Older pets have special needs. Here are a few way to keep them healthy.
- Up your Vet visits to twice a year rather than the annual once a year visit. Ask you vet to check their liver and kidney functions via some blood work. In fact, ask your vet to run a blood test called the IDEXX SDMA. This is a new kidney function test that will allow your vet to diagnose CKD in both cats and dogs making it possible to manage kidney disease more effectively due to earlier intervention. I lost a cat because of this. In most cases this is commonly caught too late and this chronic disease affects one in three cats.
- Ask your vet to check your pets vaccine titer level because if your pet has enough antibodies they may be able to skip with the booster shot.
- Give your pet an over-all massage from the tip of their tail to the end of their nose, you are looking for any lumps or bumps. Report any abnormalities to the vet.
- Older pets often have achy bones due to joint conditions. did you know that 1 in 5 dogs have osteoarthritis. with cats it is as high as 1/3 of all cats. Consider giving them an Achy Paws Warming Mat which uses your pet's own body's warmth to comfort them. Hey, I wonder if they got one for me! I got achy joints!
- Did you know that obese dogs live up to 2 years less than a pet that maintains a healthy weight? So if you have a pudgy pet consider a senior formula food. These food usually have lower calorie counts with additional added nutrients. Look for a high quality food because your senior pet is not able to digest food as efficiently as they used to when they were younger.
Image is the courtesy of alex_ugalek at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Attribution: This post is a summary of an article I read in Woman's Day, June 20169 issue written by Gillian A and is also my personal perspectives/experiences.
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