Strikingly similar to Alzheimer's Disease that affects humans, Canine Cognitive Dysfunction Syndrome affects the brain of elderly dogs, causing confusion, forgetfulness about many lifelong habits (ie : eating, favorite people, or housetraining habits), and normal boundaries. A dog who may have never left the yard in her entire life, may suddenly decide to wander off into the middle of rush hour traffic.
Canine Cognitive Dysfunction is caused by the chemical and physiological changes that occur in an older dog's brain. Likely causes seem to parallel the human disease Alzheimer's as well, such as the accumulation of B-amyloid proteins, or the activity of monoamine oxidase-B being increased. Both of these problems accelerate degeneration of the brain.
Symptoms
- Aimless Wandering
- Disorientation
- Confusion about a previously familiar place (ie: gets lost in the house, can't find her way out of a corner, seems lost in her yard)
- Years of housetraining seem undone, as dog forgets to go outside or she forgets to let you know she has to go
- Forgetting to eat, even forgetting to drink in some cases
- Fails to recognize previously favorite people, or who she met recently, be it dog or human
- Sleeping pattern changes drastically
- Pacing
- No longer seeks attention, or wanders away when being pet
- Forgets or stops responding to her name
The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) has approved the use of a drug called Anipryl® to help slow the process and improve the symptoms of Canine Cognitive Dysfunction, and also approved it for treatment for Cushings Disease in dogs. This is the trade name for veterinarians for the drug, selegiline hydrochloride, which is used for Alzheimer's treatment in humans.