Page 705 - Small Animal Clinical Nutrition 5th Edition

730 Small Animal Clinical Nutrition

Senilife. d
After one month, the owner reported that the dog was far less confused. It had been going to the opposite side of exit doors but
VetBooks.ir was now entering and exiting properly. It was also more active and alert, sleeping less during the day, less dependent on the owner
and appeared to be more aware of visual stimuli and odors.The dog maintained this improvement for several months but was euth-
anized at the age of 17, primarily due to extensive loss of vision and hearing, hind-leg weakness, inability to interact with its owner
and find its paper for elimination.
In this case, the ongoing assessments (i.e., the cognitive assessment table [Table 35-1]), and interaction between the dog’s owner
and the veterinarian allowed for therapeutic adjustments. It might have been justified to intervene with a food such as Prescription
Diet b/d Canine at an earlier age; however, preventing recurrence of uroliths had initially been a greater priority. When multiple
problems exist, dietary decisions must be made according to the condition with the highest priority. Therefore, in this case, the
patient was maintained on Prescription Diet u/d Canine and a drug approach (selegiline) was used for the behavioral problems.
When selegiline was ineffective and the cognitive signs advanced, changing to Prescription Diet b/d Canine became the higher pri-
ority. Additionally, the pharmaceutical regimen may have contributed to the increase in wandering and gastrointestinal side effects.
Selegiline is metabolized to amphetamine, which is expected to increase activity, and meloxicam is known to aggravate gastroin-
testinal problems. Additionally, some nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs may increase brain deposition of beta-amyloid. In addi-
e
tion, S-adenosyl-methionine may be useful to treat cognitive dysfunction in elderly pets. It is also interesting to note that this was
the first case in which the veterinarian saw improvement in cognitive signs with Prescription Diet b/d Canine but not selegiline.
By regularly and immediately attending to emerging health problems, monitoring each new therapeutic agent for effects and side
effects and changing or adding new therapeutic options, the owner and veterinarian helped to maintain the patient’s longevity and
quality of life for almost seven years from the first onset of clinical problems.
Endnotes
a. Hill’s Pet Nutrition, Inc., Topeka, KS, USA.
b. Pfizer Animal Health, Exton, PA, USA.
c. Nutramax Laboratories, Inc., Edgewood, MD, USA.
d. Innovet Italia S.r.l., Milano, Italy.
e. Novofit Product Profile. Virbac Corporation, Fort Worth, TX, USA.