Assessment of Hematochemical Parameters and Canine Cognitive Dysfunction Rating Scale in Healthy Senior and Geriatric Dogs

Abstract

Aging is a process that includes natural and time-dependent changes in the body. Dogs whose quality of life is not adversely affected are classified as healthy elderly dogs. Behavioral and cognitive status should be taken into consideration together with blood analyzes in the health evaluation of old dogs. Therefore, it was aimed to evaluate hematochemical parameters and canine cognitive dysfunction (CCD) scale in 10 healthy senior (senior group, SG) and 14 healthy geriatric (geriatric group, GG) dogs in this study. No statistical difference was determined between the groups in the CBC analysis. In the blood gases analysis, pCO2 (P=0.006), base excess (P=0.020) and HCO3 (P=0.041) levels were found to be lower in GG compared to the SG. In serum biochemistry analysis, BUN (P=0.016) and GGT (P=0.003) levels were found to be higher whereas LDH (P=0.008) and triglyceride (P=0.003) levels were found to be lower in GG compared to SG. The total CCD scale score was 14.50 (12-23) in the SG and 50.50 (32-68) in the GG (P<0.001). In conclusion, differences in some parameters were determined as a result of blood gases and serum bio-chemistry analyzes between healthy senior and geriatric dogs, and it was concluded that routine hematochemical ana-lyzes are important also in healthy elderly dogs. In addition, it was observed that the CCD scale scores of Terriers were higher in this study.