Sassy might have had a dementia moment...

[remltr]

...or 20 minutes.

I was preparing to feed Sassy this evening, when she all of a sudden starting trotting back and forth from the garage door to the patio door. That is so not her. She waits with bated breath for food. I tried to get her to stop but she would just go past me like I wasn't there. She ignored her favorite treat, a carrot.

By the time I got on the phone with the vet it was a couple minutes to 5 pm. Take her to the emergency hospital in St George Utah. 45 minutes away. By the time I corralled her and got her in the carrier was another 5 minutes.

Got to the ER vet and she thought that she might have a brain tumor or dementia. Not worth the cost of doing an MRI at this point in her life. 15 and a half years old. Gave her a weeks worth of Trazapan. Check with my local vet if no change after 5 days.

She was mostly settled by the time we arrived at the ER vet and is now back to normal after being home. She finally ate her dinner and her treat.

It was a weird and scary couple hours.

[Dianne]

Oh dear, so sad.

We had a Westie, Miss Pip, who developed doggie dementia in her last year.

We both worked, so she was home alone most of the days. She was fine when we were home. But would have panic attacks when alone and would tear up carpet.

Vet prescribed Valium. For when we weren't at home, we made a "kennel" for her with an  Xpen and her bed.

Occasionally we would notice a slight confusion in her look.  We would pet and hold her and reassure her.  We rarely used the valium and the  "kennel" seem to make her feel secure. Usual routine for an elderly pup, eat, sleep, take short walks, nap and have cuddles.

Our last year was pretty normal until her physical health deteriorated. 

We were thankful for all the 14 years we shared.

Take care.

Dianne

 

 

[remltr]

Trazodone is the drug name. Sorry.

 

Edited September 23, 2020 by remltr

[Hillscreek]

Sending cuddle to dear Sassy and you 

[bradl]

These episodes are hard to witness; at least they tend to be transient (in our experience so far, for whatever that's worth). Other than bloodwork to ensure there's nothing clearly treatable going on I'm not sure there's much to do but love them. 

When Haggis was sundowning badly the Trazadone did seem to help (as did acupuncture, strangely). With Echo and Stella episodes like this seemed to just come and go and after a recovery period they were back to normal for days or weeks or even months until the next one.

[sanford]

What Bradl describes with Echo and Stella, is also true for Ruffy...The episodes come and go, then things are seemingly back to normal, for which I’m grateful, but it always leaves me a bit sadder.

Edited September 23, 2020 by sanford

[Kathryn]

My dear Allie had such episodes for a while just as she was turning 16.  She would walk up to a wall, sit down and just stare at it.  She had always been such an active dog -- so graceful and athletic right up to about 15. But the episodes came and went, and after a while we just let her sit and stare, sometimes sitting down next to her and staring too.  There were no other problems -- she didn't pant, didn't seem anxious. When we finally lost her, it was from something entirely else.  

But it is so hard to see them age, and to understand that they have a limited life span and -- no matter how much we wish -- we will lose them some day.

I hope her episodes are few and far between, and you have many many chances to hold and cuddle her, and enjoy being with the little dog you know.

[remltr]

5 hours ago, bradl said:

These episodes are hard to witness; at least they tend to be transient (in our experience so far, for whatever that's worth). Other than bloodwork to ensure there's nothing clearly treatable going on I'm not sure there's much to do but love them. 

When Haggis was sundowning badly the Trazadone did seem to help (as did acupuncture, strangely). With Echo and Stella episodes like this seemed to just come and go and after a recovery period they were back to normal for days or weeks or even months until the next one.

Thanks Brad

Did you keep Haggis on the meds full time or just when she had an episode? Need to know what to ask the vet when I take her in. Today she appears to be normal although she is not eating her carrot treats Dinner wolfed it down like normal.

[bradl]

With Echo and Stella I would characterize the episodes as almost some sort of seizure (focal non-motor). Since they were irregular and unpredictable they did not get trazodone (or anything else) specifically for the episodes.

In Haggis' case with sundowners he would get perpetually restless and anxious at night, every night. It got to the point where we were practically hallucinating from lack of sleep. So at that point we began to give him trazodone every night (along with something else which I forget at the moment) to essentially zonk him out so he and we could all sleep. 

[remltr]

15 minutes ago, bradl said:

With Echo and Stella I would characterize the episodes as almost some sort of seizure (focal non-motor). Since they were irregular and unpredictable they did not get trazodone (or anything else) specifically for the episodes.

In Haggis' case with sundowners he would get perpetually restless and anxious at night, every night. It got to the point where we were practically hallucinating from lack of sleep. So at that point we began to give him trazodone every night (along with something else which I forget at the moment) to essentially zonk him out so he and we could all sleep. 

I have no track record yet as Sassy has had only one incident. I will continue to give the med until the 7 days are up. ER Vet also recommended a 25 mg Benadryl for a sleep aid at night.

Thanks for the information.

[bradl]

A sensible plan. Give Sassy a scritch for me (if she will deign to receive it  )

[remltr]

Rethinking my plan.

This morning before giving her the med she seemed almost normal. Gave her the med and a half hour later she is wobbly on her feet and seeming not sure where to do.

I think I am going to stop giving her the med for now and see how she does. It is a twice a day half tablet dose.

[Dianne]

Sounds like a good plan.

Sassy may be like my Pip and Echo and Stella and only have infrequent episodes.

It appears that trazodone for doggie dementia can be prescribed and given for "as needed"  which is how the valium was prescribed for Pip.

Best to review this with your vet.

It is all scary at first,  but manageable in the long run.

Take care.

[Sam I Am]

I am going to play the devils advocate here. If running around, not paying attention to even food when there is something Sam hears or smells...then at three he has doggy dementia . Thank my lucky stars I have had no experience with dogs and dementia, however, I have always had Terriers and weird strange behaviour seems to be the norm...at least in our home. I would definitely do the as needed advise and would it not be great if Sassy’s issue was a singular episode.

[remltr]

Wanted to follow up. I did stop the meds as I stated and Sassy has not had any more episodes. She actually has just a tad more pep in her step. Just crossing my fingers that this was a one off.

Thanks for the concern from one and all.

 

[pkcrossley]

good. hope it holds. such things can indeed be one off. but if it recurs you sen to have some tools for handling it. 

[Dianne]

Thanks for update.

So encouraging and hopeful for continued good health.

cheers!

[pkcrossley]

I once had occasion to read a lot about this. I'm also kind of thinking: "sundowning" in people and animals is connected to a rise in cortisol and rise in cerebral pressure, which is what causes fidgeting, pacing, whining, anxiety, restlessness, and an inability to pay attention. rise in cortisol sets off a chain of reactions raising the heart rate, causing releases of adrenaline and epinephrine increase, and it interferes with insulin to allow glucose to flood the system. almost anything can set off a rise in cortisol, including time of day (afternoon and evening, hence "sundowning"), infection (even slight), fever, fear, or a more serious medical condition. you might never see this again, or  it could occur occasionally. if the underlying cause is just normal aging (rises of cortisol in evening as part of normal hormonal cycle over the day), that's fine, but I hope your vet will thoroughly investigate any future instances and not casually brush it off as aging. there are lots of meds that lower cortisol production, many of which also treat Cushing syndrome (which also involves increase cerebral pressure).