Sometimes Euthanasia Is the Appropriate Choice

Dear Dr. Fox:

My 14-year-old Shih Tzu's cognitive dysfunction was recently diagnosed. I believe Teddy has had the disorder for more than a year. We would sometimes find him staring down a hallway or at a wall. Recently, a car hit him, and one of his back legs was broken. In addition, his cognitive dysfunction has intensified. His symptoms are pacing, looking as though he were lost, walking into corners of the house and just staring, hearing loss and sleep-pattern changes. He'll stay up all night just pacing.

His vet first put him on 5 mg of Anipryl, which made his body limp. It was increased to 7.5 mg. That seemed to help at first, but we finally switched to 25 mg of clomipramine, which made him want to sleep all the time made him act like a zombie. He is currently on 5 mg of buspirone, twice daily, but he has started to display more of the cognitive dysfunction: pacing, looking lost, not always recognizing us, poor coordination and sometimes not wanting to eat.

What could be my next step or medicine? Teddy's coordination is so bad that we have to spoon-feed or help him eat by holding the bowl up to him because he will, otherwise, fall into his food.

-- C.F.

High Ridge, Mo.