Have you ever heard of Canine Cognitive Dysfunction Syndrome? I hadn’t either until recently. Think of it as Alzheimer’s for dogs. Why am I bringing it up? Our vet believes our beloved Belle is suffering from this disease. Just like with humans, it degrades the ability of the dog to think and process information. She is literally, losing her mind.

This has been going on for a couple of months now. We noticed something was up when Belle began having trouble sleeping through the night. She’d wake us up in the middle of the night with whining and crying. We initially assumed she just couldn’t make it through the night any more before she had to go outside. We’d take her outside, but it was particularly urgent for her to get there. Next we thought it was hunger. We began giving her a “bedtime” snack. That didn’t help either. After weeks of this, we took her to our vet and talked with him about it. He started doing exams and could find nothing physically wrong with her. Nothing explained it — which is what led us to CDS. It is a diagnosis of exclusion. One of the things that changes in dogs that have CDS is sleep patterns. That certainly describes Belle.

There is a treatment for CDS. It is a medication called Anipryl, which helps with the symptoms. So far, it has made some difference for Belle. We’re also giving her Xanax, an anti-anxiety medication since she gets very agitated at night now too. Between the two, we’re all getting some relief. We’ll see how long it lasts, as our vet tells us this will be temporary — a few weeks to a few months.

Keep Belle….and us…in your prayers.