UKC

My border terrier is nearly 13 and over the last year or so has declined in a number of ways....it's especially noticeable since I've been working from home for the past 4 weeks.

She's pretty much lost her hearing, apart from certain loud tones but has become very anxious, startles all of the time and struggles to settle down. I'm pretty sure she has dementia and looks confused quite often....stands motionless in odd places and doesn't follow the rules anymore....for example she's never been allowed on furniture but is always jumping on the settee.

She seems very confused eating from her bowl....I have to stand like a statue near her or she won't eat and if I move even a small amount she jumps out of her skin. 

She's never been good walking on roads but seems unhappy when out now. She wants to go out but doesn't look relaxed when out. She's been lucky as spent a lot of her time off lead on the hills and generally happy when out like this....it's been 4 weeks since any time on the hill though with the current restrictions.

I don't think we are at 'the' time yet....I had my older border put to sleep about 18 months ago but I probably let that drift toi log and should have done it earlier on reflection.

Just looking for any thoughts or experiences really...

Thanks

Sadly I think that you've provided your own answer with your comment about your older terrier.

I only ever had one dog, a Staffy before their boom in popularity, and I always vowed he would never lose his dignity in life. He reached  a good age for that breed but started to struggle when it came to squatting down to do his business. After a couple of weeks i decided that was enough, even though  he might have been healthy in other respects. I think I made the right decision even though it broke my heart.

Never had another dog , though I do walk my mate's dog a fair bit ( a Border, as it happens).

Could she be going blind ??

It's never easy, our Lurcher is 12 and showing signs of Heart failure. Our last one had the same symptoms. If your dog is eating, drinking toileting and still able to go outside, I'd say it's not her time yet. But it's a difficult one.

One saying I hear a lot (from being on a dog forum) Is "better a day too early than a day too late"

We had a similar experience with an Airedale Terrier that reached 14 (very old age for a large dog.) She would go into a room, stand in the corner and bark to be let out despite the door still being open. Eventually she became incontinent indoors too, purely because she didn't seem know she wasn't outside... We took her to the vets and said goodbye a short while after that became a thing. It seemed the kindest thing to do.

You have my deepest sympathy. It's a horrible decision to have to make. Only you can make that judgement. Someone said to me when I had to make the call over my old girl 2 years back (though she was going downhill much faster)  "Better a day or two too early, than a day or two too late." 

With my best wishes to you. 

I have had to put 2 dogs to sleep, it is heartbreaking. 

Always ask yourself who's quality of life is this really affecting, mine or the dogs? 

One of my current dogs is 14 and most definately past his glory years and higher maintenance than he once was. He is deaf, slow, barky but still has a good life. Our lives might be more convenient without him, but it's not about us.

It is a tough call and I don't envy you, have you sought a vets opinion as to whether the dog is suffering? 

Remember animals have a very limited notion of the future and aren't capable of the existential angst about worrying about death that we carry. They live in the "now" and as such they aren't owed a future so you aren't depriving them. This means it is ok to err on the side of an early decision but it isn't bad to hesitate and leave it a bit longer either.

You have to come to terms that it is inevitable and then you can choose a time that is right for you both. Despite the fact it is hard it is your final act of care for your dog it's a good thing that you will do, a gift.

I don't see much enjoyment of life in your post, but is that because you've focused on the difficulties?  Does she still enjoy herself at all?  

It's such a difficult thing to do, but decide we must. 

It's a very tough call and I'm sorry you have to make it. 

We have a lot of pets and I have to make the call because the wife can't. I use the following criteria. 

Is the animal in pain that can't be fixed

Does the animal still have fun

Basically if the animal is happy and pain free we keep them no matter the inconvenience to us (one cat shat all over himself for years but he was happy) 

I don't know if it's still an option at the moment but when the deed needs to be done I always get the vet out to us, cost a few quid more but I prefer the animal to drift off at home where its safe and happy (last cat ate a full pack of cat nip and went out stoned) rather than in a vets scared out of its whits. 

Almost the same as our dog - who was a week off 18 year old when we eventually had her put down.

My wife wanted to do the kind thing when she started to display the same kind of symptoms as your dog, and ours also had hip problems.  Some days she could follow me and run, but sometimes couldn't properly stand up from laying down.  She also went a bit faster when we turned for home!.  My wife said we weren't being fair to her.

My view was I/we couldn't know whether she was happy or just had no self awareness.  How does a dog or even a human, suffer if its got dementia etc.?  I didn't feel I had the right to be judge and jury in deciding the fate of our trusting dog and in many ways I didn't .  

One day my wife was out, and my poor dog couldn't get her back legs to work.  She was crying, shaking and licking her lips - an indication of pain..  It had happened before but never anywhere as bad as this.  I phoned the vet, who knew the dog well and had been to see her recently.  She came quickly, sedated our dog and she died in my arms.

Looking back I think I might just have prolonged her suffering and pain in the previous months.  But then we'll never know will we?

Thanks...not spoken with the vet but did so about the last dog so have kind of had the conversation in general terms....hard to tell if she is suffering, her hips are developing a bit of a problem I'd say but its more about the anxiety at this stage. Difficult with terriers though aswell as she's never flinched at anything.

I think so if she could get out on the hill a bit.....all of her life she's been out and off the lead so it's hard to judge at the moment. She's not eating regularly but that's not new to be fair....not eating dog food anyway. Last night she had leftover beef casserole which she ate immediately!!

Advice I had from the vets regarding elderly dogs and diet if not eating was to feed them what they will eat. 

My boy had home made smoked makeral fish cake last night, bacon and sausage this morning. The problem with this approach is the more you do it, tje more they want. 

Well that's something. Mine wouldn't eat anything even his favourites. Spoil her for now, let her eat nice food.  

I would suggest taking her to the vets to fully evaluate her. You will have to hand her over to a nurse to take from the car park in to the surgery. They will talk to you remotely, but get the background and history. Two things that I would consider would be i) Having bloods done to give an idea of metabolic and other problems, and some idea of involvement and prognosis; ii) If there is a concern about her mental state, possibly she could be given steroids (what is there to lose at this time of life with side effects in the long term?) which may also help to some extent with joints, and/or drugs to improve blood flow to the brain. These are reasonable to try.

If you are thinking of euthanasia, providing that you are not being unwittingly unfair to her, I would try to wait until lockdown ceases, as it is difficult for you to be with your dog in the same room at this time.

Our fell terrier is very much as you describe, she is 15. We had her checked by a vet and he said she is very poor hearing, losing sight, dementia, a heart mury and a bit of arthritis, but she is happy enough.

We just treat like the owd girl she is, like a queen.

We have bought some tablets called lintbbellls and these seem to help and if she gets nervy we give her a metacalm.

Thanks for your guidance....

I'll get her to the vets. Just as a matter of interest (I work in mental health)...do dogs have a similar presentation to people un terms of dementia? I suspect my dog has a mixed picture of sensory impairment and a vascular process affecting cognitive function. There are definitely some days where she is notably worse than others...

We are in the same situation with our Jack Russell now 16 enjoying he likes sitting / sleeping in the sun but arthritis in rear legs stops going more then 100m walks twice a day which he seems to want to go but we just let him go as far as he want to go.

Doesn't seem to in pain as he still patrols his territory but each weeks seems to do less, but I keep thinking that we might be fooling ourselves and not seeing and facing up to the facts,h have a few more weeks and months to spoil him.

We all risk anthropomorphising too much, but it is hard not to. My impression is that similar things happen with dogs compared to humans; however the general layout of the blood supply in the brain is quite different, so for one thing dogs generally do not suffer stroke. Where a dog is said to have had a stroke, it is usually vestibular syndrome, which has a reasonable prognosis/outcome in most cases except where there is brain neoplasia.

Yes I would agree that it is likely that the vascular side of things is involved, hence consideration of the use of propentofylline to help with this. Also improving exercise, if possible, will be helpful both physiologically and psychologically(of course).

Thankyou....that makes sense and fits with her appearing to decline with having less exercise. On the hill she does seem to perk up and psychologically improve which could be partly related to increased blood flow etc...

It must be an awful choice but if the dog is suffering and has a poor quality of life then to me the answer is obvious. Incidentally this mercy is something that is usually unavailable to humans. Both my mother and father-in-law suffered abysmally IMHO.

It's very sad but inevitable when a much-loved pet ages and reaches the end of the road. My ex and I had two cats, brother and sister who both reached 19/20 years old, the last one dying in January. Anyone who says that cats don't have a personality hasn't had a cat. They both had it in bucket loads in their own unique ways. Charlie had a good appetite although he had gotten quite picky of late. I was happy enough to buy different pricey stuff to tempt him to eat. One day, my ex called me that he wasn't eating and I saw that this was the case when I got there. Nothing worked, all his usual treats - chicken, tuna, not even grass - you've never seen a cat who ate so much of the stuff! We both knew it was the end and he took the final journey to the vet that evening. I talked to him as he was sedated but couldn't bear being in the room when he was euthanased. In the past we had spent lots of money in a mis-guided attempt to prolong the lives of one of our cats but that wasn't fair on the cat. I think if your dog is eating OK and is pain-free then that's enough, even if it's not like the good old days of her youth. They definitely leave a hole in your heart when they go.

I've had many dogs over the years & getting the timing right for this sort of thing is always hard, but as others have said your vet can advise. I lost an Elkhound to dementia a few years ago & it was heartbreaking. He lived in his own little world, needed constant reassurance, but still showed interest in going out for wobbly walks, never went off his food & was not incontinent. Towards the end I slept on the floor with him as he would wake several times a night like a baby. It only got too much when he became frightened of the dark & distressed too often. Then it was time.

Definitely speak to your vets about this as each dog is an individual and things move on over 10 years since previous conversations. (See advice from VetEye).

Sometimes treating an otherwise unrecognised  thing, such as bad tooth or arthritis can make a huge difference. So go in to that conversation with an open mind!

Vets are seeing cases currently that are likely to deteriorate/suffer over the expected lockdown and are not amenable to telemedicine. If you dog  is seen, you are likely to stay in the car during the examination. Furloughing is common and so those left behind working might be very busy, so you may need to wait for that call back. 

Good luck, sometimes the worry over the possibilities is worse than the reality.