Older BC

[Tuxedodog]

Buster turned 13 this year and is beginning to show his age, he is slowing down a little, and is developing cataracts. The only words to describe him is that he is getting weird. Now that he can be in the house all day (thank you Romana) he spends the day in the bedroom, it is hard to get him to come out when we get home - the rule is that dogs are in the family room unless it is bedtime or they are invited. It is useless to try to enforce this since he will slink away the moment you stop watching him. The big issue is that I am no longer authorized. He listens tolerably well to my husband, but if I call him, he either ignores me all together or acts like I am going to punish him, and I have rarely raised my voice to him. The next vet visit we are going to have his hearing checked. The other weird thing is that he is beginning to not want to leave the deck, he will pee and poop on the deck if you don't go outside with him to encourage him out into the grass, and if you don't stay with him, he may not poop at all. The dogs I have had in the past, just got old but without any real change of personality. I am looking for any advice on how to make Buster's golden years happy for all of us.

[Maralynn]

I'd schedule an old dog check up with your vet. It kinda sounds like he could be in pain. Maybe arthritis? That would make him want to stay in a safe place (bedroom) and not want to leave the deck (walking hurts) I'd get that checked out because pain meds can make a world of difference for quality of life.

[aljones]

I strongly second the advice for a thorough vet exam ASAP. There are several possible causes for the behaviors you describe, some physical and some mental, so getting your vet's feedback on Buster's overall health is essential.

 

Please keep us posted on what you find out, and best wishes to your family as Buster ages.

[Tuxedodog]

A vet visit would be wonderful, but at the moment I am not in a position to spend the money. My husband's unemployment runs out next week. Unfortunately my vet, who I do like, is extremely expensive. For now I am just going to have to keep an eye on him. For what it is worth, he doesn't seem to be in any pain, he was running around like a young dog this weekend, in the past when he has hurt himself, or had Lyme disease, his discomfort was very obvious, and there was no question of spending the money if we had it or not.

[juliepoudrier]

I'm sorry to say that I also would suspect painfulness. Also, if he has had Lyme in the past, it's very possible that he either still has it (chronic, or a flare) or has been reinfected. Doxycycline is cheap, so you could just order some Bird Biotic from Amazon and treat him and see if it makes a difference. If he's behaving differently within a week or so, you can assume he was dealing with a Lyme flareup/recurrence.

 

Having had several geriatrics, I can say that old dog hearing is better for lower/deeper toned voices. I have a higher, lighter voice, and to get the oldsters to hear me often means not just raising my voice, but especially lowering/deepening the tone. Clapping is also very handy for getting their attention and it doesn't have the same cringeworthy effect on a dog as raising one's voice does.

 

Arthritic dogs can have good days and still be painful most of the time. Consider building or buying a ramp to help him get from the deck to the yard. My Jill near the end of her life could NOT negotiate steep stairs easily, but could use the ramp to get off my deck. At the very end of her life, she waited for me to provide assistance going up and down the ramp as well. I had the same issue with my old Boy (for whom my ramp was originally built). It took a week or two to get eiher dog to use the ramp, but once they learned how, it made a huge difference for them. If the distance is steep, make the ramp long enough to keep the slope as gentle as possible. If I had to do it over again, I'd probably also add side rails. Toward the end of his life, Boy had several incidents of falling off the ramp, which absolutely horrified me. His spine was mostly fused by spondylosis so he was really very inflexible. In low light, he'd get stuck in corners or behind furniture. That's all typical of senility in old dogs. For the last couple of years of his life, he also preferred to sleep in a quiet spot away from the activity (in my case, that meant in the bathroom between the toilet and tub).

 

To me, all of Buster's issues sound like old-age issues, especially if you can rule out Lyme (which can have a mental component also). There are OTC meds you can get to help with arthritis pain. The hearing you can't help, and you may just have to change your management style to accommodate that (go to him and get him instead of calling him to you, for example--oh yes, I chased Willow--15 next week--down one of the mowed paths on the cross country course one morning at the Bluegrass because I couldn't yell for her, she couldn't hear me, till I caught up with her and got her turned around and headed back to my van--this was supposed to be a quick pee break between runs on the novice field--I was setting the sheep--and the whole time I was chasing her down the path I kept thinking "I hope the person on the field has a good run going and is using all the time on the clock since the set out person has gone MIA!"). Willow has two bad knees, arthritis (her front feet look like boxing gloves), a bad heart, and bouts of anemia, and yet she occasionally still shows her old self running and acting like nothing hurts, although those flashes are coming fewer and farther between....

 

Dealing with a geriatric canine can be very exasperating, and you may find yourself losing patience at times with issues like not wanting to get off the deck. Jill used to like to spend her days under the deck, but as time went on and she had greater difficulty getting up, I would have to crawl under there and help her out (I'm not a fan of crawling under the deck as it's usually damp, and the chickens hang out under there, so you're not just crawling over dirt, if you know what I mean). I just kept reminding myself that she had given me many good years and all too soon I'd have to say goodbye. Their golden years are truly bittersweet--a joy, a hassle, and a heartbreak.

 

Also, if you have a good relationship with your vet, you can discuss your financial issues and work out payment plans. I lost my job three years ago and have been self-employed full time for the past year and a half (as opposed to self employed but still gettting unemployment support). I discussed my financial situation with my vet, and they have been very good about working with me to minimize expenses while not leaving me feeling like I couldn't get care for my animals. There are also all sorts of grant programs out there (just Google it or PM me and I can send you some links), and CareCredit can be a lifesaver (as long as you're careful with it). I'm not trying to pressure you into going to the vet, but as someone who went from having a very good salary to living essentially from hand to mouth I can say that being frank with my vet has given me the peace of mind that I can get care for my pets when they need it. I don't run to the vet at a drop of the hat, but I don't have to feel like I can't go either.

 

J.

[MrSnappy]

Some of that definitely sounds like cognitive dysfunction, as Julie mentions. My Tweed is 12 now and has started to do just a couple of "funny" things ... recently he ate dinner, took a nap, woke up and had forgotten that he'd eaten dinner and was very distressed that I was apparently "skipping" dog dinners that evening.

 

However, I'm always a big fan of a basic exam and bloodwork at times like these, just to be on the safe side. Tweed was just in for his wellness exam (and foot surgery) and I had his eyes pre-emptively checked last year in case there were any problems brewing. Maybe your local shelter can recommend some low cost vets or assistance resources to help out? For me at least, it would give me more peace of mind to spend the money I don't really have and know my dog is okay than to worry about his health or well-being, especially on top of money stresses.

 

RDM

[Gideon's girl]

If the issue really doesn't seem like it could be pain to you, you might want to consider if this might be his reaction to his decreasing eyesight. It is very similar to the reaction of a dog I used to have that didn't have a great deal of confidence. The world became scarier when she couldn't see it as well.

[urge to herd]

Pain or just old age stiffness, PLUS decreasing eyesight/hearing would make me hide out in the bedroom, too!

 

You've gotten great suggestions. Having had a couple aging dogs, my experience echoes what the others have said. My one caveat - a ramp is a great idea, but a gentle slope is really, really important. Neither of my girls liked the commercially available ramp we had, the slope was too steep. I couldn't get them to feeling safe on it.

 

Good luck with Buster!

 

Ruth and Agent Gibbs

[Tuxedodog]

Thanks for all of the suggestions, we will do a vet visit when possible, I have to pick up heartworm meds, so perhaps I have the opportunity ask some questions while I am there. I have some pain meds the vet gave me to keep on hand in case of old age aches. I have started him on them. I think I will just have my husband add an extra step off the back deck, the first goes to a platform and is quite a large area, and no greater than the step down into the family room, the step to the ground is bigger and perhaps getting back up is the issue. For the first time ever, Buster asked to be picked up into the back seat of the truck, he usually bounds in and out until the door is closed. I guess part of the problem is denial, he doesn't act like an old dog and for the most part, doesn't look it.