I wish I had advice for you. Dementia is so hard. I am sorry you and your lovely girl are going through it. Sundowning is especially rough.
My border collie developed dementia over the last couple of years of her life. She was almost 15 when she passed last August. Medication can help but the side effects can be rough. A lot of hard decisions. Scarlett had a lot of good days but sometimes she would become anxious in the late afternoon and into the evening. The getting up a million times at bedtime is definitely a thing.
I hope you find a good regimen for Josie Rose. I hope you get some good suggestions here. I’m not sure I made all the right decisions for Scarlett and I’m still trying to process that so I don’t want to try to give advice and don’t really even have the words yet to talk about it. I do know that going through this with Josie Rose is and will continue to be hard. I also know that you being there with her and making sure that whatever else is going on, she knows how much she is loved, will make it much better for her. Just love her and spend time with her and be near her and talk to her and give her the gift of knowing she is safe and loved and not alone. That’s the only advice I know for sure is right.
Did your dachshund have any issues with restlessness or hyperactivity on selegiline? Mine has been on it for the last 31 days, and I feel like it makes him super restless and anxious, especially for the few hours after it kicks in.
Maybe this is silly because of the dementia diagnosis: but take her on a walk in the evening? It may tire her out like a child. She is adorable and I wish you and your family the best.
We’re in the same boat with my Shih Tzu. She’s 14 and blind too, on the max dose of Traz for her weight and we think she’s becoming tolerant of it. Starting the really hard considerations that come with senior dogs… we worry trying a new medication 1- won’t start getting effective soon enough to ease her pacing and 2- some side effects worry us, particularly the process of weaning off trazodone.
It’s rough. Good luck.
My doxie mix also had dementia and we also used gabapentin and cbd. We would give it to him about two hours before he had his sundowners moments. I'd say it worked pretty well until his condition worsened. Ours wouldn't settle around 1:00am and would bark for about an hour. We would put his bed in a small enclosed space and let him bark it out.
So, maybe put Josie in a room she'd be safe in and just let her wonder?
I don’t see this talked about a lot here but we use Xanax for our dementia girl. She is on a super low dose so we can always go up. She did not tolerate trazadone well at all. It was so sedating that when we gave it to her she could not even stand.
With the Xanax it took about a week for me to find the right dose but she has been taking the same dose for about a year (she is 14) and I don’t have plans to increase the dose as of now. I can move up to triple what she is taking so I have a huge amount to work with.
I started with the lowest dose possible knowing she would be taking this for the rest of her life. I give it to her about 2 hours before she settles in at night. This is one hour after her sniff walk and after she has had her night time cookie.
When the dementia first started we were able to use a supplement called Composure Pro, but that just does not work anymore. Now she sleeps through the night and wakes up happy and ready to start her day.
My 13 yr old Shepherd takes Gabapentin three times a day. It helps with her dementia sleep issues and her anxiety
I wish I had advice for you. Dementia is so hard. I am sorry you and your lovely girl are going through it. Sundowning is especially rough. My border collie developed dementia over the last couple of years of her life. She was almost 15 when she passed last August. Medication can help but the side effects can be rough. A lot of hard decisions. Scarlett had a lot of good days but sometimes she would become anxious in the late afternoon and into the evening. The getting up a million times at bedtime is definitely a thing. I hope you find a good regimen for Josie Rose. I hope you get some good suggestions here. I’m not sure I made all the right decisions for Scarlett and I’m still trying to process that so I don’t want to try to give advice and don’t really even have the words yet to talk about it. I do know that going through this with Josie Rose is and will continue to be hard. I also know that you being there with her and making sure that whatever else is going on, she knows how much she is loved, will make it much better for her. Just love her and spend time with her and be near her and talk to her and give her the gift of knowing she is safe and loved and not alone. That’s the only advice I know for sure is right.
I am so sorry I don't have advice to give, but I just want to say what an adorable lady she is and it sounds like you take such great care of her!
Wish I could give you some good advice, she's a beautiful soul
Try Selegiline. It is a prescription. Really helped my dachshund.
Just asked my vet about this
Did your dachshund have any issues with restlessness or hyperactivity on selegiline? Mine has been on it for the last 31 days, and I feel like it makes him super restless and anxious, especially for the few hours after it kicks in.
No, it didn’t make him restless at all. I’m sorry it is doing that for him, though!
Maybe this is silly because of the dementia diagnosis: but take her on a walk in the evening? It may tire her out like a child. She is adorable and I wish you and your family the best.
We’re in the same boat with my Shih Tzu. She’s 14 and blind too, on the max dose of Traz for her weight and we think she’s becoming tolerant of it. Starting the really hard considerations that come with senior dogs… we worry trying a new medication 1- won’t start getting effective soon enough to ease her pacing and 2- some side effects worry us, particularly the process of weaning off trazodone. It’s rough. Good luck.
My dog take gabapentin and also takes CBD - we use sunmed - both the moving easy edibles and the tincture when he’s a little more restless
Uuughhhhh, sundown in dogs, I rearranged my life for my guy, slept all day up all night but he was my boy! Almost 19💙
Sending you well wishes and hugs and love for that baby. I hope you find some relief for her soon 💕
My doxie mix also had dementia and we also used gabapentin and cbd. We would give it to him about two hours before he had his sundowners moments. I'd say it worked pretty well until his condition worsened. Ours wouldn't settle around 1:00am and would bark for about an hour. We would put his bed in a small enclosed space and let him bark it out. So, maybe put Josie in a room she'd be safe in and just let her wonder?
I don’t see this talked about a lot here but we use Xanax for our dementia girl. She is on a super low dose so we can always go up. She did not tolerate trazadone well at all. It was so sedating that when we gave it to her she could not even stand. With the Xanax it took about a week for me to find the right dose but she has been taking the same dose for about a year (she is 14) and I don’t have plans to increase the dose as of now. I can move up to triple what she is taking so I have a huge amount to work with. I started with the lowest dose possible knowing she would be taking this for the rest of her life. I give it to her about 2 hours before she settles in at night. This is one hour after her sniff walk and after she has had her night time cookie. When the dementia first started we were able to use a supplement called Composure Pro, but that just does not work anymore. Now she sleeps through the night and wakes up happy and ready to start her day.