Anxiety in an elderly labrador

RE: Anxiety in an elderly labrador

Tricia Goulden — Fri, 04 May 2018 15:45:07 GMT

[quote user="Anthony Dennison"]

Poor old Wilbur! He's always been a bit of a complex dog bless him.

With the associated spinal pain and the slightly raised SDMA there could be a degree of pyelonephritis - if he's not better when I come down at the end of the month can I scan him?

[/quote]Certainly!

RE: Anxiety in an elderly labrador

Niall Taylor — Fri, 04 May 2018 12:30:40 GMT

Blimey - what a brilliant piece of detective work! I'll bear in mind possible UTI in future with similar cases, I know it can happen in humans.

Have you thought about fluoxetine for Wilbur's general anxiety at other times?

Niall

RE: Anxiety in an elderly labrador

Noweia — Fri, 04 May 2018 11:13:04 GMT

I've also heard of UTIs (I think infection anywhere but UTIs seem to be most common) causing confusion in older people and people with dementia.

RE: Anxiety in an elderly labrador

Anthony Dennison — Fri, 04 May 2018 09:24:44 GMT

Poor old Wilbur! He's always been a bit of a complex dog bless him.

With the associated spinal pain and the slightly raised SDMA there could be a degree of pyelonephritis - if he's not better when I come down at the end of the month can I scan him?

RE: Anxiety in an elderly labrador

Julie Innes — Thu, 03 May 2018 21:02:24 GMT

Interesting. I have seen uti linked with behavioural signs in elderly/sick people ( relatives), but weirdly hadn't thought of it in animals! With my gran, it got to the point where we would go into the nursing home to "thank God you're here! There was a fire and they left me to burn !" And we would be requesting a urine sample! So not sure why I've never thought of it in dogs

RE: Anxiety in an elderly labrador

George Cooper — Thu, 03 May 2018 19:56:07 GMT

Basic stuff - but have you checked his anal glands??

RE: Anxiety in an elderly labrador

Kate Richardson — Thu, 03 May 2018 19:09:30 GMT

I've certainly seen several felines cases of UTIs causing odd behaviour which could have been attributed to senility, but resolved on tx of a UTI. So much so that it is something I routinely check for when investigating any behaviour changes, especially in older cats. Thanks for posting and hope Wilbur gets well again soon.