Eddie hasn't been doing well since he was diagnosed with CCD(Canine Cognitive Disorder) and has his poor mom at her wits end. Some days he is great, but others he is not. Last week we went back to see Dr Cindy because Eddie just wasn't himself. Well she took blood and he has some kidney problems, so we are now on a special diet. The biggest problem Eddie has is that he gets disoriented very easily and tends to get his days and nights mixed up. Tuesday night he didn't sleep more than an hour or so and I wound up sleeping on the couch with him. When we did get back to bed at 3:30 AM he fell off the bed again. His pacing has also escalated to almost 20 minutes at a time. So Dr Cindy put him on a mild form of valium(not my first choice), but he did sleep through the night and for the first time in weeks he snuggled up to me at night.
My heart goes out to you. I know how it feels when your baby is sick. Sending you and Eddie some healing rays and know that you both are in my :pray: :pray:. Please keep us posted on how Eddie is doing.
Darcel
Poor Eddie - and poor mama! I am sorry he has these issues, and as much as you don't want to medicate that with a form of valium, thank goodness for sleeping in the night time! Sleeping rays are heading east for Eddie's night times.
Just got off the phone with Dr Cindy and she said Eddie only has to take the meds at night when the anxiety seems to be the worse, so mom & furkid can get some sleep. And did I mention my pharmacy opened up an account just for Eddie - he even has his own discount card - I don't go figure.
I really hate that disorder Gizmo had it the first dog I have known with it Gizmo was my 14- 1/2 year old Papillon the vets wanted her on Omega fatty acids like in your fish oil and salmon capsules.My vets had went to a seminar said they had found out they help prolong the progression of the disease somewhat.What is the Valium for just to calm at night?I really feel for you and know how heart breaking it is to watch them. Good Luck with you baby.Papbouv
How heartbreaking! Poor little Eddie. We're sending rays to you and Eddie for some good night's rest and some extra strength for you in dealing with all of this!. :comfort: :pray: :heart:
I'm so sorry to hear this! You must be beside yourself! Hugs and Rays to Eddie (and you)! :pray:
Did the vet put Eddie on any other meds to help him?
There is a drug that we couldn't use for Zeke because of the seizures and he was in pheno for them but it is supposed to help them.
Here is a web site with the information on it.
http://vetmedicine.about.com/cs/diseasesall/a/aniprylseniors.htm
Merion& the ZZ's
Quote from: papbouv on February 12, 2009, 08:11:31 AM
I really hate that disorder Gizmo had it the first dog I have known with it Gizmo was my 14- 1/2 year old Papillon the vets wanted her on Omega fatty acids like in your fish oil and salmon capsules.My vets had went to a seminar said they had found out they help prolong the progression of the disease somewhat.What is the Valium for just to calm at night?I really feel for you and know how heart breaking it is to watch them. Good Luck with you baby.Papbouv
Yes the valium is just for at night. Lately has had a tendency to try to get out of bed himself at night and I'm afraid to have him roam the house in the dark so I just give him 1/2 a tablet at bedtime and he sleeps through the night.
Rays to you both for happy ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ's.
From down under
Sorry to hear about Eddie's problems. It's so hard to watch them age so fast when it seems like only days since they were young and full of energy. Prayers and rays for Eddie coming from Iowa.
Awwwww Marcia, it is tough watching them age. As Rich said, we remember so vividly when they were young, and it is hard for US to accept the aging process. Keeping you and Eddie in my prayers ! Glad he has some meds to help him get a good nights sleep, and you too :comfort:
God Speed Eddie.
I honestly have not heard of this before. It sounds sort of like dementia or Alzheimers in people. My grandfather had the latter and he got his days and nights mixed up too. It was not fun. Hopefully Eddie will respond favorably to treatment and have a reduction in his confusion and problems.
Poor little Eddie. Smoochies to you my little love bug. Y'know, I honestly see this as Miss Maddie's future. Already at 11, she will simply space out and be in her own little dementia world. We always say she's receiving transmission from the Dog Star. She's been doing this for over a year now. Well, the best thing to do is love them and make them comfortable. Make Mommy comfortable by getting sleep. The drugs at night sound like a good safe thing for Eddie.
Maddie sends Slurpy kisses to her old friend.
It's always sad when our little ones start showing signs of age. Max-angel had his share of mental oddities. As we got close to the Bridge with him, Max was senile and suffering from dementia. He would walk under a chair, or into a corner and just stop as he couldn't find his way back out. He also would sometimes howl when left alone and he would continue that behavior until a hooman came to "snap" him out of it. Then he would just look at you like "What?". Sending rays Eddie's way.
:icon_study: Jon Katz's book Lenore and Izzy is a memoir of his own battle with depression at the same time he and his border collie, Izzy, volunteered as hospice "visitors". It is an excellent read. :thumb:
Now's the time to be there for Eddie, just as he was always there for you. Since my latest round of health issues, everyone of the Herd, except for Merlin, have doubled their licking and snuggle time. Ima in particular loves to camp on my chest with her rump firmly pressed against my nose and mouth.
Thankfully, she doesn't "flootsie" as we like to say! :temp:
Karen :heart:
Rays heading to Eddie from the Gang. I hope the meds help Eddie so he can find some relief and some sleep. My Tess was pretty much the same. She would spend hours just walking around the house. She was very confused at the end.
Hugs,
Annie & the New Jersey Doxie Gang
I am Merion's sister and was Zeke's aunty. I also had my Twinkie angel who was really Zelda's real mom but they did not recognize each other. When I had to move to western WI Twinkie and I had a horrible time with her and seperation anxiety. That got so bad I told the vet to either give her valium or ME valium because she was going bonkers home alone. Well they gave me clomicalm for that, and then there some really weird behaviors which really were described in detail in all the print material exactly what was happening. She would go to the wrong side of the door to go out, walk into places and not seem to know how to get out. She would stare into space and at times really shook me up because it was almost like she was looking at something and that would get me wondering WHAT she was looking at!!
I dont remember any more if it was the anypril or the clomicalm but she ended up on both. I do know that he dosage of whichever one was a problem apparently boiled down to because of her age, even though she was a standard doxie we had to cut the dose back to the smallest dog size. I know the anipryl(sorry I am not spelling it right) DID help her a lot.
It is also possible with older dogs that vision and hearing issues also make them more disoriented.
I do remember though one thing that was also suggested to me then was that it can help calm them to just have some type of nightlight on. I know they say the same thing about people with alzheimers and that. Somehow the darkness really disorients them. It also seemed to help to sort of have a set sequence of going to bed at night. I will admit towards the end Twinkie also had lost most of her hearing and a lot of her eye sight. Ironically she never lost her sense of smell so right up to the end, we always played Hide the treats before going to sleep at nite. She was so picked on by me, in addition to I think 7 dog beds at various points in my 2 bedroom house, she also had about 4-5 fleecie blankies on the bed. I would get these little training treats at Petco, that smelled quite a bit of vanilla. I would put a couple in the folds of the blankies and she would rut through them to find every last piece, in some cases shoving her nose under the blankie and tossing it up in the air, so the treats came to her!!
Dog do get an Alzheimer's type disease it is really sad when little Gizmo had it first to go was her little ball,she would drive you crazy wanting you to throw the ball & would go to sleep with it in her mouth. Then she acted like she did not know us, then acted very fearful of grooming , then at the last she would just stand in the yard not knowing where she was she quit sniffing around, The last week of her life she had quit eating lost so much weight I cooked sausage for her,her favorite food cooked chicken breast no nothing fine took her to go to the bridge.About the last two years of her life she was in diapers too.I did try the fish oil capsule's but it was almost impossible to get them down her,she was a 7# dog had a very,very tiny mouth.I really think I waited a little too long to help her to the bridge.Papbouv
:pray: :pray: :comfort: :comfort: Marcia, I am so sorry to hear of Eddie's troubles. Comforting hugs and prayers on their way to you. I hope the medications help Eddie and you get the rest you need. I know you are worrying about him falling off the bed. Would baby bedrails help?