Abstract
Diseases due to aging are increasing, as dogs serving as companion animals become older. Among various canine cognitive dysfunction syndromes, abnormal behaviors such as midnight howling and wandering about the neighborhood are especially annoying to dog owners. Donepezil hydrochroride (Aricept®), which is usually used for human Alzheimer type dementia, was administered to twelve dogs which had been diagnosed as showing cognitive dysfunction syndromes according to the ‘canine cognitive dysfunction syndrome criteria’. In two weeks, the total score counted by the criteria was improved, and paticularly the score of ‘midnight howling’ showed a significant improvement.
