My Dog Is Suddenly Old

[sbk]

My dog Scruffy (my current avatar) is about 12 years old, a fairly recently neutered male (as soon as facilities were available, which was about 3 years ago). Smallish kind of dog, maybe about 20k. He is blind in one eye (thanks to the neighbor's unneutered aggressive dog) and seems to be failing in the other eye. His hearing isn't what it used to be either. All normal signs of aging, I think. There is no weight loss, no appetite loss but... his hair is thinning (more than usual hot season thinning I think) and he is having stiffness and sometimes even extremely shaky hind legs. Usually after he gets up from laying down for a while. And he is definitely sleeping more. Also, he has taken to nipping people (well only 3 times so far, and not so much as a nip but more like pushing his open mouth against the back of the person's leg--no pressure, no teeth involved) but he's never done that before. And this is all fairly recent, maybe the last 6 months.

I am assuming its just age, but is it possible there's more than just age? And if it is just age, is there something I can give to help alleviate what appears to be a bit of pain in his hindquarters?

[elfe]

hi sbk

sorry to read your scruffy is getting old... at this age all kinds of little pains (bigger sadly) can occur... as you describe it could be hip displasia or arthrosis oreven back problems, his newly developed nastiness can come from pain.

i would let check him by a vet.

you can give him supplements for bone problems like glucosamine etc. also provide him a soft blanket or carpet where he can lie on.

best of luck for scruffy

[MsFigure]

Definitely sounds like old age to me. Don't be surprised if he starts having accidents in the house, or where he never has in the past. Our rott biatch displayed the same signs (senility ?) and behaviours when she reached your dogs age, including the nipping which she had never done before.

The only thing I suggest to help ease the pain in his joints is also glucosamine and a nice soft bed/cushion.

Good luck with your boy.

[BambinA]

He is just old dear ..

About the pain at leg ..it could be degenerative arthritis(inflammation of a joint)

About hairloss .. you should check it weather it has other lesion or not ( red ,scale ..etc)

Old dogs need vitamin supplements sometime as Multivitamin ,fish oil and calcium

[sbk]

Well, thats what I figured, but it just seemed to come on so quickly. 6 months ago you'd never have guessed he was an older dog and now, he looks old

Are there dog multivitamins or will people ones work? Fish oil is not a problem but I'll have to get the glucosamine when I go back to the US later this month.

[elfe]

Well, thats what I figured, but it just seemed to come on so quickly. 6 months ago you'd never have guessed he was an older dog and now, he looks old

Are there dog multivitamins or will people ones work? Fish oil is not a problem but I'll have to get the glucosamine when I go back to the US later this month.

you can give all vitamins and calcium for humans, it's the same and usually cheaper. the vets on samui have glucosamine tablets.

[November Rain]

Just a quickie, sbk, the "nipping" could be down to loss of sight & hearing. They become very disoriented. Burt, "my" old Cocker has developed cataracts in both eyes (same as you, it seemed to come on really quickly). At first I thought he had dementia (we do have one dog with dementia), but then I noticed it was his sight (or lack of it) causing the confusion. If his eyesight is failing, try not to move furniture etc much, he'll find it confusing if he keeps bumping into things. Fish oil is great for joints, I give it to my old dogs, but don't give him cod liver oil, I believe it's toxic to dogs.

[MsFigure]

Just a quickie, sbk, the "nipping" could be down to loss of sight & hearing. They become very disoriented. Burt, "my" old Cocker has developed cataracts in both eyes (same as you, it seemed to come on really quickly). At first I thought he had dementia (we do have one dog with dementia), but then I noticed it was his sight (or lack of it) causing the confusion. If his eyesight is failing, try not to move furniture etc much, he'll find it confusing if he keeps bumping into things. Fish oil is great for joints, I give it to my old dogs, but don't give him cod liver oil, I believe it's toxic to dogs.

LOL to the dementia. I really believe that dogs can get it in old age too, as we witnessed with our girl, Kit. It does seem to look like it comes on quickly but it would've been happening gradually over sometime. Only now it's become too hard for them to ignore and you in turn start to notice the odd behaviour.

Come to think of it, maybe what we though was selective hearing was our girl slowly losing her hearing in her late years, although it still would'nt explain how she would not bat an eyelid & totally ignore you when called for her to come in sometimes, but the faintest whisper of opening a pack of her favourite treats (no matter how quiet you try to be) would see her sitting on top you ready, waiting and drooling.

[Thaddeus]

A couple of my dogs do the little nipping thing and they are quite young. They only do it when I try to leave their territorial area and I have always interpreted it as a 'stay with me' signal.

Maybe that is more important when they get older, so a dog that has never done it before may suddenly start when they feel the need to be taken care of by the pack leader.

[sbk]

He is totally blind in one eye and looks to be developing a cataract in the other, so it is possible he was just checking out what was there. He has never been an aggressive dog and actually prefers Thai people to farang (he has an unnatural paranoid fear of farang ). The three people he's done this to (all Thais btw) all said he didn't actually bite them, just pushed his open mouth against the backs of their legs.

And he is definitely hard of hearing, won't wake up if you walk near him, and doesn't hear the treat bag being opened either

He still has a very healthy appetite and when he isn't sleeping is still fairly active (but he does sleep more than before).

I'll avoid cod liver oil then, look for fish oil capsules and get him going on some calcium. Mom and dad have a Costco membership so I can get a nice big bottle of glucosamine for fairly cheap when I get back to the US.

Any idea of dosages for these various things?

[elfe]

you can't hardly overdose these, i would say 2 tablets of vitamin b per day, one vit c, 2 glucosamine. you don't need fishoil capsules if you feed oily fish, like pla o or mackerel, sardines. but fishoil is always good for skin and hair

[bina]

bambina, could it be?? pressure on the spine? (causing shaky legs, difficulty rising after sleeping, possible behavioral changes) like spondylitis (had our boxer with that) or other degenerative bone or nerve thing that is now just more noticable? sometime these things are insiduous until u realize there's something when its already way in to the problem. or tumours in brain or other area that are now manifesting (then u decide if u want to treat or just alleviate symptoms at his age)....

could it be? arthiritis in which case what about an aspirin a day (or other NSAI)

but age itself is also a cause and it could be just that: age...

bina

[BambinA]

bambina, could it be?? pressure on the spine?

yes.. its common in elder animals about calcification between intervertebral disc

BTW ...NSAIDS is fine..but we need to check the dog's blood chemistry /hematology before..because of age.

[Jet Gorgon]

Good luck with Scruffy, Sbk. Had the same with one of my old boys. The vet told me to change his diet. Forget the dry food name, but the vets on Samui have a range. Also cooked him those small while flat fish or beef with rice and some veg in the rice cooker (the fish bones come out easily). He seemed stronger after a few weeks, but still had hip problems. Never stopped him from enjoying walks twice a day.

[Nienke]

Hi sbk,

Did you already do a full check-up: blood test, liver, kidneys, X-rays of hips, spinal cord etc?

If it goes so fast then it is very possible there is an underlaying cause, probably in combination with the old age.

If there is problems with arthritis then giving red meat and rice wouldn't be my first choice. It can stimulate inflammation of the joints. Both for arthritis and spondylose homeopathic med's can be very beneficial as is a supplement of gucosamie adn chondroitin. Although, I've read that glucosame only works when in combination with magnesium (or was it manganese. always keep mixing up those two names). At the vet they sold a product called "Anthramine" which contained glucosamine with magnesium (or manganese). Assume that if it is available in Chiang Mai you also can get it in BKK.

Be carefull with supplementing calcium when you don't know if there is a lack. You can certainly over-dose with calcium, plus that too much calcium can interfere with other minerals such as the uptake of zink.

A vitamin-mineral supplement can be very beneficial for your dog. Or you can choose to give more veggies and less protein. Fish-oil can be beneficial but too much is also not advisable.

For his eye, you can put a drop of cod liver oil in it or olive oil everyday. It sometimes helps slowing down the process.

so far, my two cents,

Nienke