Fran needs so much prompting!

[janedoe]

Fran is coming up on 12 in a few months and she's just frustrating the heck out of us. She's in great shape physically. Her annual with senior blood work came back great. We don't see anything particularly unusual other than sleeping more and more deeply. Her allergies which have been severe since we adopted her eight years ago have even slacked off to the point that we don't really even notice any more. She looks great. She seems to feel great.

But now she just barely checks in with us when she needs something. It's like she's on her own planet. Oh, she needs to pee now, so she pees. She needs to poop now, so she poops. Usually at night in the living room. There's no real asking to speak of. She just does it. Or she'll disappear to the point that we close off the doors to other rooms so that we can keep an eye on her. We are constantly prompting her to go outside or be somewhere in the general vicinity. It's getting tricky.

Any thoughts? We're stumped.

[SunDance]

Senility. Sorry, Fran...it happens to us all eventually.

[BaconsMom]

Lily was like that for the last year she was with us. But hers was more because she couldnt get up on her own, so she just went when she couldnt get up. We just ended up monitoring her closely, and when I would see her getting fidgety, I would help her up and take her outside.

[Doreen Davis]

Amy will be 15 in October, she still goes out but not sure she's connected to what she's doing and she paces a lot. She looks frail but is still eating which is our indicator as to when it's time. She pees outside and her poops are solid fortunately as they end up inside too. We have to keep Anthony calm around her which is not easy!

[bett]

very sad as they age.
as i was ordering more from pawhealer, yesterday, after cleaning up vangie's puke, eli's little turds, i was so happy nick left the carpet cleaner upstairs from the day before episodes. mark, from pawhealer, said he was thinking of putting hay around his entire house.

[POPTOP]

Have to agree with senility. Guess the best would be to keep her close where you can watch her. Maybe put her back on a scheduled potty time to help with the accidents. Sounds like she is just not connecting the need with asking to go out.

[Snowshoe]

Sounds like doggy dementia to me as well. Sorry. Poopers aren't too hard to handle, pick 'em up and put 'em out. I mean the bits of poop. But pee is messy. Sounds like a neighbour's dog. He would get lost in their kitchen and didn't appear to know who they were. Heartbreaking.

[janedoe]

Sounds like it's a good thing we have hardwood floors . . . Speaking of which, the Nature's Miracle Hardwood Floor formula works beautifully. She's always peed like a racehorse though so it's about time we invested in a paper towel company. It's just so strange. She's running up and down stairs and hopping into the car just fine. We get her pee tested periodically and her supplements are clearly working very well. She's just following her own rules these days. It does remind me of my mother in law who would strip down and sit on the couch, watching the trees outside. She just felt better naked and didn't get the whole bit where she was freaking out the contractors. She'd just say something like, "Who needs pants?"

[Charlotte K.]

Maybe she is reacting to the house changing and shifting? That could scare the stuff out of her!

If it is senility, increasing the natural, colorful, antioxidant containing ingredients in her food can make a difference. Think berry and sweet potato juice. There were studies done about that reversing doggy senility, along with I think Vitamins E and B, and Hill's developed their "brain diet," Hill's b/d. Fresh is probably better than dried stuff in kibble.

Another thought is that brain fog can result from the liver trying to detox heartworm and flea/tick meds, etc.

Good luck with everything at your house!

[Charlotte K.]

Here is the link to the study that was probably the formation of Hill's b/d:
Diet, Exercise, Stimulating Environment and Brain, January 18, 2005 Press Release - National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Diet, Exercise, Stimulating Environment Helps Old Dogs
"'This research brings a note of optimism that there are things that we can do that may significantly improve our cognitive health,” says Molly Wagster, Ph.D., program director of the NIA’s Neuropsychology of Aging Branch. “In this case, more was better. Although each factor alone was capable of improving cognitive function in older animals, the combination was additive, pointing to a healthy lifestyle as the most beneficial approach. While we have yet to demonstrate these benefits in people, research such as this gives us new ways to think about the aging brain and what we can do to keep it intact.'"For the study, the researchers divided 48 older beagles (ages 7 to 11) into four groups. One group was fed a regular diet and received standard care; a second group received standard care but was fed an antioxidant fortified diet, consisting of standard dog food supplemented with tomatoes, carrot granules, citrus pulp, spinach flakes, the equivalent of 800 IUs of vitamin E, 20 milligrams per kilogram of vitamin C, and two mitochondrial co-factors — lipoic acid and carnitine; the third was fed a regular diet, but their environment was enriched (regular exercise, socialization with other dogs, and access to novel toys); the fourth group received a combination of the antioxidant diet as well as environmental enrichment. In addition, a set of 17 young dogs (ages 1 to 3) were divided into two groups, one fed a regular diet and the other fed the antioxidant fortified diet.
The fruits and vegetables added to the antioxidant fortified diet was the equivalent of increasing intake from 3 servings to 5 or 6 servings daily. Previous research suggests that antioxidants might reduce free radical damage to neurons in the brain, which scientists believe is involved in age-associated learning and memory problems. Mitochondrial co-factors may help neurons function more efficiently, slash free radical production and lead to improvements in brain function. Other studies suggest that stimulating environments improve learning ability, induce beneficial changes in cellular structure, may help the brain grow new neurons, and increase the resistance of neurons to injury."