Begin Your Dog’s Senior Care Program Before Their Age-Related Conditions Begin.
It is often difficult to recognize age-related health changes in our aging dogs. Changes often develop slowly and are easy for owners to miss. To keep your dog as healthy as possible we encourage you to bring your senior dog in for biannual wellness exams.
Age related health changes to look out for:
- Changes in water consumption, or amount and frequency of urination
- Changes in your dog’s appetite or eating habits.
- Changes in bowel movements: frequency, quantity and consistency
- Alterations in sleeping or resting habits
- Changes in activity, play, reluctance to ascend or descend stairs and furniture
- Intermittent or Chronic limping or favoring of a leg
- Bad breath, loose teeth, excessive salivation
- Vomiting
- Lumps, bumps and changes in quality of fur
- Excessive licking at skin, scratching, shaking of head or ears, hair loss
- Alteration in body mass; gaining or losing weight or muscle tone
- Decreased exercise tolerance
- Changes in vision, hearing, mental acuity,
- Coughing
Your senior dog’s wellness exam
Senior dog exams include a comprehensive physical exam plus in-depth analysis of your dog’s overall health through diagnostic testing which may include senior dog blood work, urine, blood pressure, ECG, fecal analysis. and tonometry to check for glaucoma.
Exercise and your senior dog
While you do not want to overdo it, we encourage exercise for senior dogs. Your senior dog should still be getting regular walks each day. Take care to make sure the duration and pace is geared towards your senior dog’s ability. You can provide mental stimulation for your senior dog by giving him or her new toys or putting a portion of their meals in a toy that will dispense treats. Talk to us about the different ways to stimulate mental and physical ability to personally suit your senior dog.
Nutrition and your senior dog
Senior dogs have specialized nutritional needs. If your senior dog is also facing health issues, he or she may need a special diet to support a chronic medical condition. We will assess your dog’s nutritional needs during their senior wellness exam and discuss with you the best nutritional support to help keep your aging dog happy and healthy.
Please call us to schedule an appointment for your senior canine!