Senior Well Care
Is your pet ready for its AARFF (All Animals Reaching Fabulous Fifty) card?
Dogs and cats are living longer and we cherish their companionship, so it’s important that
we ensure these extended years are the happiest and healthiest possible. Working closely together
we can make significant differences in the lives of our seniors – sometimes making the difference between aging gracefully and comfortably, or not.
Does your pet act it’s age?
Our pets age much faster than their humans. Most dogs and cats reach adulthood by age 2. Middle age is generally considered to be between 4-7 years of age. As our kids move into the senior phase of life they experience changes that are very similar to aging people. Vision changes, hearing loss, high blood pressure, kidney, heart and diabetic conditions, arthritis, cancer, depression, behavioral changes and yes, even cognitive dysfunction or animal “Alzheimer” disease. Understanding these changes and how you can provide for your pet’s needs are essential to quality life discussions and decisions.
Age is never just a number but rather a measure of the effect of aging on the body. Many variables can influence these changes from genetics, to environment and diet, exercise and stressors both metabolically and emotionally, sensory stimulation and boredom can also affect the aging process. Even pets that appear normal can have underlying issues that a trained and skilled professional can help to uncover during the examination and evaluation visits occurring
twice yearly.
Some of the changes we might discuss include:
- changes in elimination and/or housetraining as well as out-of-litterbox experiences
- changes in interaction that may signal fear, anxiety, and/or pain
- changes in sleeping habits
- changes in food and water consumption
- unexplained/unintentional weight loss or gain
- changes in grooming habits for cats and hair loss or excessive licking in dogs
- changes in voice and vocalization
- breath and body odor changes
- lumps or bumps that don’t belong
- problems involving normal activities of living such as getting into the car, jumping onto furniture, getting onto or into bed, missing the litter box, chewing and swallowing and...
- anything else that seems unusual, abnormal, or concerning.