Dog lovers Dementia in Dogs

[oscar]

Oscar is almost 13 he is a black Labrador and fit most days we walk a long way.He usually loves sparring and playing with our other 2 labs and camping and rolling on his back and kicking his legs in nice grass. He also loves swimming. Very recently he had a twinge in one front paw I bought runaround recommended by one of Meanie Giles team and it has been amazing. His almost limp virtually dissapeared.

The last few days, he seems really confused. A couple of hours ago he went upstairs and was too scared to come back down the stairs. I tried to make myself unto a shuffler by sitting on the stairs and shuffling down so he could come down behind me bt this was no good.

He eventually surfaced and looks like he does not know where he is really but when I talk to him and cuddle him he seems comforted.

Probably in the morning he'll be as nutty as ever and bait me to chase him round the house.

I'm a bit worried he is getting on and he is gazing at me as I type this.

I know there are a lot of dog lovers on the forum has anyone had anything like this?

Oscar
x

[Skippy]

Sorry to hear he's poorly. My mum's last dog had a series of strokes when she was older and would get very confused. She recovered each time though and lived until she was about 18.

I hope he's ok x

[oscar]

thanks Skippy are the signs of stroke in dogs the same as in people? Any info really appreciated
Oscar
x

[Andy1964]

It's a long shot Oscar, but is anything blocking his ears? An obstruction will affect the hearing and exlain confusion.

[oscar]

thanks Andy no I've checked that and clean them every couple of days I think he's had a stroke

[Skippy]

I'm sorry Oscar, I wasn't living at home then so I don't really know what happened. Cindy would be very disorientated but after a while she would be fine again. This went on for a couple of years, but she was eating, drinking and asking to go for a walk.

[MerlinL14]

I am so sorry to hear that Oscar, my last Border Collie had a few strokes. He showed all the symptoms that you are told to look out for in a human. He would sometimes walk into a room and you could see he didn't know where he was or why he was there. Sometimes when out walking he would just fall over, it was heart breaking to watch. His treatment was daily drugs which helped for a few months until he just laid down at my feet and passed away one evening.

[kallis3]

When my lurcher had a stroke she yelped, stood up and then collapsed on the sofa. She had no feeling in the right side of her body so I'm afraid she had to go to.the big kennel in the sky. The vet did say that we could have tried tablets but there was no guarantee they would work so we decided not to put her through that.

[Andy1964]

font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica">quote:<hr height="1" noshade>Originally posted by oscar

thanks Andy no I've checked that and clean them every couple of days I think he's had a stroke

Aww, poor fella.

[plasticdaft]

OK heres what to try,our little dog has some episodes(vestibular syndrome) as dogs dont normally have a stroke like you would imagine in a human,they have an inflammation of the balance centre of the brain. The medication is called vivitonin. It made a massive difference to our little dog and helped get him to the ripe old age of 17!!

Ask you vet but dont buy it from them,get them to write a prescription and google pet meds,and buy it online(unless of course the insurance is paying for it).

It really does make a difference.

Paul

[plasticdaft]

Meant to add if you need any more info just let me know.

Paul

[kallis3]

Ours was definitely a stroke - she had had some fits in the past but got over them but this was different and as soon as the vet saw her she knew what had happened.

I just couldn't put her (she was about 14 which is a good age for a lurcher) through all that. Her quality of life would have been rubbish.

[plasticdaft]

The stairs thing makes me think its a vestibular syndrome thing. The vivitonin boost the blood flow and acts as a bit of a pick me up. Well worth trying!

Paul

[oscar]

thanks very much I'll try this Paul
Oscar

[kallis3]

Personally Oscar, I think I'd pay the vet a visit first.