Dual sensory impairments in companion dogs: Prevalence and relationship to cognitive impairment.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose

Many older dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) develop cognitive impairment. Dog owners often describe impairments in multiple sensory functions, yet the relationships between sensory and cognitive function in older dogs is not well understood.

Methods

We performed assessments of dog vision and hearing, both clinically (n = 91, electroretinography and brainstem auditory evoked potential) and via validated questionnaire (n = 238). We determined prevalence of sole and dual hearing/vision impairments in younger (<8 years) and older (≥8 years) dogs. Impairment cutoffs were determined using data from young dogs. We assessed the relationships between questionnaire-assessed vision and/or hearing impairments and cognitive impairment using logistic regression.

Results

Younge

SUBMITTER: Hopper RG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11482676 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature