odd pet (dog) question

[nwcove]

can/do dogs get alzheimers/dimentia or similiar? took my soon to be 14 year old german shephard out for his morning deal today, and he became completely disoriented, basically lost in the yard. perfectly fine shortly afterwards, and still himself now. ??

 

[BaileysBoat]

Re: odd pet (dog) question

Sorry to say but that is not a good sign. This happened to my best pal-10 year old shepherd. Usually indicates internal bleeding
from cancer. Hope I'm wrong.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: odd pet (dog) question

In the past 6 years I have had to put down 4 pets from old age.

Sorry to say, what you describe is not a good sign.

could be a tumor, could be a stroke. take the dog to the vet, explain the symptoms to the vet. prepare for the worse, hope for the best.

 

[nwcove]

Re: odd pet (dog) question

hes been visiting the vet once a month for the last year or so. (problems, surgery and follow ups etc etc) but i will call and see what she has to say. i know its not good tho.

 

[kfa4303]

Re: odd pet (dog) question

All organs can fail over time, including the brain. 14 is pretty old for a large breed dog too. Hopefully, just a one time deal though. Who knows, maybe there was a weird noise in the doggie register you couldn't hear, or something.

 

[64osby]

Re: odd pet (dog) question

Our last two had similar events that were followed by what Baileysboat mentioned.

I hope yours has a better diagnosis.

Thankfully for us there is another pup we adopted and is making our home complete. Just can't wait till he settles down a little more.

 

[Splat]

Re: odd pet (dog) question

Yes their mind can go. My lab (in my avatar) started to have episodes like that. Shortly after she became mostly lame and I made the decision to put her down.

It's heart breaking when they have a episode like that, and they don't know who you are for a few minutes. She would come to me, or allow me to pet her, but I could tell I was just someone to her, not her buddy.

My vet suggested we put her on a medicine that would help the receptors in her brain fire better, but she went down hill too quickly to see if it made a difference.

I wish you the best of the luck.

 

[Fleetwin]

Re: odd pet (dog) question

Yes, they can have that issue.

I had put down two dogs about 10 years ago. Unfortuneately, their minds were OK, just thier bodies gave up.

I did see sight loss as an issue with the last Lab.

I had a cat (20 years) that had a stroke and completely "lost it". He wouldn't eat. He just crawled off and passed.

Mrs. Fleetwin and I don't have pets now. We'd love to have one but caging a pet, while we're gone, is just inhumane.

We'll re-address that when we retire.

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: odd pet (dog) question

My opinion is yes. official veterinary opinion I do not know. Our Border Collie is now over 14 and our last Border Collie lived to be 17.5. He did great till a couple of days before we had to put him down.
Wishing you all the best with the situation.

 

[12vMan]

Re: odd pet (dog) question

I agree as well that they can lose their mental facilities as they get older, but is there any chance he is loosing some eyesight? I wish you and your friend the best.

 

[Limited-Time]

Re: odd pet (dog) question

can/do dogs get alzheimers/dimentia or similiar? took my soon to be 14 year old german shephard out for his morning deal today, and he became completely disoriented, basically lost in the yard. perfectly fine shortly afterwards, and still himself now. ??

I had an Aussie that suffered from "old dog vestibular disease" looks a lot like what you described. Take a look here for info on the disease. Or google "Canine Vestibular Disease". Good luck with your dog.

 

[nwcove]

Re: odd pet (dog) question

I agree as well that they can lose their mental facilities as they get older, but is there any chance he is loosing some eyesight? I wish you and your friend the best.

hes been fine ever since his "episode", but yes, he is loosing his eyesight, but not to the point where he cant track a tennis ball rolling on the floor.....just has trouble catching it in the air.