogrey

[Batmom]

Not exactly the same but our elderly whippet had some odd incidents. Suspect they were TIAs (ministrokes).

 

Gentle scritchies to your pretty senior.

[GeorgeofNE]

Wow! 18!

 

I grew up with English Setters--my parents lost both of their last two in the past 6 months. Our oldest made it to 15.

 

At that age, it could be so many things, but I'm with you--I wouldn't subject her to testing.

 

Give her a skritch for me.

[Sorcha]

Thanks for the input.

 

Maxie says "Can I go back to my nap now?"

[greyhead]

What a beauty!

[Guest kydie]

I love your Maxie,, I too have a Llewellyn setter and am so glad to hear yours is 18 yrs. old... We Llewellyn lovers,, like greyhound lovers,, are truley in love with this breed,, and will correct those that call them English setters,, my husband very loudly,,,, his calm nature, love of people, and a great hunter,, sold use years ago,, my old chow started with with I too called dementia I started her on a supplement called Cholodin,, which I give once a day in her food,,it is made by MVP labortories,, she has been one it for a little over a year ,, it seems to have helped,, she has had less "lost" episodes

[TheFullHouse]

That sounds like seizure behavior. I think a vet check would be in order.

[NevadasMom]

Sounds more like a seizure to me...