Has anyone had their LO act sneaky? Sneak food hide food, feed dog all kinds of things . Is this normal, and how do you work on the behavior? Thanks in advance for any advice.

oh boy is it normal!!! they dont' realize they're doing it but it sure is normal for AD.

One of the first signs of MIL's AD was hiding things so no one could steal them...

the dog thing was a hard one for us...so I started putting the big dog out and the little dog in her kennel at meal times. Then I gave MIL the treats (mostly dry dog food)in a little zip lock for the day for the dogs and she could feed them the good treats....I just cut back on the amount of dog food in their bowls.

I almost always have fruit out, mostly grapes, but sometime cherries, strawberries, and she will always offer them to the dogs...and put extra ones in her pockets..

Lis O,I just noticed that you're new...a big warm welcome to you...you've come to the right place !

Thanks, for the reply. Makes me feel like I'm not the only one.

My sister & neice were always calling to tell me about all the sneaky things my mom was doing. I think my mom did lots of sneaky things but was always getting caught. Of course none of us knew my mom had Alz and that made every situation frustrating and unable to understand why my mom was doing what she was doing.
On 4th of July, it will be 1 yr that my sister began going through my mom's things and cleaning up both my mom's room & her yard. My sister has found so many things and she is still not done.

Welcome Lis,
As you will see, it will be much easier(and possible) to to realize you, or she, cannot stop the behavior. You will need to learn to work with it.

We never fed our dog from the table. MIL tried to, every meal. I ended up having to make sure the dog was outside when she ate.

I also, like Nessa, had to make sure she only had access to healthy snacks, and kept the other food out of her sight. I still ended up going through her drawers daily, to reclaim things.

My mom has started hiding her fine jewelry, telling my dad she just lost it. Once a month I get a call from my freaking out father, asking if I knew where mom's stuff might be. So far, we have been able to find everything, but my dad now keeps all of it in a locked safe.

quote:

Originally posted by maebee:
Welcome Lis,
As you will see, it will be much easier(and possible) to to realize you, or she, cannot stop the behavior. You will need to learn to work with it.

We never fed our dog from the table. MIL tried to, every meal. I ended up having to make sure the dog was outside when she ate.

I also, like Nessa, had to make sure she only had access to healthy snacks, and kept the other food out of her sight. I still ended up going through her drawers daily, to reclaim things.

Dear Lis O,

Hello and Welcome to the AD Message Boards. You've come to the right place! People with AD have many strange behaviors. This disease cause all kinds of unusual behaviors.

Hang in there.

Welcome to OUR family.

Dear Elieske,

Hello and Welcome. Thanks for joining in and sharing.

Glad you understand the strange behaviors that AD causes. Some behaviors can be very challenging for a caregiver.

We here for you. Welcome to OUR family.

Yes,,,it is "normal" for someone thats been diagnosed with AD. Lordy,,my mom used to hide the most stupid things,,and feed the dogs all the damned time!!

You just need to be close by,,,observing,,,quietly,,,and simply take back whats been hidden,,without saying a word to your LO,,,and try to "intervene " when feeding the dogs or whatever critters you have.

Welcome to the "everchanging world" of alzheimers. Be strong,,and try to stay calm. Peace

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:
Yes,,,it is "normal" for someone thats been diagnosed with AD. Lordy,,my mom used to hide the most stupid things,,and feed the dogs all the damned time!!

You just need to be close by,,,observing,,,quietly,,,and simply take back whats been hidden,,without saying a word to your LO,,,and try to "intervene " when feeding the dogs or whatever critters you have.

Welcome to the "everchanging world" of alzheimers. Be strong,,and try to stay calm. Peace

i find this method the most effective and peaceful.

I wouldn't call these acts sneaky. Let's call it intriguing behavior. Or curious behavior. Sneaky is a far too negative term. --Jim

Euphemisms don't change the reality Jim, and sneaky is a far cry from a dirty word.

Laurette was fixated on alcohol for about a year, and if she had access to it she would drink far more than a little 90 pound lady should. When she thought I wasn't looking she would steal the bottles and hide them in her bedroom, looking over her shoulder the whole time. Yikes! That was more than absent minded hoarding, it was very intentional and sneaky. Since we controlled her access to alcohol it was just funny, not problematic.

She is not necessarily sneaking, just fast....I think I am watching and bang..another can of cat food. lol
Had to remove after a 10 can day. But...now she walks around saying there isn't any food for you so I will try to find something....and boy are some of the "somethings" funny. My grandson about lost it with the kitty litter ane bird seed mixture but my personal favorite has been the bread and water. Wasn't so happy with the can of premium chicken breast so that has joined the hidden cat food. lol

Sneaky would surely describe the way the acts are performed. Intriguing or curious would more describe the reaction the acts generate in others?

My MIL would also sneak my nic nacs off the mantle in the den, where she stayed when here.

Grapes and raisins are poisonous for dogs. Don't let mom give them too many.

Anything of value or that could be hurtful has been locked up for a couple of years now. I know that sneaky, hoarding stage is hard for many but that is something I actually saw humor in. Anything left out was fair game for my husband to do with as he saw fit...I laughing here...anyway...my favorite was watching him sneak the row of mini cupcakes...watching over his shoulder and quietly going to another room to consume them. I always had trails of snacks for him to find. Ok, I have to admit some of the things I found in his pockets weren't easy to deal with but at least it was is his pocket and not on the walls.

My all time favorite was finding all the knobs and handles he had removed in the garbage disposal...I thought that was pretty clever!

Three years before my MIL was even diagnosed she was always complaining that the dog wasn't eating. When she would go on a trip I would take over the chores and Snoopy ate like a trooper for me. After all this time I finally realized she was feeding the dog all day long. Who knew???

I'm getting flashbacks from just reading some of the posts.

My mom hid some of her fine jewelry in her pill bottles and now we don't know where they're at. We believe my brother has some of my mom's things though he denies it.

My mom would wait for my sister to leave the house and then she'd run to the kitchen to get bananas, cup of soups and other things to hide in her room or eat.

Ugh... too many things went on and no one in the house had a clue. So sad.

Thanks everyone, I feel like I'm in an exclusive club now, all your posts are my reality. Bananas are a killer!! My MIL loves them! Well I can get through this behavior she still has so much still going on, bright little lady, she's easier than the 5 kids any day so I will keep on the journey with her. Thanks again everyone.

Yup, my MIL would take anything and hide things in her room. Knives, cat food, puzzle pieces, decorative stones from the plants. She would hide her jewelry in tissues and put them under the drawer. What gave it away is she could not put it back on the track and the drawer was lopsided. There were times where I threw tissues away, not realizing what was in it. Under the mattress is another hiding place. It is unbelievable. She also hides her toothbrush. Sometimes it is days before I find it again.

My mom would also hide things away, in the wierdest places. The hard part is that she can never remember that she hid stuff or where it was, so she started thinking someone was coming in and stealing!

We have 2 ladies come in every 2 weeks to clean. Takes them about 2 hrs. I take the dogs out for 2 hours and mom is at day care.

2 weeks ago, mom's denture cup was missing. I figured she wrapped it in a diaper and it was gone. So I bought a new one ($3).

Come home and the cleaners had found it somewhere - no idea where - probably around her bed.

So far they have found her wallet, denture cup and something else (besides socks and the like). Can't remember what else they found but it was something I had replaced.