Jasper's diary

[arealhuman]

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I’m afraid I can’t offer any suggestions but I hope you get to the bottom of it soon so that Jasper is more relaxed and you can get some sleep.

 

[JudyN]

Thanks both

Tinytom, for months now, even when he did come upstairs he tended to sleep through in the spare room (or downstairs) and then come in with us in the early hours. But just knowing he can't get to us might make a difference. I'm surprised how cheap genuine sheepskin rugs are - which probably reflects on the state of our wool industry. Maybe I can pick up a bargain on eBay...

 

[RGC]

JudyN, please accept this as a sub amateur suggestion. I found with our previous two whippets that it was the novelty of methods which had appeal, whether it was new beds or bedding. They took to them with great spirit. Currently Mabel settles for ages with her duvet covering her completely although she spends a lot of time out for the count anyway. I did say this is an amateur suggestion. Does the weather have any impact on his spirits? It has been peeing down here and both our animals are behaving weirdly - George, the cat has been dashing all over the house yowling as though demonically possessed (and he hasn’t yet been nibbling his wacky baccy, catnip) and Mabel had a fit of jumping on the bed and barking at me first thing this morning. Sorry, I’m rambling - late gig anoche. Hope Jasper settles. Hugs to him.

 

[JudyN]

Thanks, RGC - I didn't notice any weather in the night, but it's been blowing an absolute hoolie and chucking it down this morning, so he might have sensed the weather moving in. There were also fireworks yesterday evening, though they didn't seem to make him more than mildly anxious, and stopped early. He can generally get quite excited in windy weather, though he was glad to turn for home early on this morning's walk (he wasn't the only one!).

Of course, whether the cause is weather, aches and pains, getting older, it's only going to affect him more so to a large extent we need to manage it rather than trying to 'fix' it.

I had the odd experience last night of getting up to try to settle him at 1.30am, 1.50am... and then 1/05am... So much for an extra hour's sleep!!

 

[JudyN]

I've just won a sheepskin rug from eBay - 125cm x 80cm, for £23 inc. postage eBay is fun, I'm wondering what else I could hunt for....

 

[JudyN]

So far, Jasper is refusing to lie on his new rug.

He's quite possibly wondering what we've done to his mate Ted, Ted being, quite possibly, a saluki x alpaca

He's been much better at night since we started leaving a side light on for him. We're off to the vet this afternoon though, as his symptoms do match the early signs of dementia very well, and it might be beneficial to treat it earlier rather than later. A doctor friend said it sounds almost exactly like 'sundowning' in humans at the same stage.

 

[JoanneF]

I think I read something about melatonin supplements helping people with dementia, so that might be worth asking about.

And SAD lamps help.

 

[JudyN]

Thanks JoanneF - I hadn't thought of SAD lamps I'm compiling a list of suggestions for the vet, which also includes CBD oil and a supplement called Aktivait. Oh, and I'm going to ask about a urine test, as UTIs can cause symptoms that mimic dementia, again both in humans and dogs. And it wouldn't be a bad idea to have his kidney function checked anyway.

 

[JoanneF]

Could his eyesight be failing? I can't remember if anyone has mentioned that already.

 

[JudyN]

Could his eyesight be failing?

His eyes are starting to look cloudy I'm pretty sure his eyesight is fine in daylight - we often walk in overgrown woody places and he doesn't bump into branches - but that it's got bad in the dark. He's wary of going through the back door if I need to let him out in the night, and I realised that's because that's where I put plates/pans for him to preclean, and sometimes they don't get picked up till morning.

Having said he can walk in overgrown places, he's got stuck in my asters twice now when rootling in the back of the borders. He can plough through the tall perennials with his front end when he goes in, but on the way out, they get caught between his front and back legs and he struggles to step over them or power through them with his back legs, so I have to go in and flatten them for him. As you can imagine, this does the plants a world of good.....

 

[Tinytom]

When our vets thought Murphy had dementia. ..which i am sure he did as well as being blind she suggested aktivait and salmon oil ....
I wish now i hadnt learnt that murphy had stage 2 kidney disease and just carried on with his raw diet which he loved .....
As always it should be quality of life not quantity. ...my lot much prefer the faux sheepskin to the real one ....

 

[JudyN]

The vet has prescribed Vitofyllin, for which she's had really good feedback from her other clients.
We'll try it for 3 weeks and see how he goes. It's meant to improve dullness, lethargy and overall demeanour. Hmmm, I wonder if they do a human version We're going to hold off doing a urine test for now and see how he goes on these, as he doesn't show any other signs of urinary problems.

He wouldn't even let her listen to his heart He was quaking already though, so it would have been going at one hell of a pace. We decided that the monthly anti-inflammatory injections, despite being safer for the digestion, were really not a good idea for him.

Given how fearful he can be and how bad he is with vets/jabs/sedatives, we also discussed euthanasia. She reassured me that there were tablets he could have beforehand, at home, that would make him so drowsy he wouldn't really know what was happening. If she did a home visit, as things are currently it would need to be booked 2 days in advance, but if that's not possible, bringing him in the car and doing the deed while he's still in the car is an option. Hopefully he'll be with us for a long time yet, but that has really put my mind at rest.

 

[RGC]

The vet has prescribed Vitofyllin, for which she's had really good feedback from her other clients.
We'll try it for 3 weeks and see how he goes. It's meant to improve dullness, lethargy and overall demeanour. Hmmm, I wonder if they do a human version We're going to hold off doing a urine test for now and see how he goes on these, as he doesn't show any other signs of urinary problems.

He wouldn't even let her listen to his heart He was quaking already though, so it would have been going at one hell of a pace. We decided that the monthly anti-inflammatory injections, despite being safer for the digestion, were really not a good idea for him.

Given how fearful he can be and how bad he is with vets/jabs/sedatives, we also discussed euthanasia. She reassured me that there were tablets he could have beforehand, at home, that would make him so drowsy he wouldn't really know what was happening. If she did a home visit, as things are currently it would need to be booked 2 days in advance, but if that's not possible, bringing him in the car and doing the deed while he's still in the car is an option. Hopefully he'll be with us for a long time yet, but that has really put my mind at rest.

Bless you all. That is better news. Just hope he can continue as a calm, content Jasper with no stress. The whole issue isn’t easy - we’ve all been there - but that’s better news than one could expect. For what it’s worth I’m waiting to go in for my vaccine booster and then I’ll break into “Somewhere over the rainbow”. Stay safe.

 

[JoanneF]

I couldn't ”like” your post but I'm glad the vet was able to reassure you.

 

[Hemlock]

Me too. One hopes that you won't need to face this just yet, but it is comforting to know the current protocol.

 

[JudyN]

Uhh... I don't know if the stress of the vet visit is a part, but Jasper is ten times worse with the fireworks tonight than usual. My gut feeling is it's part of his dementia. He's now up on the sofa next to me, listening to Classic FM (a special show of calming music for dogs this evening), but still shaking and panting whenever he hears a firework. Given how 'good' he is at sharing sofas, he's not the only one feeling nervous....

 

[Finsky]

The vet has prescribed Vitofyllin, for which she's had really good feedback from her other clients.
We'll try it for 3 weeks and see how he goes. It's meant to improve dullness, lethargy and overall demeanour. Hmmm, I wonder if they do a human version We're going to hold off doing a urine test for now and see how he goes on these, as he doesn't show any other signs of urinary problems.

He wouldn't even let her listen to his heart He was quaking already though, so it would have been going at one hell of a pace. We decided that the monthly anti-inflammatory injections, despite being safer for the digestion, were really not a good idea for him.

Given how fearful he can be and how bad he is with vets/jabs/sedatives, we also discussed euthanasia. She reassured me that there were tablets he could have beforehand, at home, that would make him so drowsy he wouldn't really know what was happening. If she did a home visit, as things are currently it would need to be booked 2 days in advance, but if that's not possible, bringing him in the car and doing the deed while he's still in the car is an option. Hopefully he'll be with us for a long time yet, but that has really put my mind at rest.

'Your' vet sounds really good and reassuring with the different options she come up with....not pushing tests when not absolutely necessary. Brilliant!

 

[JudyN]

'Your' vet sounds really good and reassuring with the different options she come up with....not pushing tests when not absolutely necessary. Brilliant!

Yep, they're good old-fashioned vets and usually take a conservative approach rather than trying to wring as much money out of you as they can

 

[Hemlock]

As you suspect, the stress buildup could be part of this. It could be that his hearing has changed too. As I grow steadily more hard of hearing, some sounds seem sharper/louder/more obnoxious.

 

[JudyN]

As I grow steadily more hard of hearing, some sounds seem sharper/louder/more obnoxious.

That's interesting - his hearing still seems to be very sharp (he responds to the click as I fold my glassses before getting up to let him out for last wees), so I hadn't considered that the quality of the sound might have changed. Mr N is losing his hearing too, and he has said that some sounds seem harsher than before.