Senile dementia, aka “cognitive dysfunction” is not exclusively characteristic of the human species.  In the animal science world, it is also known by the acronym DISH: Disorientation, Interaction, Sleep, House soiling, a very decisively incomplete list of observable changes in behavior that heralds the onset of senile dementia in animals.

Determining when a change in behavior or habits is because of a change in environment, a medical issue, or a senility disorder requires some observation beyond the routine, and calls for an evaluation by a veterinarian when the first symptoms indicate that the behavioral change is not just a one time event. Just as is the case with humans, not all elderly animals inevitably develop senile dementia.

However, recent scientific research has found that many of the same changes in neurons, neurotransmitters, and cerebral cortex lesions associated with Alzheimer’s in humans are being recognized in an impressive number of dogs from 11 to 16 years of age, and in cats over the age of 15, who have been evaluated for uncharacteristic behavior changes.

Some of those behavior changes that might be observed are house soiling for an animal who has been house trained for years, wandering only a short distance from his own territory and not being able to find its way home, failure to respond to familiar commands, a noticeable increase or decrease in hygiene, eating and sleep patterns, inappropriate barking episodes, restlessness and anxiety, and aggressiveness or avoidance of familiar people, other household pets, or environmental sounds.

In each case, there could be an underlying medical disease or process that is not detectable without investigatory lab work. Just as most medical problems can be treated with medication or prescription diets that may improve the dysfunctional symptoms or potentially slow the declining cognitive function, the same is sometimes true of dementia in animals. And, as with human medications, some of the drugs prescribed for animals have serious side effects that sometimes compound the problem both for the animal and its human caretaker.

An elderly animal suffering from dementia is an added challenge for its human family. There may need to be some alterations in the family home to avoid injury, and retraining an animal who has lost its ability to understand even repetitious training is not always successful.

The important point to keep in mind is that failure to respond to a command might just as easily be from a loss of hearing as it is a change in behavior. Even an occasional mishap on the carpet can just as easily be from a gastrointestinal medical problem as it is a loss of memory for the signal it gives to its caretaker that it needs to go out.

Animals live their entire lives interpreting what it is necessary for them to do for us or give to us in order to please us in exchange for food, shelter, attention, and affection. Even with the gray around their muzzle, the failing eyesight, hard of hearing, and creaking old bones, they are still the warm, wiggly puppy we loved at first sight. The constant in all of the steps toward detecting disease or senile dementia in animals is that punishment is never appropriate.