Cases of doggy dementia go undiagnosed

Dogs get dementia, too.

It's called canine cognitive dysfunction.

And it's especially interesting, from a research point of view, because canine brains more closely resemble human brains than those of laboratory rats. Also, since so so many dogs are members of human families, they are subject to many of the same environmental factors as humans.

Most senior-age dogs with dementia go undiagnosed, according to a recent study in The Veterinary Journal. Veterinary scientists at the University of Sydney studied 1,000 dogs and found 14 perent had dementia. Only about 2 percent had been diagnosed. (Researchers found no appreciative difference among breeds, by the way.)

''Like dementia in humans, canine dementia often ruins the bond between the sufferer and their carer because the dog no longer seems to recognise the owner or may develop annoying habits,'' Hannah Salvin, a doctoral student at the university who led the study, told the Sydney Morning Herald.

As with humans, the disease is incurable.

Some treatments are emerging, though, and associate professor Paul McGreevy told the newspaper "their responses could provide us with pivotal information about the potential therapeutic effects in humans.''

Salvin and McGreevy are interested in studying more dogs in the greater Sydney area. Their website, maturedogs.com, provides details.

Symptoms

Pacing, circling, wandering.

Failure to recognise familiar people or pets.

Walking into walls or furniture.

Standing over water bowl, not drinking.

Avoiding being petted or touched.

House soiling.

Read the story in the Sydney Morning Herald.

Read the abstract from The Veterinary Journal.

Learn more about Cognitive Dysfunction Syndrome in dogs, from Pfizer.