Cognitive Dysfunction Syndrome

Question:
 Lily is my Terrier mix. I'm not sure of her age, because she was a stray dog that found me almost 1.5 yrs. ago. My Vet guesses around 12 yrs. When I found Lily, she was a complete mess. Her long hair was matted to the skin, and she smelled horrible. Lucky for her, I'm a dog groomer, so we took care of that immediately. She had 7 fatty tumors that my Vet removed, along with a dental. A blood panel showed low liver and white blood count. She also happens to be completely deaf, and partially blind. Basically, I fell in love with this dog right away, and since nobody came forward for her, I decided she was here to stay. Although Lily is the most adorable little dog, she also happens to be very odd. She came to me housetrained, although she was never sure which door to scratch to let me know she needed outside. We soon figured out that if she was scratching on the refrigerator door, it wasn't because she was hungry. She has never barked. Never a peep out of her. She sleeps most of the day, and around 7pm, we know it's time to watch her pace back and forth for the next 3-4 hours before she's ready to go to bed. She doesn't like to be held, seems content to be left alone unless there is food around, and in that case, acts like she hasn't eaten in days. On a daily basis, we will find her staring at the wall, or stuck under a piece of furniture, totally disoriented or in a trance like state. She is in a state of panic if she is not in this house. Sometimes she looks at us like she has no idea who we are. About 6 months ago, Lily seemed to have forgotten she was housetrained. I would take her outside, and she would act like she had no idea why she was out there, and was just frantic to get back into the house where she felt secure. She would then squat right in front of me and pee on the carpet, as if it was normal. We did more blood work, along with a urine sample... and found nothing. A few nights ago, she pee'd in the bed and slept in it until morning. So back to the Vet we went for another physical and blood test. This time, her blood tests came back very good. Liver and white blood count was where it was supose to be. I guess I'm doing something right. Now our Vet has suggested that Lily is showing all the signs of having Cognitive Dysfunction Syndrome. In other words, she's senile. Which actually sounds about right. We are going to start her on Anipryl next week, and see how it goes. I am a member of 2 different pet forums, and have yet to meet anyone who has a dog that has been diagnosed with this. I have been online all day, reading up on this medical condition. But I sure would like to talk to somebody who has experience with this. Just to compare notes, or hear at least one good success story regarding Anipryl. I'm hoping this drug will give me a few more good years with Lily.
Answer:
 Thank you for the links. And good luck to you and your dog.
Answer:
 I am dealing with something similar myself with a senior dog. But we are not sure if his declining mentally is due to CDS or something else. And it is not constant with him. It is periodic episodes and by teh time they worsen, we have a feeling it will be other things that cause us to have to put him down. He has other health issues as well as serious anxiety issues that we have been busting our tails trying to find a combination of medicine and behavior modification to work through. I have heard good things about Anipryl. The problem is, CDS is still pretty new compared to other things and with dogs living much longer, I think we will be seeing more and more research and infromation coming out in the next years. Here is a good resource on CDS - simple, easy to read, written for the lay person: http://www.thepetcenter.com/imtop/cds.html And this is more comprehensive if you have not been to the site yet: http://www.cdsindogs.com/ It is from Phizer who makes Anipryl. Best of luck, you have my understanding. It is so hard to watch them go through this.