Anyone familiar with dementia in dogs?

Luvmy2sons

My pug is 12. For the past year and a half or so, he's been showing signs of aging. He had been pacing for the past year, but just in the past 2 months or so it has gotten really REALLY bad. Like he  paces ALL night. He gets lost, stands in corners, whimpers when he gets stuck. I literally get no sleep at night after a certain hour, his witching hour. I try to lay with him, hold him, put him in bed... but it doesn't help. I try to gate him in my room, but he cries. He literally just wants to pace. The vet told me that there is some medicine we could try, but it's only works in about 50% of dogs. And i'm dealing with alot of other issues with him right now, namely we just found out he has cancer. He's eating like a horse and losing weight, he's anemic, and has very very bad arthritis in his hind legs and down through his spine. We're treating him for pain. He's 12, and he had cancer when he was 4 that I treated with chemotherapy (it was Mast Cell Tumors, he had about 300 covering his tiny body). Then at 10, he had a stroke that has left the left side of his face/head paralyzed and tilted to the side. He's had a rough life to say the least, but i've given him everything I can. We've had all the bloodwork done on him this week which is where we found out he has cancer. With his current state, i'm not even going to find out which specific kind of cancer it is. Even if I treated it, he would still have the dementia, still be arthritic (and he's bad, he's now falling down), still blind and partially deaf, etc. To me, I feel like my most important job right now is to keep him comfortable. Which the arthritis meds aren't doing. And on top of that, the pacing. I look at him at 3/4 am and just look in his eyes and he is completely lost. I say his name, and no one is home. He is a completely different dog then the dog I see at 3/4pm. In my heart I feel like it's time. But my DH keeps second guessing me. He's in pain. He's lost. He doesn't wag his tail, ever, He falls down, he can't stand up. He doesn't even really want social interaction other than to just lay on the floor in the middle of my living room (during the day this is, because at night he's pacing). Sorry this is so long... I think I just keep going over all of this in my head. And not knowing if he is in pain, suffering from the cancer is another thing. The vet gave me 2 weeks of the arthritis meds, and said we will revisit his condition after that. I guess i'm just looking for advice, or anyone who has any thing they are doing for their pet with dementia. I want to try and think this thru clearly, keeping my emotions aside.... but it's impossible. He's my first baby. I got him at 8 weeks old.

straymo

My Tillie had dementia for the last two years of her life. The medication, selegeline, is the only med used to treat and it was a lifesaver for her. Tillie also had other medical conditions to deal with, but the dementia med helped her come back to us. There came a point when it wasn't enough and we let her go. The med is not cheap because the generic was not longer made (that may have changed since 2010). You know your dog and you'll find the right answer.

Temp752290812504671

Have you tried leaving a light on at night? Our lab started pacing (he sleeps downstairs because he is terrified of the stairs) and I now leave a light on for him at night and it has done wonders. We haven't tried any meds since the light works most nights and he already takes Rimadyl for arthritis.

straymo

Also the pacing at night (which my Tillie did not do) is the same as people with dementia who suffer from "sundowners."  It is very common in the disease.  Talk to your vet about selegeline and see if it helps.  It is worth a try.