Canine Cognitive Dysfunction

[TexasRanger]

Vet has decided he most likely has CCD and that he is still in the early stages. He fits everything int he Early Stage box.
http://www.lapoflove.com/diseases/CognitiveDysfunctionSyndrome.pdf

For those who have gone through this, how much time (generally) is there between stages? Dep started to show symptoms almost two months ago. How many years did you dog(s) live with a good quality of life after diagnosis ?

 

[SpringerLover]

CCD is something that's typically manageable. Supplements tend to help quite a bit, and some dogs (I don't know an actual number, maybe Sass does) respond to Anipryl.

Increasing EPA essentially reversed Buzz's preliminary signs of CCD. I say this a lot, but I use the Grizzly Pollock oil and a Vitamin E supplement. I also make a point of exercising his brain every day.

Sarcopenia (muscle cell shrinkage/wasting, basically) is a very real thing as well that they're trying to do more research on. Preliminarily, increasing digesitble protein to help counter the effects of muscle wasting. And then exercise, because your best chance of keeping the dog mobile, is keeping the muscles as strong as possible.

 

[Tazwell]

Archie was diagnosed a year or two before his passing. He became disoriented easily, and would get lost in our small fenced in backyard. He would pace, circle, and pant a lot. But worst of all, he began biting people for no apparent reason when they were touching him. Mind you, he was an iffy dog when I brought him home at 10 years of age, but he didn't get bad until his CCD days.

Selegeline ( or anipryl) helped significantly. He passed away of unrelated causes, the selegeline managed his symptoms well enough to live the rest of his life. With management of course.

Good luck with your guy!

 

[TexasRanger]

CCD is something that's typically manageable. Supplements tend to help quite a bit, and some dogs (I don't know an actual number, maybe Sass does) respond to Anipryl.

Increasing EPA essentially reversed Buzz's preliminary signs of CCD. I say this a lot, but I use the Grizzly Pollock oil and a Vitamin E supplement. I also make a point of exercising his brain every day.

Sarcopenia (muscle cell shrinkage/wasting, basically) is a very real thing as well that they're trying to do more research on. Preliminarily, increasing digesitble protein to help counter the effects of muscle wasting. And then exercise, because your best chance of keeping the dog mobile, is keeping the muscles as strong as possible.

Archie was diagnosed a year or two before his passing. He became disoriented easily, and would get lost in our small fenced in backyard. He would pace, circle, and pant a lot. But worst of all, he began biting people for no apparent reason when they were touching him. Mind you, he was an iffy dog when I brought him home at 10 years of age, but he didn't get bad until his CCD days.

Selegeline ( or anipryl) helped significantly. He passed away of unrelated causes, the selegeline managed his symptoms well enough to live the rest of his life. With management of course.

Good luck with your guy!

Dep won't eat his food if we add anything to it (liquid, powder or gel, doesn't matter. He won't even eat kibble with bacon fat!). We'd tried with a joint supplement (forgot the name) and he turned his nose up.

For some reason my vet doesn't carry Anipryl and I can't afford something that might not work (also leery of the side effects).

If you don't mind my asking, how long did Archie stay in one "stage" before progressing? My vet made it seem like once they hit stage 2, the dog's quality of life will rapidly decrease.

 

[Tazwell]

I don't really seem to remember definitive "stages", but honestly when I got him I thought he was "off". It was probably 6 months to a year between the pacing and confusion to the biting though. Which is when we started selegeline.