Older Dogs and Whining
Is an increased in whining associated with being elderly? |
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| Could she be in physical pain, maybe brought about by laying down all night? It could be a cognitive dysfunction issue. Read through this: http://www.cdsindogs.com/CDSInDogs.aspx ... OO&sec=000 Lucy suffered from CDS before she died and she'd get scared in the middle of the night because she didn't know where she was. She'd get stuck in corners or a different part of the room and whine and cry. Once we got her out, she was fine and would just go on like nothing happened but it was heartbreaking to hear her scared like she was. It's tough when they get old. |
| Does she have any arthritis? That tends to hurt most in the morning! If shes already on any kind of meds for pain, you might check with your vet about a higher dose or her taking them closer to bedtime, so she wakes up later. Ive also noticed my girl Abby has just gotten more "vocal" as she ages...and I wonder if its just due to not being able to hear herself as well, you know, like an old person who SHOUTS!  |
| Pearl (14 yrs) is also very vocal...not in pain, but she has replaced her big girl bark ((deep and throaty)), with an old lady bark...(short, high pitched..ear splitting at times). I have also attributed this to loss of hearing~~And there are times when she will walk into a wall or clip her shoulder on the end of the table, like she is not seeing as well as she should.... She goes through periods of not eating~~ But, she is still active in her parttime visiting and the PAWS program. She will play bow with Heart and then when Heart gets excited, she will just come to me and lay.....It's almost like she REALLY wants to play..BUT..... She will be laying down and just 'jumps' up with no problem, she will get in and out of the car without hesitation, so I guess she is doing very good ........considering.... And yes, Jill..I agree,,,,it is tough when they get old.....and sad too!!!!  |
| Thanks for the info, Ladies. Jill, that link was very interesting about the med Anipryl. I have a call into the doc already for Fozzie and his allergies (he bit his toe raw) so why not ask him about Annie as well. It might require a trip to the vet but I swear we've paid for one of his kids college tuition already! |
Stacy wrote: Thanks for the info, Ladies. Jill, that link was very interesting about the med Anipryl. I have a call into the doc already for Fozzie and his allergies (he bit his toe raw) so why not ask him about Annie as well. It might require a trip to the vet but I swear we've paid for one of his kids college tuition already! The generic for it is called selegiline and it's pretty cheap so definitely ask for that if it's something you end up trying. Nita had good results with it for her Maggie but Lucy wasn't as responsive as I had hoped. I still always suggest it, though, since I hope it'll work for others. |
| One of my Mom's old dogs got like this. Using a night light solved the problem. It was reasonably dim for the humans but seemed to make abig difference for the dog and she stopped all the crying in the wee hours. |
Yea  We slept through the entire night! Annie and Fozzie stopped sleeping in the upstairs hallway outside of our bedroom about 2 years ago. They've been sleeping in our middle level primarily because of Fozzie's constant feet licking which was creating allergy issues for us. So, we broke down and allowed Annie to come up last night and not a peep from her. We slept through the night! I guess maybe she was lonely and just wants to be closer to us. Poor Annie! I feel sorry for her sometimes. She was an only child and then came Fozzie and then came upright Evan.... |
I'm glad you had a good night.  I do think there is more whining with dogs as they get older. I almost had to laugh at the start of your post, because Simon has been doing more whining in the last 6 months now too. Driving me NUTS! He's 11 now. My friend's old Samoyed is getting that way too.  |
The last 6 months before Luke died I would get up almost every hour to help him up. Most of the time when he whined he only wanted to move a foot or so, or just have me lay on the floor next to him. Older dogs sleep a lot during the day so they probably aren't as tired at night. I did miss a lot of sleep but so what? I'll be dead longer than I'll be alive so I can sleep then  |
| As Portage aged he did a lot more whining. We couldn't find a physical cause, but his health was deteriorating, and lots of things didn't work as well as they used to. Our vet tried a very mild anti anxiety med and it really seemed to help him. When he took a "little yellow happy pill" he did better. It was never enough to make him drowsy or loopy...just seemed to take the edge off, and he was like his old self again. Just thought I'd share. |
| It is so easy to lose patience with an older dog if you compassion button isn't very large. Sounds like hubby's is lacking as is mine. These are old dogs, old in mind and body and all the problems they are encountering are the same we will suffer. We should all hope and pray we live with them as well as our dogs do. |
SheepieBoss wrote: It is so easy to lose patience with an older dog if you compassion button isn't very large. Sounds like hubby's is lacking as is mine. These are old dogs, old in mind and body and all the problems they are encountering are the same we will suffer. We should all hope and pray we live with them as well as our dogs do. Ditto well said , people complain how much time a puppy takes up with training etc but unfortunately the other end of the spectrum is even harder, get use to it, Annie is at that golden age spectrum now and catering to her needs as a golden oldie is more demanding then a puppy so more often then not she will wake you both.With Kelsey I was up several times a night to her in the last 6 months, which I did not mind as she gave me 14 years of the best of love and wonderfull times so just a small sacrifice to cater for her and her oldies needs to keep her happy till the end. |
| Simon driving me nuts isn't in a compassionless way - I feel so bad that he just isn't able to cope as well as he used to. It is just another sign he really is getting older...and getting reminded that time is marching along and he won't be with me forever. Part of it is a denial that he is truly old now. And sadly, my friend Lisa's basset Bucksnort who shared the exact same birthday as Simon passed away from cancer last year....so I know that they can go in a flash (his was sudden - abdominal with about a week's symptoms) And she would give ANYTHING to have her Buck with her now. |
| I spent the last few years getting up with Tasker multiple times in a night, the last year was the worst. Some nights we would be up and down every hour trying to figure out what he needed. I would give anything to once again be waken by the sound of his heavy breathing. Dogs like people have many needs as they age. Their bladders get weak, they grow senile the discomfort that comes with arthritis and other aging issues is hard to deal with. The devotion and love they give us throughout their lives is advance payment for any difficulties we need to deal with as they age. |
| For the last 4 months or so of Dudley's life, either myself or my Boyfriend slept downstars in the living room with him, just in case he needed us or he woke up and was confused which happened more often as he got sicker. I knew his time with us was going to come to an end sooner than later, we wanted to be there for him every second, surrounding him with as much love as he had given us over the course of his life. I'd give anything to see his "Biggie" face again and to smell him and hug him. |
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