Overview:

Dog Dementia, or canine cognitive disorder/dysfunction. While similar to Alzheimer’s, they are not the same. It impacts dogs later in life and comes on slowly. With age, the body, as well as the brain starts to decline. This decline often can alter the physical and chemical components of the brain causing a decrease in the cognitive functions.

What is cognitive function- it is the mental process as a whole, things such as awareness, judgment, perception, and memory. It can be described as foggy brain, simply the tasks that used to be simple to complete become increasingly more difficult. All dogs are at risk, and each dog can be affected differently.

Common Signs of CCD:

• Aimless wandering
• Staring off into space
• Confusion
• Loss of hearing, sight, and taste
• Incontinence
• Barking
• Behavior changes
• Anxiety
• Lack of appetite

Diagnosis/Treatment:

A comprehensive exam checking both physical and neurological signs in your dog is commonly done to help diagnose CCD. There isn’t a single diagnostic test, unfortunately. Often your doctor will recommend further diagnostics testing, which could include: blood panels to check for possible infectious disease, Chemistries to check organ function, a urinalysis to check kidneys concentration ability, thyroid testing as well as a full cardiac workup.

Treatment:

While there is no cure for this disorder, there are treatments that can be used to slow the progression as well as improve the symptoms. Lifestyle modification, mental stimulation as well as drug therapies are commonly used to improve your pet’s quality of life.

If you have any questions or may suspect your aging pet is showing signs of cognitive disorder please do not hesitate to give us a call. (918) 492-2674.