Your Senior Dog May Have Dementia, These Are The Signs To Look Out For
Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of cognitive impairment are some of the most terrifying illness for people to face.
Conditions like heart disease, diabetes, and cancer aren’t a walk in the park either.B ut for all of these, you can formulate a battle plan and carry it out. It may work, and it may not, but at least you have your mental agency still intact.
Not so with dementia. There’s a loss of control that makes it a particularly frightening.
Sadly, humans aren’t the only ones who have to deal with mental decline. Dogs, too, can also face their own kind of dementia.
Canine Cognitive Dysfunction can impact anywhere from 14 to 22 percent of older dogs. The worst part? There’s little an owner can do to avoid it.
As far as experts can tell, CCD often occurs simply as part of the aging process in some animals.
Dr. Melissa Bain of the University of California-Davis School of Veterinary Medicine believes she has found a reason for the disease. According to her, plaque can accumulate around brain neurons, slowly building up over time, and there’s nothing that can be done to reverse it.
“Understand that the changes are not the pet’s ‘fault’ when they start to house soil. They can’t help it,” Bain explained.
She also said CCD can hit dogs of any breed and symptoms may start to appear at age nine.
A distinctive cocktail of symptoms generally accompanies an animal’s decline.
Bain says owners should remember the acronym D.I.S.H.A. when checking to see if their furry friends have begun experiencing cognitive decline. They may display disorientation, irritability, sleep issues, house soiling (i.e., difficulties with controlling bladder or bowels), and activity changes such as eating or attitudinal difficulties.
Though these are the most common signs, they aren’t the only ones. A pooch suffering from CCD may have a harder time smelling things or (ironically enough) suddenly seem to learn how to do new things.
Fortunately, dog owners aren’t without options when it comes to the disease. The Spruce Pets reports that the drug Anipryl can help certain pets. While not a cure, it often reduces the symptoms of canine dementia by altering dopamine activity.
Natural options such as omega-3 fatty acids and melatonin have also helped. Other owners have turned to homeopathy or even acupuncture.
Even simply spending more time with a canine chum can improve things.
But loving a dog with CCD is still a tall order. Durga Chapagain, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna, Austria, is currently studying CCD. She says, “Owners are willing to accept that their dog has a certain medical condition, but when it comes to impaired behavioral conditions, it (takes) a lot of dedication and willingness to live with a CCD affected dog.”
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