Part 2 book "Mental health and well being in animals" includes contents: Cognitive and emotional disorders in the aging pet; mental health issues in farm animals - a music mixing board model of behavioral characteristics using the panksepp emotional system; mental health issues in the horse; mental health issues in shelter animals; the mental health of laboratory animals; mental health issues in captive birds; psychological well being in zoo animals, . and other contents. | 15 Cognitive and Emotional Disorders in the Aging Pet Jacqueline Wilhelmy and Gary Landsberg Delaware Valley Veterinary Behavior Philadelphia Pennsylvania USA Fear Free Research CanCog Technologies Fergus Ontario Canada Cognitive decline is a well-recognized group of et al. 2013 Madari et al. 2015 . Basic functions disorders in domestic dogs. The problem is less such as self-hygiene eating or drinking behavior and common but of increasing interest in pet cats. It response to stimuli can be compromised or altered has been estimated that 45 million dogs around Rofina et al. 2006 . In the laboratory Fig. 7 years and older live in the US and Europe however validated neuropsychological tests reveal quantifia- this estimate does not include cats. Pet owners and ble impairment in the learning and memory of veterinarians may be tempted to dismiss changes in affected animals Milgram et al. 2004 Tapp et al. cognition as a normal part of aging in dogs and 2004 Araujo et al. 2012 Pan et al. 2010 2013 . cats. Pet owners may even fail to recognize clinical Outside of the laboratory CDS is a diagnosis of signs of what is a treatable disease and the onus exclusion. Once suspicion is raised by signalment and lies on health professionals to proactively inquire clinical signs it is the veterinarian s job to rule out a about the behavior of aged patients. Extensive number of other physical ailments not uncommon in research has shown that underlying changes in the an aged population that mimic the same clinical brain some of which are similar to those seen in signs. This job is complicated by the anxiety fear and the brains of aged humans with dementia can aggression that can also occur or worsen in pets suf- manifest in a list of identifiable clinical signs. Even fering from CDS. This chapter will explore the clinical more importantly it has been shown that treat- picture of CDS in dogs and cats its identification or ments exist which can slow the progression of dis-
