I’m sorry that you went through that with your doggy but I really don’t think this is a cognitive disorder, it literally happened overnight when he started eating Science Diet, so unless Science Diet caused a dementia within 24 hours of being started….
I know increased appetite is a side effect of anticonvulsants but he has been on anticonvulsants since 08/16 without issue and this was an immediately noticible overnight change that started when I started feeding Science Diet.
I don’t free freed, I feed main meals twice a day (breakfast and dinner) on a schedule that they have been on for their entire life and then Hagen specifically gets medication 5x a day so the additional 3x a day he gets his medicine with a small amount of food.
I haven’t needed to feed them separately before, they have always been very well behaved, they are not territorial over food, they never tried to steal each others food before. Usually they eat their meal and retire to their beds to “clean up” once they finished eating… This stealing of other dogs food is something that stated when he started eating Science Diet.
He can’t have long walks due to his disability but I usually give him a short walk before dinner when possible. It’s not always possible in 80-90 degree temperatures due to his physical condition, some days he is able, some days he isn’t. Also I’m not sure on the correlation of long walks and overeating, seems like long walks would make him more hungry.
As far as following him around when he is due for a bowel movement, as I said, he is totally off schedule and going frequently when it isn’t expected. I do actually have to work and take care of my family as well, I need to let him have some time walking around in the yard when I’m not literally 2 feet behind him watching him in case he decides to squat… I’m doing the best that I can but he’s gone from pooping twice a day like clockwork in a predictable schedule to literally pooping 5-6 times a day.
So basically the main culprit here is the Science Diet food, all of these problems literally developed overnight when he started eating it. As of tomorrow he goes back to Merrick and hopefully these problems will resolve.
