doggie cognitive dysfunction

Joan, i was kind of thinking along the same lines and am sort of hoping it might be something like that. the problem is, the way she's doing it kind of fits with some of the descriptions of doggie cognitive dysfunction. she's on occasion losing her training or getting disoriented about where to potty or SOMEthing like that.

the good news is, i've been through a number of different check lists and symptom lists, and she has *none* of the other signs. she's very well oriented. she's happy and recognizes everything (especially her beloved refrigerator where her beloved carrots are). she's playing and active. no unusual anxiety or fear.

i'll know more next week, i imagine. we go to the vet in a couple of hours --- my vet loves her! and, when she saw me in the waiting room to make an appointment, she came running out with a worried look and immediately said "is Lady okay?". so i know she'll give her the proper workup to figure this out.

and if it is cognitive dysfunction, i predict we have a long ways to go til she reaches a critical point with it.

The year before Hansel(dachshund) died at age 16 he definitely showed signs of this. He would stand at the door to our shed to be let in from potty rather than at the kitchen door, we would find him standing in front of a wall staring for long periods of time, he would wake up around 2 am almost every night and pace and bark for no reason that we could figure out, he became incontinent- the list goes on. The up side was that he seemed to forget that he was aggressive and the terror of the neigborhood- he became sweet and almost puppy-like. We built ramps for him so that he could get around our house, and in the last months I built a big cushiony playpen -like enclosure for him in the livingroom so that Murray wouldn't knock him over or hurt him accidentaly. Coping with his old-age problems was a challenge at times, but I really cherish the last year we had with him. Best wishes to you and Lady- I'll be interested to hear how she's doing down the road.

well, the vet called back Friday night with results and i wasn't here so i didn't get them. i just hope the rapid response doesn't mean there's something really awful showing up in her workup.

and the vet did give her a wormer, just in case it's parasites which are causing the inappropriate soiling :blink: --- but she didn't seem to think that was really the case. she also didn't seem to think any organ stuff (kidney failure or whatever) could be causing this behavior, but did say it's important to rule everything else out.

at first, i thought the wormer might have worked and our problems were solved --- Lady was so energetic and just a mad woman and last night even threw her front end on the floor in the doggie call to play.

but she pootied inappropriately again this morning, so i don't think so.

thanks, murray and kstahl --- it helps to hear personal experiences with it. if it is CCD, i've pretty much decided it's fine with me if she's totally spaced out, as long as she's happy and doesn't hurt herself. i'll definitely be rethinking that if she becomes fearful and anxiety ridden.

I had to deal with this with Maggie Mae (ATB). It was very difficult the last 2 years of her life. She would go to another room, stop, look around and forget where we were. She would stand there and howl till we came and got her. She was deaf the last 2 years so she couldn't hear us. That only added to the problem. Our touch would calm her. She always recognized us and went to the door to go out to do her business. When we left the house it was a different story. She became very frightened and would have separation anxiety. She would pee and poop wherever she wanted. We finally put pants on her and used a Poise pad inside to absorb the urine. They worked great! But the poop just fell out of her pants. We gated her so she had the hallways, family room and kitchen, all tile. The clean up sometimes would take over an hour. But it was worth it. She wasn't in pain, still enjoyed her car rides, barking at company and most of all, her meals. We decided if she were to lose her quality of life, that would be a different story. She never did. We couldn't medicate her for the anxiety because she had severe heart disease. We did have her on Clomicalm which seemed to help alittle. You do want you must for your senior dog. They have given us years of unconditional love and they deserve the same from us.

Allison, there are meds for doggie dementia, but we're not at that point yet. Lady is o/w very well oriented and extremely happy --- actually, happier than i've seen her for a while --- playing a lot, knows just what's going on, etc.

so even though we're kind of preliminarily thinking we might be looking at doggie dementia, it's not completely clear. the one thing we do know is there doesn't appear to be anything else going on. iow, other than dysplasia and perfectly gawdful teeth (thanks to years of lousy care), she's in great health.

iow, the vet's diagnosis: maybe. maybe not. but definitely worth watching. and we'll see soon enough.

Maggie's Mom, yes, i'm preparing myself for possible diapers. not there yet and fortunately, the poop has been very easy to clean up so far. at this point, i'm ... watching and trying to figure my way through it so i'm not caught unaware and Lady doesn't suffer as a result.