When we decide to become pet parents, we commit to love and care for our pets from their first entry to our home through their last breath. While no parent wants to think about life without their beloved pet, we all know that day will come. Today, pets are living longer than ever before. With improved dietary habits and veterinary care more pets are living longer and are experiencing a whole set of age-related conditions. With aging, pets may experience:
- Loss of Mobility
- Hearing and Vision Losses
- Behavioral and Cognitive Changes
- Kidney and Urinary Tract Disease
When is my pet considered old or geriatric?
Most pet owners want to equate aging in their cats and dogs into people years, such as 1 human year equates to X cat/dog years. Unfortunately, it’s not quite that simple, however, here is a chart that can help.
The oldest recorded age of a cat is 34 years and the oldest dog is 29 years.
How do I care for my senior pet?
While your pet is still in middle age and good health, it is important to establish a baseline health profile. Subsequent exams can be compared to the baseline to identify changes that may need treatment. This health profile should include screening lab work.
Mobility
Once your baselines are established, two key considerations are nutrition and mobility for most dogs. As your dogs’ activity level decreases, their caloric requirements will be reduced. You may need to turn to portion control or a well-balanced food with a lower caloric content.
Keeping excess weight off your pet is one way to help them maintain their mobility. Regular exercise will help your pet maintain their weight and mobility.
PetAlive® offers several all-natural supplements to help maintain joint health and comfort in aging pets.
ComfyPet Pain Relief™ is an all-natural homeopathic medicine for on-the-spot relief of muscle and joint pain. Relieves minor pain, soreness and discomfort from overuse or injury.
Hearing and Vision
Aging dogs and cats can experience hearing loss. If your pet is experiencing hearing loss, it is recommended to have your vet check for ear canal inflammation or discharge that is treatable. Unfortunately, if hearing loss is age related it is not treatable.
Ear Dr.™ by PetAlive® are all-natural herbal ear drops to soothe discomfort in ear passages, help keep ear canals clean and clear, and promote ear health.
Just like their aging parents, your pet’s eyesight may begin to decline with age. There are two main causes of “gray” eyes in dogs. One goes along with the normal aging process and does not affect vision, the other is cataracts. Cataracts in pets develop just like they do in people. Protein builds up on the lens of the eye and makes it cloudy. This keeps the light from passing through the lens and makes your vision blurry, cloudy, foggy or filmy.
To help keep the lenses of your pet’s eyes clear, PetAlive® developed EyeClear Pet™. Taken internally, all-natural homeopathic EyeClearPet™ supports clear vision and comfortable eyes.
Behavior and Cognitive Changes
Cognitive decline can affect both dogs and cats. It can lead to disorientation, reduced or increased activity levels, social issues and memory lapses. Keeping your pet mentally stimulated along with regular moderate exercise may help slow cognitive decline. A diet rich in Vitamins E and C, and fresh fruits and vegetables to provide antioxidant support can lead to benefits in memory and learning.
It’s never too early to protect and support cognitive function in your pets. PetAlive® Brain Health products can help support brain function throughout your pet’s life. Seven unique products formulated specifically for dogs or cats and each life stage will help ensure your pet remains sharp into their senior years.
Kidney and Urinary Tract Diseases
Kidney and urinary tract diseases may become more common as your pet ages. Some common signs of Kidney disease include:
- Decreased appetite
- Increased thirst
- Changes in urination – urinating more often or decreases in frequency to not urinating
- Poor hair coat
- Vomiting
- Mouth sores
Some common signs of urinary tract diseases include:
- Increased urination/spotting or accidents in the house
- Straining to urinate
- Blood in the urine
- Weakness
PetAlive® offers a variety of products to support urinary, bladder and kidney health in all pets of all ages.
While senior pets may experience a unique set of age-related health conditions, there has been extensive research done on these conditions and many products and resources exist to support the aging pet, pet owner and their veterinarian.
It’s important to recognize that your aging pets’ needs are going to change but their senior years should be as full of love and companionship, comfort and care as their early years.
To a lifetime of love!
Sources:
https://www.petmd.com/dog/care/evr_dg_caring_for_older_dogs_with_health_problems
https://www.avma.org/resources/pet-owners/petcare/senior-pet-care-faq