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paranoid pooch


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Sophie, our Labrador retriever, is getting old. Actually, she will be 15 in June. She has really bad arthritis and needs help getting her rear end up and moving. Her front legs aren't in good shape, either. Here's the problem:

Since we moved the office upstairs and I have to be up here typing a lot, she has gotten quite weird and upset whenever I'm not downstairs with her. I got some Tamadol, a mild synthetic opoid, from the vet, and sometimes it will make her sleep, but tonight I haven't been able to get anything done because she barks, whines, moans and howls when I'm not in the same room. It almost seems like she has a canine version of sundowner syndrome.

Anyone else ever encountered such a problem, and if so, what did you do about it? She's feeling a bit better now with the weather sort of warming up, and we really don't want to put her down, but I am going to have to work my butt off tomorrow morning to get this marblemouthed surgeon's transcription finished.

WG

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Yes, I've had several dogs with this condition.

Question: How's her eyesight?

I'm asking this because I generally see this condition in dogs with poor eyesight or when they've gone blind. They have serious separation anxiety issues and there's really nothing you can do. Labs are especially verbal (most hunting breeds are) so it's really something you're going to have to "live with". You can continue giving her sedatives but you've become her security blanket, like it or not.

Can you lug her upstairs with you while you work? Just wondering....

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this is embarrassing.

yet because i believe you love your animals like I do I will share my experience and hope it helps.

my cat is a nervous cat very high strung she gets stressed out easy and shoots her fur out in mass amounts when feeling confused or nervous.

it is a real problem I mean she really shed all of her fur and gets a bald spot from it.

soooooooooooo

i had a shawl i ued to put around my shoulders one night I threw it at her because she was so freaky... she began to suck on one of its tassles and knead its yarn like a baby kitten would do to its mom .

it is embarrassing but to my family we understand she must have a mental problem and need that security of me that is in the shawl. maybe if you give her a shirt or old nightgown or blanket fromyou to do what dogs do( I have never seen a dog put their paws back and forth like a cats does when they nurse maybe they do ) and do not shame her for it she will calm down .

just an idea. I would guess an animal can get demented as much as a human can and get old and needy and insecure. the older these cats get the more they want to sit ON me too.

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Thanks for the replies.

She is in fact developing cataracts. Our other dog was 16 years old and both blind and deaf, but he slept a lot and was a quiet little guy. The sedation does seem to be working.

Pond, I will try giving her something of mine to lie on next time she goes bananas on me.

She mostly does this at night, sort of a "Sundown Syndrome" like elderly humans get in nursing homes.

Like a lot of older folk, she occasionally has to get up in the middle of the night to go pee. She is very housebroken and whimpers until someone gets up to let her out, then get a drink of water, then back to beddy-bye. Usually it's my husband.

She weighs 60 lb and I can't get her upstairs. The stairs in fact aren't carpeted, so it would be curtains for both of us, I'm afraid, if I even tried. I was not crazy about putting the "office" up here for the very reason of her insecurities. But, she won't be with us forever. Right now, she is sleeping peacefully and I need to get to work.

Thanks again,

WG

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