In the past, we may have accepted a declining quality of life for our aging pets as a fact of life beyond our control. Like humans, older dogs and cats are more likely to encounter health problems than do younger pets.
Thanks to advances in veterinary medicine, pets are living longer than ever before. A 7-year-old dog or cat is equivalent to a 50-year-old human being. Most humans are practicing preventive medicine at this age: routine physical exams, breast exams, prostate exams, blood-pressure checkups, blood panels and dietary changes.
Dogs and cats need similar preventive medicine at this age. Since they age approximately seven years for every one year of human life, an 8-year-old dog or cat is roughly equivalent to a 56-year-old person, and a 9 year old dog or cat is similarly equivalent to a 63-year-old person. This rapid yearly increase in equivalent age emphasizes the fact that we need to pay close attention to all dogs and cats as they move beyond seven years of life.
Just as older people experience a progressive decline in physical condition, so do senior pets. Studies indicate that 36 percent of senior dogs suffer from osteoarthritis and 18 percent show signs of cognitive dysfunction syndrome and that the number-one diagnosed disease of dogs in all age groups is dental disease.
Cancer is another disease that older pets can contract. This X-ray shows a squamous cell in a jaw.
Compared to humans, old-age problems may progress up to seven times faster in senior pets. Having your senior pet examined only once a year is like a senior person visiting the doctor only once every seven years. That is why, as your pet nears 7 years of age (5 years of age in giant dog breeds), preventive senior exams every six months can help assess your pet’s current health, provide a baseline for monitoring changes in the years ahead, and help detect health problems in the early stages when diseases can be treated more effectively.
Senior care is geriatric therapy for pets. Senior health care implies both preventive and therapeutic approaches to medicine, including nutrition, dental care and exercise as well as therapy for diseases.
Most senior pets have chronic diseases. There are many treatment modalities, many of which do not involve any drugs, that will help your senior friend lead a good quality of life as it ages. When your aging pet is due for his or her next checkup, ask your vet for information and checkups.