Sunday, April 26, 2015
Doggie Dementia
A year and a half ago, my cousin Marisa called me. We don't talk frequently, but we do touch base from time to time. She told me that her dog had been acting strange. Her dog, Sasha, had just turned thirteen. Sasha was howling all night long and refusing to eat. Marisa took Sasha to the vet and was told that Sasha is physically healthy, but that her symptoms all pointed to Dementia. It is just like dementia in humans....it is part of some dog's aging process (meaning not all dogs get dementia).
I will be honest with you. I couldn't believe what my cousin was telling me. Dementia...? In a dog? Well I never heard of such a thing! I don't know why I had such a hard time believing it. Sometimes I get suspicious of vets-- like maybe they didn't know what was wrong with the dog, so they just made something up! Here it is a year and a half later and Sasha has stopped the all-night-long-howling, but other things have gotten worse. She refuses to eat sometimes. My cousin will often purchase cheeseburgers for her from the local fast food joint because that is one of the things she will eat. The only other thing she will eat is just one specific brand and flavor of dog food. Sasha sometimes stands in a corner and stares at a wall or shakes like she is cold for what seems like an endless amount of time. The funniest story my cousin has told me is a recent development. Sasha will exit the house through the doggie door, but then stand on the outside and bark to be let back in. She used to go in and out all on her own, but somehow she has forgotten that she can go back in the same way she went out.
If I hear about it enough, I will eventually look up a condition or something I have never heard of on the computer. I looked up dementia in dogs just a few days ago. Surprise, surprise, it is a real condition. I guess I just haven't spent enough time around dogs to have known any better. The proper term for it is Canine Cognitive Dysfunction, or CCD. Some of the symptoms I have found are:(1) becomes lost around the home in places that used to be familiar, (2) has trouble using doors or even stairways, (3) often has accidents in the house when that has not been an issue before, (4) can be found trembling, shaking, staring aimlessly, or wandering aimlessly in odd corners of the home, and (5) becomes more hesitant of food and water. These are just a few. If you are a skeptic like me, look it up on the web. There are countless articles on the topic.
I will be honest with you. I couldn't believe what my cousin was telling me. Dementia...? In a dog? Well I never heard of such a thing! I don't know why I had such a hard time believing it. Sometimes I get suspicious of vets-- like maybe they didn't know what was wrong with the dog, so they just made something up! Here it is a year and a half later and Sasha has stopped the all-night-long-howling, but other things have gotten worse. She refuses to eat sometimes. My cousin will often purchase cheeseburgers for her from the local fast food joint because that is one of the things she will eat. The only other thing she will eat is just one specific brand and flavor of dog food. Sasha sometimes stands in a corner and stares at a wall or shakes like she is cold for what seems like an endless amount of time. The funniest story my cousin has told me is a recent development. Sasha will exit the house through the doggie door, but then stand on the outside and bark to be let back in. She used to go in and out all on her own, but somehow she has forgotten that she can go back in the same way she went out.
If I hear about it enough, I will eventually look up a condition or something I have never heard of on the computer. I looked up dementia in dogs just a few days ago. Surprise, surprise, it is a real condition. I guess I just haven't spent enough time around dogs to have known any better. The proper term for it is Canine Cognitive Dysfunction, or CCD. Some of the symptoms I have found are:(1) becomes lost around the home in places that used to be familiar, (2) has trouble using doors or even stairways, (3) often has accidents in the house when that has not been an issue before, (4) can be found trembling, shaking, staring aimlessly, or wandering aimlessly in odd corners of the home, and (5) becomes more hesitant of food and water. These are just a few. If you are a skeptic like me, look it up on the web. There are countless articles on the topic.
My cousin, Marisa, is heartbroken, of course. Sasha was nearly 16 years old and had lived a long life. Sasha had been spoiled greatly and was the oldest pet Marisa had ever had. She knew, as all dog lovers know, that Sasha couldn't live forever and was very very old. She still got around pretty good despite her dementia, and she only had three legs, by the way. I never mentioned that. That's another story. It was just such a part of who she was, I actually kind of forgot. She was hit by a car when she was probably 9 or 10 years old. She was one tough dog. And she also lived with numerous cats over the years. She would wrestle with them, sleep with them, and most importantly, tolerate them. Sasha came to the family when Marisa's children were almost teenagers. They grew up and left Sasha behind. One time, Sasha disappeared for two whole weeks and was found in the next town over! What a life she lived. Wouldn't you just love to hear Sasha's life story from Sasha's herself?
(This was posted by my daughter, Karen.)
