Dementia in animals When dogs or cats become sad and restless

Not only do people fall ill with Alzheimer's in old age, they do not remember their children and spouses - even animals suffer from dementia. Dogs and cats can no longer cope in their territory, they no longer recognize "their" people.

Cats with nerve disorders have the same beta-amyloids as people with Alzheimer's. These substances disturb the information transfer in the brain.

Pets also suffer from dementia. Image: bodza2 - fotolia

The animals find no peace, they are no longer interested in their toys, cats moan constantly without external cause, dogs barking. The animals "forget" to eat, they leave their feces and urine in the apartment.

Dementia, or, in the language of veterinary medicine, cognitive dysfunction, is not easy to diagnose. Each symptom, taken in isolation, can refer to other diseases, and every second cat gets sick in old age: for example, kidney failure is a typical sign of old age in (almost) all cats; the lack of control of the sphincter also means that the animals do not remain housebroken; Constant moaning and barking may also be due to pain that the animal suffers from. Blindness finally leads to disorientation.

Many owners think their pet shows the wear of old age, just as relatives often regard the first stages of dementia as normal senility.

The vet detects with a magnetic resonance tomography and on the basis of the blood count, if there is a dementia. However, this is pioneering work, because although dementia among animals has been known for half a century, it has only been a topic for about 10 years.

Pets are getting older
The reason for this is that the disease is only spreading to a greater extent since dogs and cats in the industrialized countries are getting older and older. A cat on the farm of our grandparents was rarely older than seven years, today cats at the age of 18 or 19 are not uncommon. In addition, there was a lack of sensitivity in traditional animal husbandry to deal with psychological confusions of old animals.

Symptoms in the dog
Affected dogs seem disoriented. They walk around aimlessly, staring into space, "stuck" behind furniture, waiting at the wrong door, sitting down next to the street when a car arrives, looking around helplessly as they walk out, as if forgetting what they want there. They no longer listen to their name or commands like seat-space-foot. They are no longer resilient, can no longer overcome obstacles that were easy for them before, retrievers, for example, do not remember retrieving.

Above all, dogs lose the struggle for attention with "their humans". Often, they stop responding when the family comes together and sit around uninvolved while the children play.

Creeping course
Dementia is as creeping in animals as it is in humans: at first, the cat may be sitting in the garden and can not find her cat's door, or the dog will give false alarms. In addition, the animals are always normal during the first phase. But the dementia progresses progressively, so overall it goes downhill.

Demented cats
Typical signs of dementia in a cat are uncleanliness, the cat does not clean itself and leaves its feces, confusion and disorientation everywhere, aimless wandering, loss of space and time (if the cat wakes up, she does not know where she is) - but also apathy.

These symptoms are particularly clear because they differ from the normal behavior of a cat: cats maw, because they want to be petted and fed because they want out of the apartment or in the apartment purely; they walk purposefully to their sleeping and viewing areas, and adult cats are looking for a permanent place to drop their feces.

medicine
For dogs, there are preparations that are targeted to curb the cognitive dysfunction, namely Aktivetit of Vetplus and Senilife of Innovet Italia. Both products are combination preparations that contain antioxidants and substances that enhance memory, such as phosphatidylserine, coenzyme Q10 or gingko biloba. They can be added to the feed. Although medications can not stop dementia, they do slow it down. Propentylphenyl, for example, increases blood flow in the brain

Brain jogging and treatment
Missing mental challenges probably promote the timing and course of animal dementia.
As with human dementia, trust and inspiration are important for animal sufferers to keep their brains active and thus stop dementia: Demented animals need lots of attention and new challenges, such as unknown smells and new walks for dogs, new toys for cats.

At the vet
If your pet shows symptoms of dementia, you should definitely go to the vet. Dementia in cats and dogs is almost always associated with physical ailments that affect mental well-being - and vice versa.

The veterinarian checks the thyroid levels, blood pressure, kidneys and liver. Sometimes it's not dementia, it's the joint pain that afflicts old cats.

Right to laziness
More than ever, a fixed daily structure is important to the demented cat. Give her food at the same time at the same times. Set up shallow bowls as cat litter boxes and provide "age appropriate" resting places. The previously beloved hiding places in the darkest corner of the cupboard are no longer for the bewildered Methuselahs. Make sure that the children do not encourage the cat to play if it wants to rest. The demented cat enjoys lying in a place in the sun and sleeping.

misdiagnosis
In dogs, dementia is called cognitive dysfunction syndrome. But do not interpret normal age processes over. The old dog changes his sleep-wake rhythm. He sleeps more and he rages less. Old dogs are less able to learn and remember worse than young ones. That too is not a disease.

Neglect is not dementia
Above all, a dog is not demented because it is neglected. A fat Labrador male lethargically lying around because his owner finds him cute, but does not give this hard worker a job, has no cognitive dysfunctions. Diet and retrieval training bring him back into shape. (Dr. Utz Anhalt)