Does your old dog seem not to recognize you? Get lost in familiar places? Are you wandering aimlessly, restless at night and sleep more during the day, irritable and less responsive to stimuli? Perhaps you suffer from dementia , a disease that, as it happens in people, affects many of these animals in their last years of life.
Specialists estimate that in Europe there are about 15 million old dogs (those over 7 years of age are considered this way, although the entry into old age varies according to the breeds: the larger ones “spoil” earlier), and about 30 million In the US, improvements in veterinary care and advances are increasing canine life expectancy, and with it the number of dogs with cognitive dysfunction syndrome (CDS): 28% suffer it of dogs that are between 11 and 12 years old , and 68% of those that are between 15 and 16.
This deterioration is usually progressive, and tests show that the earlier it is detected, the better treatment it has. To achieve earlier and more accurate diagnoses, a team of Czech and Slovak veterinarians and scientists have studied 215 dogs between 8 and 16.5 years of age showing symptoms of CDS. The objective was to develop tests that allow estimating the degree of dementia of the animals and the speed of its progress.
These experts developed a battery of questions for the owners of the analyzed dogs; then they observed the response of animals to various commands, and their way of relating to their masters, strangers, and other specimens of their species. With this material, they have developed a test that will help veterinarians to diagnose the disease and develop appropriate therapies and drugs for each stage of the disease .
The research, published in the journal Applied Animal Behavior Science, has produced some surprises: according to its authors, this ailment, which usually begins in dogs with small social behavior problems and sleep disturbances, progresses much faster in dogs than in humans: 24% of the specimens went from suffering a slight deterioration to a medium deterioration in just six months , an evolution five times faster than in people.
