# Dementia / Senility in Senior Golden



## DblTrblGolden2 (Aug 22, 2018)

I feel your pain. We don't have a diagnosis for dementia, but I'm pretty sure Duke is loosing it in some areas. He is 11 and has been a well trained machine for most of his life. He does have significant health issues. In this last year he has started barking at non existent things. He runs after things in the yard that aren't there. (which then causes our other two goldens to take off like there's and intruder) He has taken to trying to stand on my shoulders while I sit on the couch. We used to have a no furniture rule  He climbs up on things and then he can't get down. He had a few big episodes that concerned us it may be seizure activity. It doesn't really appear to be anything more then him aging. I've thought of eyesight, hearing, etc..... I think he's just getting old and either choosing to no longer follow the rules or it's dementia. He's earned the right to misbehave a little 😇 I even took Duke off of some meds thinking that was causing it, but nothing seemed to change. I just spend my TV time at night saying "No, Get Down" "No" "What are you trying to do" lol Thankfully he sleeps at night.


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

Sorry to hear about your boy, did your Vet recommend any medication or supplements to help him?

Purina Pro Plan has a formula called Bright Minds, it's for Seniors. 
I have not used this but I know some people that have and it's helped their dogs.


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## Sydney's Mom (May 1, 2012)

Thank you! She didn't, no. Just the Gabapentin for night time to help her relax. They don't really want to give any strong medication because of her age + she is on Galliprant for arthritis and they are being careful about her liver (it's been wonky in the past). 

I currently feed PPP Sensitive / Salmon but I will check this formula out! Thank you for that tip!! 



CAROLINA MOM said:


> Sorry to hear about your boy, did your Vet recommend any medication or supplements to help him?
> 
> Purina Pro Plan has a formula called Bright Minds, it's for Seniors.
> I have not used this but I know some people that have and it's helped their dogs.


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## Sydney's Mom (May 1, 2012)

DblTrblGolden2 said:


> I feel your pain. We don't have a diagnosis for dementia, but I'm pretty sure Duke is loosing it in some areas. He is 11 and has been a well trained machine for most of his life. He does have significant health issues. In this last year he has started barking at non existent things. He runs after things in the yard that aren't there. (which then causes our other two goldens to take off like there's and intruder) He has taken to trying to stand on my shoulders while I sit on the couch. We used to have a no furniture rule  He climbs up on things and then he can't get down. He had a few big episodes that concerned us it may be seizure activity. It doesn't really appear to be anything more then him aging. I've thought of eyesight, hearing, etc..... I think he's just getting old and either choosing to no longer follow the rules or it's dementia. He's earned the right to misbehave a little 😇 I even took Duke off of some meds thinking that was causing it, but nothing seemed to change. I just spend my TV time at night saying "No, Get Down" "No" "What are you trying to do" lol Thankfully he sleeps at night.


I'm sorry you are going through this. So much of what you have said is aligned with things I have read about dementia with dogs. There is a thing about them not understanding their bodies anymore and it's exactly what you are saying re: getting on things and not being able to get down or getting stuck and not understanding they need to just back up to get our. 

And then related, not understanding commands is another thing related to this my vet told me today. Sydney can hear properly - her love for the treat jar tells me this - but half the time "come inside" gets nothing but ignored. We assume she's just ignoring us but maybe not! Really no way to tell here.


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## DblTrblGolden2 (Aug 22, 2018)

Sydney's Mom said:


> I'm sorry you are going through this. So much of what you have said is aligned with things I have read about dementia with dogs. There is a thing about them not understanding their bodies anymore and it's exactly what you are saying re: getting on things and not being able to get down or getting stuck and not understanding they need to just back up to get our.
> 
> And then related, not understanding commands is another thing related to this my vet told me today. Sydney can hear properly - her love for the treat jar tells me this - but half the time "come inside" gets nothing but ignored. We assume she's just ignoring us but maybe not! Really no way to tell here.


I'm just happy for each day we have with Duke. I'm probably a lot more relaxed about the idea then most would be. I lost my Dad to Lewy Body Dementia in December. It was a horrible illness. He thankfully only really suffered for a little over a year. I was the primary care giver along with my Mom. I went to so many doctors appointments and took him for so many tests. We tried more medicines then I can dare try to keep count of. The doctors really couldn't offer much more then support. When Duke started showing signs and I discussed it with my vet there didn't seem to be good options for dogs either. I just made my mind up we would deal with it. Duke was on gabapentin for a short amount of time. I took him off because it seemed to affect his coordination.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Sydney's Mom said:


> Sydney has been diagnosed with doggy dementia. She's 11.5 and otherwise generally healthy except for some arthritis (she is on galliprant for this) and has regular blood work done / had an abdominal ultrasound recently etc.
> 
> Over the past 4 months she has been increasingly anxious at night, sometimes pacing and panting for hours. It's terribly disruptive for everyone. Her vet gave gabapentin for nighttime which has been helping.
> 
> ...


Can I just say that she is too young to have dementia? 

She is more likely to have developed anxiety - and most of what you describe has more to do with anxiety/phobias. There could be something that occurred back in April/May that set this off.


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## DblTrblGolden2 (Aug 22, 2018)

Megora said:


> Can I just say that she is too young to have dementia?
> 
> She is more likely to have developed anxiety - and most of what you describe has more to do with anxiety/phobias. There could be something that occurred back in April/May that set this off.


I would have agreed with you entirely until Duke. I've never lost a Golden before the age of 13. Duke has significant health issues and I know that contributes to his aging process, but it has taught me that some dogs just don't age as well as others. You can blame it on breeding, environment, anything your mind dreams up, but the fact is Duke at 11 is like my Golden Remington was at 15. I will say that Duke has been living on borrowed time for 2 years according to every vet that he's seen so our situations could be different.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

DblTrblGolden2 said:


> I would have agreed with you entirely until Duke. I've never lost a Golden before the age of 13. Duke has significant health issues and I know that contributes to his aging process, but it has taught me that some dogs just don't age as well as others. You can blame it on breeding, environment, anything your mind dreams up, but the fact is Duke at 11 is like my Golden Remington was at 15. I will say that Duke has been living on borrowed time for 2 years according to every vet that he's seen so our situations could be different.


Even what you describe above doesn't make sense for an 11 year old unless there is something going on. It could be a tumor or something else.


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## CCoopz (Jun 2, 2020)

DblTrblGolden2 said:


> I'm just happy for each day we have with Duke. I'm probably a lot more relaxed about the idea then most would be. I lost my Dad to Lewy Body Dementia in December. It was a horrible illness. He thankfully only really suffered for a little over a year. I was the primary care giver along with my Mom. I went to so many doctors appointments and took him for so many tests. We tried more medicines then I can dare try to keep count of. The doctors really couldn't offer much more then support. When Duke started showing signs and I discussed it with my vet there didn't seem to be good options for dogs either. I just made my mind up we would deal with it. Duke was on gabapentin for a short amount of time. I took him off because it seemed to affect his coordination.


Sorry to take things side ways. I just wanted to share my heartfelt condolences for your father.
My maternal grandmother who raised me at times passed away last year to Lewis Body dementia. We were very close so it was horrible seeing what Lewis bodies did to her.

I’m also sorry yourself and the OP’s Golden’s are experiencing the difficulties described.


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## DblTrblGolden2 (Aug 22, 2018)

CCoopz said:


> Sorry to take things side ways. I just wanted to share my heartfelt condolences for your father.
> My maternal grandmother who raised me at times passed away last year to Lewis Body dementia. We were very close so it was horrible seeing what Lewis bodies did to her.
> 
> I’m also sorry yourself and the OP’s Golden’s are experiencing the difficulties described.


Thank you. I'm sorry that you have had experience with it as well. It is a truly horrible disease. It teaches you that not everything can be fixed. It also teaches you to enjoy everyday!


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## Sydney's Mom (May 1, 2012)

Megora said:


> Even what you describe above doesn't make sense for an 11 year old unless there is something going on. It could be a tumor or something else.


Just curious why you think 11 is too young for dementia?


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## Berna (Jun 14, 2016)

My boy who is 15 has been diagnosed with CCD a few months ago. He is on Anipryl, Vitofillyn and a combo of vitamins. He still gets an episode once in two weeks but they are much shorter and he comes out of them much faster than he used to. 

From what I understand, the goal is to slow the progression, I guess it progresses no matter what you do at some point. I recommend you joint the CCD group on Facebook. 

Best to you and your pup.


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## Sydney's Mom (May 1, 2012)

Our journey with this continues. Sydney seems to be getting worse what I consider to be rather rapidly... but I may have just assumed this would take years not months. In the past 6 months it's gone from late-night restlessness to now daytime episodes of being anxious / lost and the night restlessness starts before 7pm. Almost any time she is on a different floor of the house now alone she barks for us vs just coming to find us -- even if staring directly at us she barks for us. And today I came home after a quick errand and she had accidently locked herself in a room, was barking, torn something while panicking to escape and was in such a state when I rescued her. 

We are giving her gabapentin to sleep. It's not impacting her coordination at all, but she does need2x300mg for it to help (the max dose) when previously a lower dose was helpful.

We had tried Zylkene as well, as a more natural supplement, but it did absolutely nothing. 

Our vet now recommends Zentonil to help slow things so trying this. Fingers crossed!


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