Remebering the Doggy Dementia Pills

Some days it is hard to remember what needs to be done.  Even being retired there are endless projects.  Things I start and never finish.  Things I never even get to. Organize files.  Respond to emails.  Keep up with friends on Facebook.

Remembering most of the usual stuff is not too difficult once you have a routine.  There is a comfort to the rhythm of stacking the dishwasher, making the bed, tidying up a little in the family room.  None of these chores is a problem to remember.  Remembering to walk and feed the dog has not been a problem since he always has been good at reminding us.

But one particular memory problem recently has emerged.  The dog, a twelve-year-old sheltie I inherited when my Mom died, recently has taken to sleeping like the dead during daylight hours and then coming alive like a vampire, or a teenager, after dark.

I am lucky.  As a sound sleeper I am impervious to the sounds a dog makes, whether it is whining, or just banging and bumping into doors.  Not so my husband.  We’ve tried all the obvious remedies: extra daytime attention, playing, extra walks (mostly for the dog, not my husband), even an antihistamine and xanax, prescribed by the veterinarian for previous doggy nervousness when traveling (and, yes, imagine trying to convince the pharmacist that the Xanax really is for a dog named Schatzie).  So we resorted to consulting the expert again.

To our surprise, “confusion of days and nights” is one of the early symptoms of doggy dementia.  Thus, in the hopes of quiet nights and sleep for all, our dog now is prescribed a daily dose of an expensive doggy dementia pill.  Who knew dogs stay up all night and sleep all day when they get a little demented?  And that there was a pill for it?  

So now, added to the routine is another daily chore, giving the dog his dementia pill.  But we have found ourselves asking, “Did you give the dog his pill today?  Or was that yesterday?”  Do we risk giving him a second pill?  And at $3 a pill, do we want to possibly waste the pill and maybe even hurt the dog?  Or will an extra dose help even more? 

Or maybe we are approaching this from the wrong perspective.  Perhaps my spouse should just take sleeping pills, or try the antihistamine and Xanax combination.  Even if they did not work for the dog they might work for him.  Then he could just ignore the bumps in the night. 

On the other hand, if these doggy dementia pills really treat early-stage dementia, why are we wasting them on the dog?  If we take them ourselves we might remember all of the other things we keep forgetting.

Dorothy’s Idea for the Day: Do something fun every day, just for yourself.  Then you will feel like doing something fun with, to, or for someone else.