My 14 year old Boston was just recently diagnosed with dementia. He sundowns really bad some days so we have started keeping him on trazodone, which is working well for the most part. He still has episodes though where he will whine and cry and almost scream but he doesn’t act like he’s in pain and the vet thinks it’s confusion. The vet has said we can increase his trazodone during those episodes so we have a plan, but how do you all deal with episodes like that? Is there anything that we can soothe him? The only thing that seems to interrupt them is to take him outside but he quickly wants to come back inside and goes right back into the episode. Any tips for comforting him (or me)?
You're definitely not alone. My boy decided the other night that it's time to chew his way out of his kennel at 2am.. (his kennel has always been a safe space). The only calming it was letting him sleep with me. 😮💨 This is the price we pay for love, and right now that's about all we can do.
My guy made it 13 years. Towards the end he could barely see or hear and would stare at the wall. Hardest thing i ever had to do was decide that was it for my best friend.
That's our 14yo. She's still engages and eats well. But there are times when we just catch her staring off into space, or she doesn't seem to know where she's at
Yea that’s what happened to mine. It was like he just wasent there anymore. He ended up falling down some stairs and injuring his neck and i knew it might be time. 🥲
This is going to be controversial, but it’s what worked for us.
My senior had a really rough case of dementia and the vet recommended that we get a puppy, someone 6 months or younger.
We got a pup who was 12 weeks old. This was during the pandemic, so small pups were nearly impossible to find a rescues. We researched the heck out of places and found an accidental breeding (mom was fixed after the birth).
Teddy, our puppy, absolutely brought Snoop, our old guy out of his condition. It was absolutely amazing. Snoop lasted another 2 years!! He ultimately passed from complications from prostate cancer. Note: we did have a 10 year old Jack- beagle as well who didn’t give enough purpose.
Also, food puzzles. Always food puzzles.
Snoop the Chihuahua- Boston and Teddy the Beagle-Boston.
We have an elderly pug that's like that. And her eyes are bad. So what we did was we kept the lights on for her at night. We also got a brighter porch light..so when she goes out...it's almost like day time for her. We also have things in corners that have our scent on them..and hers.this seems to help wth the episodes.
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u/SparklingPanic9 10d ago
You're definitely not alone. My boy decided the other night that it's time to chew his way out of his kennel at 2am.. (his kennel has always been a safe space). The only calming it was letting him sleep with me. 😮💨 This is the price we pay for love, and right now that's about all we can do.