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01-30-2016, 11:43 AM | #1 |
Yorkie Yakker Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Alabama
Posts: 50
| Senior dog can hear but not comprehend Hello Everyone, Well here I am with another question about Hanna. She turned 16 this month and seems to be doing pretty good. I have noticed her back legs not working well when she goes down steps as she tends to drag them behind her. But going up the steps she gets her rhythm going and does fine. Her heart problem has progressed very little so that is good. But....her brain does not seem to comprehend with her hearing. Ok let me explain. If I am in the kitchen and she is in the den and I rattle a bag of chips or open her cookie bag she is there like a shot of lighting. But say she is standing outside and I call her, she doesn't even wiggle. At night I can get her attention with light and shadow. Her eyes are very bad but if she is in the light and dark covers her she looks for me. Her vision is getting so bad when it comes to cookie time she stands there and opens her mouth so you can put it in. But you have to come from below her chin or else she will back up (arms are only so long) my husband gets very frustrated and I keep telling him she can't help it but he thinks she does this on purpose. But she only sees a large dark object coming at her not his hand. So He will drop it on the floor and she can't find it because she can't see nor smell it. But if I call her or talk to her and ask if she needs to go outside she continues doing whatever she is doing as if I am not even there or she looks everywhere but where I am standing as she is trying to find me. I could be standing right behind her and call her and nothing. But if I touch her she jumps like "Oh my gosh where did you come from"? Every day I see this more. So I try to rattle her bed a little or stop the floor so she feels movement and will look around to find out what is going on. It seems what goes in her ears does not connect with her brain. Has anyone else dealt with this? Is there anything I can do to make life easier for her? She is still a happy girl, and loves us when she knows we are around and loves to go for rides and eat. The other day she was even trying to get her 13 yr old sister to play with her. Any advice would be appreciated. I sure wish we had a senior dog thread as this is new territory for many of us. Thanks a lot for any help. |
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01-30-2016, 01:43 PM | #2 |
YT 3000 Club Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Idaho
Posts: 4,544
| It sounds like she IS having some hearing loss. Dogs with partial hearing loss often can hear some things but not others, some tones & not others. You can stand outside with the dog standing rite next to you & say something to the dog but the dog can't hear you but other times it can. Sometimes it's as simple as wether your standing up or down wind of the dog when your talking. So I don't believe it's got anything to do with her brain but rather some slight hearing loss. Also it sounds like she may be having cataracts ? if so then she can only see some light & shadows so tell your husband that NO she is NOT doing this on purpose. Remind him that someday he will be in her shoes/paws. Last edited by lillymae; 01-30-2016 at 01:46 PM. |
01-30-2016, 02:28 PM | #3 |
Rosehill Yorkies Donating YT Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Houston Texas
Posts: 9,462
| I will start by saying I personally have absolutely NO TOLERANCE for adult humans that have no capacity to understand what AGING does to an animal or another human. YOU are doing very well understanding your baby's limitations and trying to find solutions for the problems your baby is facing and trying to overcome....that seems to be what we mothers are so very good at....not only with our precious, devoted pets, but with our parents, our aging siblings and last but not least, our aging partners..... Hardening of the arteries in our brains, and in HER brain, secondary to the aging process, affects us and them in EXACTLY what you are describing....everything you are noticing about her and her responses and her behavior, goes hand and hand with diminished mental acuity, secondary to the dreaded aging process. You are doing a wonderful job, compensating for her acuity as she looses her focus and her ability to hear different tones.....MY memory is failing me, and I can not remember WHICH tones go first....the high pitched tones or the lower pitched tones.....but I strongly believe this is what you are trying to compensate for her....good mommy that you are....she would do the same for you, if the shoe were on the other foot and she could! Dogs develop hearing loss as a normal part of the aging process. It may be difficult to tell whether your dog has partial hearing loss, however, because dogs have a greater wavelength of sounds that they can hear in the first place. “Dogs tend to lose the ability to hear higher pitched noises first,”. “They might still be able to hear adults, but they can no longer hear a young child. This can pose a problem, because the senior dog can’t hear the child creeping up from behind and could bite out of fear.” I think YOU are doing a wonderful, compassionate job, working to help her as she ages and loses some of her senses....keep it up....at 16 years of age, you dont want to be doing anything you will look back on one day and regret not doing....you just keep helping this precious senior as she continues to age....her little ears wont hear as well...adjust tones and sounds for her as needed. Her little bright eyes will start to cloud and her sight will diminish, you just continue to make adjustments for those failings. Understanding ensures tolerance and patience, love conquers all the failings....give your precious little aging senior a kiss and hug for me.... Let me check my library to see if I can find a book I had on aging pups....if I can find it, I will let you know the title and author....it was an excellent book.... Last edited by Yorkiemom1; 01-30-2016 at 02:32 PM. |
01-30-2016, 03:29 PM | #4 |
Rosehill Yorkies Donating YT Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Houston Texas
Posts: 9,462
| I found a couple of books that are still available...most of my dog books are vet school textbooks.... "Your Dog's Golden Years: Manual for Senior Dog Care by Jennifer Kachnic (Great book!) "Good Old Dog: Expert Advice for Keeping Your Aging Dog Happy, Healthy and Comfortable"......School of Vet medicine @ Tufts University, Amy Shojar (This is a great reference source!) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I have small booklets, these may be supplements to vet school books..... G.Landsberg/W.Ruehl......"Geriatric Behavior Problems in Aging Dogs These may be vet school text books, I cant remember! W.B.Saunders....."Vet Clinics of North America Small Animal Practice: Geriatrics " Overall, KL....."Clinical Behavior Medicine for Small Animals" Last edited by Yorkiemom1; 01-30-2016 at 03:30 PM. |
01-31-2016, 04:47 AM | #5 |
Furbutts = LOVE Donating Member Moderator | This kiddo sounds so very sweet...poor little thing, so sorry she is going through this aging stuff, I know it's tough. I think she is probably having hearing loss of certain frequencies.
__________________ ~ A friend told me I was delusional. I nearly fell off my unicorn. ~ °¨¨¨°ºOº°¨¨¨° Ann | Pfeiffer | Marcel Verdel Purcell | Wylie | Artie °¨¨¨°ºOº°¨¨¨° |
01-31-2016, 07:12 AM | #6 |
Yorkie Yakker Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Alabama
Posts: 50
| Thank you all for replying I am going to look into those books. Yes she does have cataracts and has had them for a few years now. The vet said she has dementia but she doesn't get lost in corners or under tables. Grandchildren have been raised around my two girls and know they must be treated carefully. So far the dogs really love it when we get company, any company. Yorkiemom1 I am sorry I gave the impression my husband is an intolerant man. He has always taken very good care of the dogs. He will be the first one to say take them to the vet. But he does not understand what he can not see. He does not understand mental problems. And he does not understand when she was once house trained and now pees on the floor. We are both 67 years old and do understand the aging process, but I need to understand more so I can help her. I don't understand how it could be her hearing when I can stand next to her and call her name and she doesn't hear me. But yet another day she is johnny on the spot when I call her. (Which happens less and less now) When she is asleep she may hear us come home but more often she never hears us come in the house even when her sister is barking up a storm. More than once I have had to go over and check her breathing. My daughter is an RN and worked with geriatric patients and tells me what to watch for in patients with dementia just in case Hanna does stuff like that. We all love these dogs and want the best for them. I am gonna look up those books and hopefully they will give me some insight into her mind. Thanks again |
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