13-Year-Old Dog With Cloudy Eyes, Shaking Legs and Barking Episodes

Several things may be going on at once. The cloudy look over the eyes in an older dog is often nuclear sclerosis, a normal lens change that usually doesn't affect sight much, or cataracts, which can. Trembling back legs are common in older dogs with arthritis or weak muscles. Sudden barking at nothing and running in circles can be a sign of canine cognitive dysfunction (a kind of dog dementia), but repeated episodes that last a minute or longer can also be focal seizures, and circling can come from a brain problem such as a tumor.

Since this has gone on for five months, please book a vet exam and bring a video of one of the episodes. Your vet can check his eyes, joints and nervous system and run blood tests. Treatments exist for arthritis, cognitive decline and seizures, so it's worth finding out which one is causing what.

Our page on seizures in dogs describes what focal seizures can look like.

This is general information, not a diagnosis. Please follow your own vet's advice.