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Brain aging in your dog

Help their aging brain stay as healthy as possible with a proper diet

Your dog is aging. Like their body, their brain is also more susceptible to the ravages of time. Basically, it’s aging as well. Cerebral aging can cause a decline in your senior dog’s cognitive function, which means they may start acting differently. To support your dog through the aging process, it’s best to follow a multimodal treatment approach that includes dietary changes to mitigate the effects on their brain.

Our Globalvet veterinarians have the advice you need on feeding a dog facing cognitive decline.

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The brain: A vital organ that ages with your dog

As your dog gets older, their whole body ages, including their brain. Aging causes brain cell damage, which can lead to behavioural changes and a loss of vitality in your once-perky pup.

You may start to notice them acting differently. Behavioural changes may be due to your dog’s advanced age, but they may also be signs of cognitive dysfunction.

Consider this: Half of all dogs age 8 and up show early signs of brain aging. That means your dog has a 50% chance of developing a brain condition.

One of the most common ones is cognitive dysfunction syndrome (CDS), an age-related neurodegenerative disorder characterized by gradual and progressive cognitive decline. The equivalent in humans would be early-stage Alzheimer’s disease.

Interesting fact: CDS is most likely underdiagnosed. Why? Because many human companions, when they see CDS-associated signs and changes in their mature dog, write them off as a normal part of the aging process.

What are the signs of a potential cognitive disorder in a dog? They vary considerably from one animal to the next and, as we mentioned, they often resemble the normal effects of aging.

That said, there may be certain unpleasant behavioural changes, such as:

  • Separation anxiety
  • Accidents in the house
  • Phobias
  • Night waking
  • Lack of enthusiasm
  • Disorientation, when your dog doesn’t recognize familiar people and has difficulty getting around things
  • Excessive vocalization

The side effects of brain aging can be very stressful for your dog. Not to worry! There are ways to relieve and manage the symptoms and help your dog continue to age gracefully.

Multimodal treatment of cognitive dysfunction syndrome includes a combination of approaches, such as:

  • Environmental adjustments
  • Dietary changes
  • Medicine

You may need to use one or more of these methods, depending on your dog’s needs and how their illness has progressed.

Advances in canine medicine and nutrition, a proper diet, and the advice of your veterinarian can help limit the effects of brain aging in your dog. This will help them stay active, so they’ll be happy and healthy by your side for longer.

Want to know more about cognitive problems in your senior dog? Read these website posts:

Feeding your dog a brain boosting diet: How and why

Cognitive function
Proven benefits
Quality of life

Support your senior dog’s cognitive function

As the years go by, your mature dog’s aging brain may alter or even impair their cognitive function.

As you know, your dog’s body (the brain in particular) needs oxygen. While oxygen is vital and beneficial, oxygen consumption generates free radicals—unstable, reactive molecules that can damage your dog’s cells.

The fact that your canine companion’s brain consumes a lot of oxygen leaves it vulnerable to free radicals. As the brain ages, the cells can’t regenerate as quickly and are more sensitive to the effects of free radicals, resulting in more oxidation and degeneration in cells that take longer to repair.

The damage caused by free radicals can manifest itself in behavioural changes like those observed with cognitive dysfunction syndrome.

 

Therapeutic foods calibrated for canine cognitive aging contain antioxidants to fight the effects of free radicals. Derived from fruits, vegetables, and vitamins C and E, they help reduce oxidation and degeneration in your dog’s brain cells.

 

To protect and support Fido’s cognitive function, these specialized foods also contain other nutrients that have been shown, in increased concentrations, to improve cognitive function in senior dogs. They include:

  • Omega-3s from fish oil
  • Vitamin B
  • Arginine
  • Medium-chain triglycerides

Obviously specialized foods contain enough of these nutrients to not only protect your mature dog’s brain against free radical damage, but potentially make them more alert and trainable. Turns out you can teach an old dog new tricks!

Feed your dog a diet with proven brain-health benefits

There are a number of therapeutic food options for dogs with cognitive dysfunction syndrome, and their ability to combat the impacts of aging in your dog’s brain are backed by solid research.

Be aware, however, that it’s not enough for a food to just contain certain nutrients—they have to be in the right quantity and form. Simply reading the ingredient list on the bag or adding supplements to your dog’s normal diet isn’t going to produce the results you’re looking for.

What to do then? Ask your veterinarian for advice. They can recommend a food designed for canine cognitive problems that has been quality tested and has proven health benefits.

Improve your senior dog’s quality of life, despite cognitive decline

While cognitive dysfunction syndrome is irreversible, through multimodal treatment that includes a change in diet, you may be able to give your canine companion a better quality of life.

How? By enriching their environment and giving them exercises to stimulate and train their brain. Also, when you feed your dog a therapeutic diet formulated for their condition, you know their brain will be getting the nutrients it needs to thrive. These combined efforts should slow your aging dog’s brain degeneration and alleviate some of the symptoms.

By reducing the effects of cerebral aging and preserving your dog’s cognitive abilities through a combination of specialized nutrition and stimulation, you can protect and even improve your senior dog’s quality of life. It will also help preserve your relationship—arguably the key factor in their mental health (and yours!).

Get cognitive care food for your aging dog in our stores

Whether you shop online or in one of our Globalvet clinic stores, we carry multiple foods designed for brain disorders. Find the one your vet recommends.

Need advice on pet food?

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