Content
- ECC or Canine Brain Aging
- Visible Symptoms of Canine Brain Aging
- Helping to delay canine brain aging
- Use of Bach Flowers
As in all living things, the brain tissue of dogs deteriorates over the years. Puppies in old age will be the main victims of the disease. Free radicals cause the brain to oxidize, resulting in reduced brain function.
At PeritoAnimal we want to talk about the canine brain aging so that we can recognize its symptoms and causes so that we can help our puppy in his last years with us. We can give you a good quality of life if we are careful.
ECC or Canine Brain Aging
Consists of a neurodegenerative disorder that affects puppies over 8 years of age, mostly, causing changes in their brain functions. On the margin of old age, we can observe the loss of neuronal capacities due to a progressive deterioration where we will see the following signs:
- behavior changes
- disorientation
- Sleep changes
- Increased irritability
- Aggressiveness in the face of a "scare"
Currently about 12% of owners can detect this disorder and more than 50% of puppies over 8 years old suffer from this disorder, according to recent studies conducted in the United States.
Visible Symptoms of Canine Brain Aging
This disease is also known as the Alzheimer's of dogs. Although it is important to emphasize that dogs that suffer from ECC do not forget things, what happens is that they change behaviors that were normal for them before, as well as habits that were demonstrated for years.
Symptoms are often difficult for the veterinarian to recognize during the consultation, the owners are the ones who detect the problem and sometimes they do not recognize that it is a disease.
We may come across a dog disoriented or lost in areas it has always known, even in its own home. There is less interaction with the environment, the human family or other animals, you can start to urinate anywhere, something you didn't do before, or sleep changes, becoming more active at night.
At changes are mostly progressive, appear in a subtle way but increase with time. For example, first he stops asking to go out, urinates at home, then, at a more advanced stage, more and more recurrent "accidents" occur and, finally, we see that he sleeps and urinates on himself (loss of control of the sphincters) .
It is important to turn to a professional when we observe any of these changes, as we can manage the situation to delay the evolution of the situation as best we can.
Helping to delay canine brain aging
Although we are aware that the passing of years affects us all and this cannot be changed, there are options that we can use.
Antioxidants like coenzyme Q10, vitamins C and E, Selenium and grape seed extract are responsible for fighting free radicals that cause brain damage. L-Carnitine transports long-chain fatty acids to mitochondria for further oxidation and, in this way, also reduces free radicals in the brain.
Food in this case also plays a very important role. we can join Omega 3 fatty acids that by being part of the cell membrane, they manage to maintain their fluidity and integrity through supplementation. We can get it in fish oils for example.
Use of Bach Flowers
- Cherry Plum to calm the mind and give tranquility
- Holly prevents irritability
- centaury + olive confer energy and vitality
- Hornbeam acts as above but at the level of cerebral blood vessels
- wild oat to disorientation
- Scleranthus for behavioral imbalances
This article is for information purposes only, at PeritoAnimal.com.br we are not able to prescribe veterinary treatments or perform any type of diagnosis. We suggest that you take your pet to the veterinarian in case it has any type of condition or discomfort.