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What is canine cognitive decline?
Dementia negatively affects the everyday life of a senior dog and is commonly seen to varying degrees as dogs age.
Some symptoms may appear and worsen gradually as the dog ages, or they may occur more suddenly and be more drastic.
Irregular sleeping patterns, repetitive behaviors such as licking and pacing, a decrease in appetite, and not wanting to interact with other pets or their owners can be signs of senior dementia in dogs.
The most common signs of senior dementia are disorientation, interaction changes, sleep changes, house soiling, and activity level changes.
Symptoms
- Soiling in the house
- Getting lost in the house/disorientation
- Barking without reason
- Going to the wrong side of the door
- Lack of interaction with people or other pets
- Decrease or lack of appetite
- Lower threshold for aggressive behavior
- Anxiety
- Irregular sleeping patterns
- Staring at the walls
- Pacing/repetitive behaviors
Can it be reversed?
Or better yet, can it be prevented?
We have a few dog moms who say they have had tremendous success by simply feeding brain superfoods.
Let’s take a look at one example.
cHICO THE chIHUAHUA
Chico’s owner Sally said she saw the first disheartening signs of canine dementia in Chico when he was 12.
It seemed to her that it came on quickly.
She was alarmed because it was getting worse and not better.
How long until he no longer interacted with her? How long until it deminished his quality of life to the point where she had to say goodbye to him?
This dog mom wasn’t about to even entertain these questions. The only question she wanted answered was how to try to stop it in its tracks before it got any worse.
Chico’s mom took a deep dive into brain health. Looking up mainly people articles because she found nothing helpful in the canine arena online in terms of cognitive decline.
Sally went about compiling an extensive list of brain superfoods.
While she was at it, she started the deep dive into what Chico had been eating for years and was appalled to find out exactly what was in his supposed high-end kibble.
She felt overwhelmed and guilty when she realized that many of his ailments in life in general were most likely caused by a poor diet.
Sally came across an article about raw species-specific feeding and she knew instinctively that it was the right path.
The symptoms
The symptoms had come on so quickly that it was shocking to her. All of a sudden, he seemed lost at times.
He would stare into space especially at night, almost as if agitated and not understanding what bedtime was anymore.
Her pup would bark anxiously for no reason and pace and forget where the door was to go outside.
He even had a few accidents.
But worst of all, her interactions with him were different, as if this fog was a blockade in their very special bond.
Chico had been outgoing and a huge snuggler. Often creeping up by Sallys side to nuzzle himself next to her. He would always sleep by her head on her pillow at night. Even when she read a book, he would fix himself into the crick of her arm.
She missed these interactions.
Would she never be able to look down at him again and see him staring back up at her while he snuggled into her arm?
She didn’t want to concede that this was the way their story would end.
Sally chose his new diet from a company called Darwins because she didn’t feel comfortable making the raw diet herself.
At the time, there weren’t as many holistic dog food stores in her area as there are now and she liked that they delivered right to her doorstep.
Each meal on top of the Darwins, Chico’s mom lovingly added Wild Blueberry powder from an online company called Vimergy.
She added Lions Mane mushrooms from Mountain Rose Herbs. She also gave him 1/3 of a can of sardines for the Omega 3 for brain health.
Sally kept an extensive journal and was fortunate enough to work from home, so her observations were very detailed.
Along with the diet changes and the brain superfoods, Sally came across an article about dog sniffing and how vital it is to a dog’s brain.
It was listed as being equivalent to us reading a book or working on a puzzle. Considering that the brain is a muscle, it made sense to her that it needed a workout each day.
Her walks with Chico became very different. He was now in charge of the walks. He would pick the direction that they went, and Sally was just along for the ride.
She made sure to have patience with him when he wanted to stop and sniff something regardless of the time he took.
Normally she would rush Chico to do his business and they would return home but now she encouraged her little guy to go on his ‘sniffari’, even if it meant stopping to examine every blade of grass.
Exercising the brain muscle was essential for it to heal and begin functioning properly again.
Within only one short month, Chico’s symptoms of canine cognitive decline started to dissipate as quickly as they had come on.
Not only was there no more staring into space as if confused and lost, but she found that as more months passed, Chico was actually going into his golden years with more problem-solving skills than he had displayed when he was younger.
She remembers watching him figure out different steps to get to the back of her couch one day and was astounded that he figured out the moves needed to get there, even utilizing a side table which he never would have tried in the past.
He was even more energetic and interactive.
For Chico, the problem had definitely been dietary and most likely less usage of brain activity from being couped up indoors all the time with only short spurts of exercise.
Another factor may have been simply that his owner was able to spot these changes immediately because they were with their dog 24/7, making it easy to decipher what was happening faster than someone who has a more limited time daily with their companion animal.
With all of those changes made, Chico was able to come out of it quickly and it never occurred again. As of the writing of this article, Chico is now 20. He is still on a raw diet.
Sally does still use the same brain superfoods every morning for Chico but has lessened the amounts and rotates them. He is still in charge of his walks.
Although admittedly, his walks are now much shorter due to a bit of arthritis from old age. Otherwise, Little Chico is doing remarkably well for his age and his yearly blood reports show no major concerns.
Sally is 100% convinced that nutrition and exercise played a crucial role in stopping mental decline in its tracks.
Do we think this will work for every dog out there who is experiencing the same symptoms?
There are many factors that may be different from Chico’s story but what we can ascertain for sure is that there is no harm in trying any of these methods that she implemented.
There are no side effects to trying brain superfoods and sniffing exercises. Or other brain exercises for dogs, like puzzles, hide and seek and tug of war.
And what we can say pretty reasonably is that this may very well be the way to prevent canine dementia from ever occurring in the first place.
No matter where you find yourself within this diagnosis, there is something to be said about using foods as cures.
Whereas we see in today’s modern conventional medicine, the drugs that are prescribed for canine dementia and other canine maladies very often make the problem(s) even worse.
For example, Gabapentin is being given out to dogs with cognitive decline and this comes with some pretty harsh side effects, worsening the condition.
Imagine if the solution is to simply properly feed and exercise the brain muscle.
We encourage dog lovers everywhere to stop and SNIFF the roses alongside their loyal companions.
