When many of us think of senior pets we often picture animals that don’t want to play anymore, have difficulty walking and rising from a down position or have a scruffy coat. A lot of us may think of a family pet that we grew up with. However, cats and dogs are actually considered seniors by age eight. I know that seems so young to us but if we look at how fast animals age compared to us it makes sense. Because animals age so much faster imagine the changes that can occur to their bodies in as little as 6 months. A perfect example of how much faster they age would be how my Black Lab’s fur on her chin is already starting to change to a white colour. She’s only two!!
After age 40 most of us expect our own doctors to make recommendations for ways to keep us healthy and decrease our chances of developing certain diseases. When we look at an age comparison chart, dogs and cats at the age of 8 are considered to be in their late 40’s to mid-50’s in our years. So when you look at it that way it makes sense that their health care needs change. At age eight it is recommended that cats and dogs be seen for exams twice a year instead of once a year so the doctor can monitor for health changes and catch things early on instead of waiting for signs of disease to present themselves. Senior pets can develop many of the same problems that we see in older people such as heart disease, kidney or urinary tract disease, cancer, liver disease, diabetes, arthritis and even senility.
Follow us on Facebook throughout the month of January as we share tips on keeping your senior pet healthy and happy. Join in our weekly quizzes and fun facts to learn even more. As always we love to see your pet photos and want to share them with all our Facebook followers for our pet of the day. If you have any photos of your senior pet please email them to frontlac@bellnet.ca or send them to us through our Facebook page!
