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Old May 27th, 2004, 02:16 AM
jenwilson78 jenwilson78 is offline
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Location: Missouri
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Unhappy Elder dog yelps for no reason - Answered by Dr. Van Lienden

My 15 + yrs old dog is starting to cry or "yelp" for no reason. She often stands in one place, staring at the floor, and not moving for several minutes. She is deaf and almost completely blind. This evening alone she:
1: was standing at the end of the hallway with her face against a wall crying out
2: after I went down and petted her, she followed me to the kitchen. She began to eat and between bites was making soft crying sounds, when I go in to check on her she quiets down.
Right now she is sleeping in the doorway, (for some reason she either sleeping in the middle of the walk way or in a doorway) and is snoring up a storm.
The house is about eight degrees colder than normal, could this be causing her to act funny? Also we are having very nasty weather with massive thunderstorms (welcome to Missouri) could she be experiencing pain from the changes in weather?
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Old May 27th, 2004, 07:35 AM
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Luba Luba is offline
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They never cry for no reason, there is a reason.

Your dog could be confused, suffering from dementia. All of a sudden forgetting where they are and what is happening.

Try to keep things the same in the house. Don't move things around or leave boxes or bags of things in the dogs way. If you introduce something new to the home show it to your dog more then once so there is certainty of where it is and what it smells like.

Another reason can be pain and geriatric dogs can have a lot of it.
When was your last vet visit and what do you feed your dog? Any health problems and are you giving supplements for geriatric dogs?
(Glucosamine, Shark Cartilidge, Omega fatty acids) ?

It's hard when they get to this age, breaks your heart and it's hard to see.
A blind dog can still be active and have fun, enjoying their life. Do you still go for walks?
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Old May 27th, 2004, 07:40 AM
Goldenmom Goldenmom is offline
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My take on this? I think she is in pain and wants you to notice. She needs to see a vet to be sure she isn't in severe pain for any reason. It just is not fair to the dog to put them through this at an old age.

Please let us know how it goes.

Heather
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Old May 27th, 2004, 09:23 AM
MBRA518 MBRA518 is offline
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I agree with both of you... It is either confusion/fear (that would expain why she stops when you touch her - you are the comfort - the staring at nothing kind of points to a senile (SP?) type issue) or pain.

My dog sometimes gets sore muscles in her neck that cause her to yelp or cry when eating - it's the streaching of her neck that hurts so putting her bowl on a stand helps that problem. When Rosie's muscles bother her (usually from sleeping with her head on the couch arm ) you often can't find a source for the hurt - as it doesn't hurt to touch... now that I know what it is I can find the hard muscle and massage the area and that usually gives her relief... and after a good nights sleep on her flat doggy bed - (which she will only use at night ) she's fine again. This may be the problem with you older dog too.

Also how are the dogs teeth? if you feed dry food and her teeth are getting bad, or she's loosing them eating may be painful... you can soak the food or feed canned or soft dog food if that is the problem.
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Old May 27th, 2004, 10:07 AM
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Princesss04 Princesss04 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Luba
They never cry for no reason, there is a reason.

Your dog could be confused, suffering from dementia. All of a sudden forgetting where they are and what is happening.

Try to keep things the same in the house. Don't move things around or leave boxes or bags of things in the dogs way. If you introduce something new to the home show it to your dog more then once so there is certainty of where it is and what it smells like.

Another reason can be pain and geriatric dogs can have a lot of it.
When was your last vet visit and what do you feed your dog? Any health problems and are you giving supplements for geriatric dogs?
(Glucosamine, Shark Cartilidge, Omega fatty acids) ?

It's hard when they get to this age, breaks your heart and it's hard to see.
A blind dog can still be active and have fun, enjoying their life. Do you still go for walks?
My dad has a cat (she was ours growing up/ we got her when I was 4 years old) so she is 16 years old in people years. She started cryinglike that and would just stand in one place and cry and look around and cry when she ate. Did took her to the vet and he said that it is signs of getting old she is forgetting where she is at and as far as the crying he said that her teeth were getting bad. Just like an older persons teeth would they changed her to soft cat food and the vet told him not to make any changes to the house because it would cause her alot of stress and it would confuss her more.
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  #6  
Old May 27th, 2004, 06:29 PM
Karin Karin is offline
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Please have a geratric exam by your vet soon. Now is the time to make suttle changes in her lifestyle, being diet, excercise, medication (recommended by your vet) and basic well being.
She is trying to tell you something....a vet visit should help deciphering what she trying to relate.

Let us know what happens Please!
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  #7  
Old June 8th, 2004, 11:30 AM
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petdr petdr is offline
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Two main causes for this presentation: physical or mental. I would first start with a blood profile to assess kidney, liver, cardiac, thyroid status. The blood count will also note any infectious, anemia, and potentionally any cancerous process that may be contributing to this profile.

It is also important to address any painful process that may be present. If we can completely exclude any physical cause for the symptoms, then it is possibly a mental problem: senility, depression from the social isolation and fear brought on by blindness and deafness, possibly a brain tumor whether malignant or benign (and only MRI or CT scan can find these very well antemortem), etc.

Remember that canines are very social animals and do not tolerate isolation very well. For these depression cases I will use Prozac or Paxel, sometimes Valium. Speak to your veterinarian for further information.

Dr. Van Lienden

Dr. Raymond Van Lienden DVM
The Animal Clinic of Clifton
12702 Chapel Road, Clifton
Virginia, U.S.A. 20124
703-802-0490
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