Caring for your senior dog
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What do you do when your best friend approaches his senior years? There are certain things that happen to dogs when they age. Realizing what these are will enable you to provide the best care for your senior dog.
Normal wear and tear will result in a gradual decline in your dog's cognitive and physical abilities. In general, smaller breed dogs tend to be considered in their senior years later than your giant breed dogs. So a small breed dog would be senior when they hit 10 years and over, medium breed dogs would be senior at 9 years and giant breeds hit senior years at 7 years. Naturally, this also has it's individual variations - you know how some dogs just seem to age gracefully whilst others seem to retain puppy like vigor still.
As in most cases, prevention is always better than cure. As a dog ages, his ability to recover from illness and injury is often more long drawn so if you can actually catch the disease early on the piece, you stand a better chance that he will retain much of his original healthy function. Most breeds have certain known risk factors that you need to take into account, Cavalier King Charles spaniels seem predisposed to getting heart problems as they age, Labradors have joint problems more often than other dogs etc.
Routine veterinary check ups are the way to go for early detection of diseases and injuries. As your dog reaches his senior years, an annual veterinary check up which will often include a battery of tests like several different blood tests, urine analysis, examination of feces. Anomalies can then be picked up early and treatment promptly started as necessary. Other things can be discussed with your veterinarian eg changes in behavior, healthy weight management to ensure that you have all the information required to ensure your dog's senior years is enjoyable both for your dog and yourself.
Things you will notice about your senior dog:
1. greying of the coat and muzzle - not so apparent in light colored dogs but certainly apparent in darker coated dogs
2. reduced activity levels - senior dogs sleep more and therefore exercise less, you will need to adjust their diet to suit them to make sure they aren't stacking on the pounds. Just because they are ageing DOES NOT justify them having a more rotund appearance. If you want them to have a good quality of life, keep them trim with regular moderate exercise.
3. reduced sensory ability. A lot of senior dogs go deaf and their eyes start to go cloudy (not to be confused with cataracts) - if you're unsure if it's 'normal' cloudiness or 'disease related' cloudiness due to cataracts, have your veterinarian check it out. Deafness and vision loss can make them more insecure so you may find that they startle easily and seem to need more reassurance as they age. They don't cope with changes well because of their reduced sensory ability so try to keep things routine and avoid too many changes in their lives. Deaf dogs also tend to bark a lot more - they can't 'hear' themselves so they can't self modulate.
4. dementia - you may notice that your dog has 'senior moments' - moments when he'll seem vague or disoriented or 'lost'. Some dogs wake up more through the night and pace around a lot when they do so. Just check with your veterinarian that it's not due to arthritic pain waking him up or other medical conditions.
5. reduced ability to regulate their temperature. Senior dogs don't cope with extremes of temperature well - similar to geriatric humans who tend to want to move to places where temperature extremes aren't as varied.
6. joints and muscles will seem stiff from arthritis. Worse in the mornings and in cold weather, arthritis is common in older dogs. There are medical treatments to reduce the discomfort - speak to your veterinarian about it to see if your dog needs it.
7. loss of housetraining capabilities. Older dogs can become incontinent. If this becomes a problem, your dog may need medication to help him control his bladder.
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