# Cognitive Dysfunction!



## rjtyrell (Jun 23, 2009)

Afternoon all,

My soon to be 12 year old male Golden has been diagnosed with Cognitive Dysfunction.

In February all of a sudden he would not sleep at night time, just huffs and then eventually barks to go outside, if you tale him to go back to his bed he will sit down and then 5 minutes later be at the back door again.

He has had blood tests and all are clear for anything else.

The vet started him on Vivatonin and Selgain, it seemed to work well to start with and he would wake maybe at 2am to go to the toilet but then sleep / rest till about 7am.

The last few weeks we have resolved to letting him sleep on the patio from about 2am as he is happy doing so and only barks when it rains and he wants to come back in. 

The problem we have is we are in a semi detached and have a 3 yr old so we cannot let him bark for long periods.

I have tried the routine of walks at the same time around the block and nothing new to him. I have tried leaving the TV on at night along with a light but to no success.

Thanks,

Richard


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## cwag (Apr 25, 2017)

I'm sorry for this diagnosis. I don't know anything about it but maybe bumping it back up will get a response from someone who does.


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## puddles everywhere (May 13, 2016)

Getting old sucks, sorry for this diagnosis. My old girl is starting to be sort of weird too. She wakes up in the middle of the night and paces around then comes to the bed and just stands there. Gratefully it's not every nite... yet.
When you take her out and she just sits there looking into space, perfectly happy but only if you stay with her. 
It's hard to figure out what's going on in their heads and honestly not sure they know what's going on either. You might discuss with your vet to get suggestions. There may be some supplements or medication to help her sleep through the night.
Me, I'm just trying to keep her comfortable and on the nights she paces I have placed one of her beds in the laundry room that is off the bedroom... she seems much more content to snuggle into her private space. This is where she goes when there are fireworks too.
Be patient, we all get there at some point in time.


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

I'm sorry for your boy's diagnosis.

From what I've been reading it's pretty common in Senior dogs. 
Did your Vet give you any advice or suggestions? 

Here is an article from the Vet School in my State-

https://www.veterinarypracticenews.com/why-catching-cds-early-in-pets-makes-all-the-difference/

There's a section in this article discussing dietary changes that I find very interesting-



> The diet called out in the paper, Purina One Smartblend Vibrant Maturity 7+ dog food, “significantly improved performance on several cognitive tasks,” the paper noted.
> 
> The manufacturer, St. Louis-based Nestlé Purina PetCare Co., stated that the food contains botanical oils.
> 
> ...


Hope your boy will be doing better and you keep us all updated.


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