Senior pet challenges: An update on Ajax

I mentioned in a prior post that I have been having some extra challenges with my senior mini schnauzer Ajax. Senior pet challenges are just part of the cycle of pet ownership, but they can be tricky and exhausting. Here is an update on my Ajax and our journey towards the Rainbow Bridge…

Senior pet challenges- Who needs sleep?

It wasn’t the first sign that she was showing her age, but it was the one that struck me the hardest. Towards the end of February I noticed that Ajax was not sleeping like she use to. This is a dog who would sleep in with Suckerfish, my partner, until the afternoon hours. As long as someone was in the bedroom, she was content to sleep alongside us.

At first we noticed that she didn’t want to stay on the bed overnight. We would lift her up (she hasn’t been able to jump on the bed for a year) and then I’d hear her get down in the middle of the night. She may have fallen off a few times, but usually I would hear her jump down. Ok, no problem, the bed is packed with other dogs and cats (and humans) anyway. We set her with a dog bed (eliminating any floor space other than the doorway) and she sleeps next to the golden, Deuce.

Then she started waking up earlier on the weekends, and was no longer happy to stay in the bedroom with Suckerfish. Again, no problem, she just gets up with the rest of us and Suckerfish can have the bedroom to himself.

It gets progressively worse…

Within a few weeks, Ajax was waking up before our alarms, even on weekdays. Not just waking up either- she started chewing on the carpet and even ripping out the carpet fibers. Once I covered the tiny bit of carpet by the door with a sheet, she started just wandering around the room. She blunders into the golden, trips over my water bottle, knocks on the door. Without fail, she wakes me up.

‘So I get up when she gets up. Some days it is as early as 4am. Most usually she is up by 5:30am. My sleep started to suffer greatly. But this is what you do when you have a senior pet, right? You just have to work with them as best you can. Senior pet challenges and all that. Suckerfish and I agreed that I would get up with her 6 mornings a week, and one weekend morning he would just take her outside for potty and then they would crash together in the living room while the rest of us finished sleeping.

Suckerfish is blessed with the ability to fall asleep quickly and at the drop of a hat. I, on the other hand, have a hard time falling asleep, have trouble staying asleep and once I wake up, I’m up for good. This situation is wearing me out slowly.

Current status- Sleep deprived but switching it up!

In the last several weeks, we have noticed that Ajax is starting to have problems going to sleep as well. Some nights it takes her 10 or 20 minutes to settle down and go to sleep. Last night I just couldn’t take it anymore. Suckerfish stayed up till the wee hours of the morning playing video games. I had already gone to bed when he brought the Tribe in for the night.

Ajax just would not settle down! 20 minutes of wandering around the room knocking things over! I kept getting up and putting her on her dog bed, to no avail. Finally, I just gave up. For the first time since she was 8 weeks old, she did not sleep in the bedroom with us. I took her out and gated her in the kitchen. I slept until 7:30am!!!

We are going to try this again tonight. I don’t want to do it all the time; I feel bad about making her sleep away from us. On weeknights it won’t be so difficult (I hope). Obviously if she continues having problems going to sleep then this may just be a permanent solution.

And then there is her new habit…

Starting around the time she lost her ability to sleep in, she also developed pica. After she eats dinner (less commonly after breakfast) she scrounges around everywhere for a hour or so eating anything she can find. I have pulled rocks, sticks and even fur out of her mouth. I can’t stop her, so I just do my best to limit what she ingests.

The wonderful side effect of eating all this indigestible material is that she now vomits frequently (2-3 times a week). This is always in the morning before she eats breakfast, and is usually a mixture of fur, hair and plant material. Of course I worry about her health, and that the material might cause damage to her digestive system. But I haven’t found a way to stop it entirely…so I’m just rolling with the senior pet challenge.

Losing balance, more unsteady on stairs

It is sad to see Ajax declining. I have to watch her like a hawk on the stairs or she will fall and tumble down them. The fact that the other pets run into her does not help! Big Deuce just doesn’t understand that she is not a rough-and-tumble Battle Schnauzer anymore.

She sleeps well during the day, and definitely has less energy than ever before. But she still gets crazy excited for food, and she still likes to chase the cats in the evening. She appears comfortable, if confused at times. She loves when I give her rub downs; I do a gentle massage all over her body. She enjoys her veggie treats and sometimes gets excited to go play outside.

Rainbow Bridge

I know we are not far away from having to make a decision on how long we can keep doing this. If you have read my post on euthanasia then you know I am not avoiding the thought, not at all. I’m ready when she is. I just feel that things are manageable for now, and that she still gets enjoyment out of life, although much less than a year ago.

The fact that I also have an elderly mother who is not in the best of health doesn’t make it easier, I’m afraid. I try and keep the two separated in my head…but it is hard NOT to compare my senior dog to my senior Mom!

I am taking things day by day and week by week. We could even have a few months left…but I doubt more than that. I could send her over the Rainbow Bridge today and no one would argue against it. Ultimately, the decision will likely be mine to make. When I think we have hit the point where she is not enjoying things enough, or if her dementia, pica and sleep patterns get worse…then it will be time. Suckerfish says he is ready, whenever I think the time is right. Since I have the veterinary background, I get to make most (all) of the medical decisions…no pressure, right?

What is your Senior Pet Challenge?

Please share your own senior pet challenges in the comments section! You are NOT alone!  Anyone who has owned a pet has eventually gone through this phase. Shared experiences help us all.