1. Bone & Joints: As pets age, they may begin to experience difficulties producing the critical nutrients necessary to maintain active and healthy joints. Over time, if these deficiencies go unnoticed or untreated, they can lead to Degenerative Joint Disease (DJD). DJD is a progressive deterioration of the joint, affecting the synovial fluid and the fibrous joint capsule. DJD can cause injury to the synovial membrane, degradation of the synovial fluid’s ability to transport needed nutrients, and harm to the smooth cartilage that protects the bone during movement.
Symptoms: Difficulty getting up, stiffness, restlessness when trying to settle down to sleep, frequent slips and falls, atrophied thigh muscles, also good and bad days.
Prevention: For dogs and cats suffering DJD, ask your vet about nutritional supplements designed to help combat the debilitating effects. Include antioxidants to provide the ideal supplement for geriatric, arthritic pets. Give your pet treats that are healthy and low calorie. Take your dog on a 20- to 30-minute walk at least four or five times a week. Let your pet decide how hard they want to exercise, as long as they are up and moving. Also, aspirin for dogs can help with arthritis pain.
2. The Kidneys: The kidneys are crucial organs that are affected by aging, especially in dogs. A dog will start drinking more fluids to help his kidneys function. If it is allowed to progress, chronic kidney disease can lead to severe physical problems, uremia and even death. Kidney disease causes the body to work harder, raising blood pressure. All senior pets have some degree of kidney insufficiency. In serious conditions, such as Chronic Renal Failure (CRF), the kidneys lose over 90% of their filtering abilities. Ask your Veternarian about supplementation to slow down uremic toxin buildup and to prevent further kidney damage by providing natural Enteric Dialysis, through the use of beneficial bacteria that support kidney function.
Symptoms: An increase in drinking and urination, weight loss, lethargy, and vomiting.
What You Can do: Keep plenty of fresh water where your pet can easily get to it. Also, put down layers of paper somewhere near your pet’s bed to catch the nighttime dribbles. Antibiotics are used regularly, as infections and bacteria of the urinary track are common in pets with kidney disease. Iron supplements are used in cases of accompanying
anemia.
3. Dental Care: dental calculus (a buildup of crusty, mineral material on the surfaces of the teeth) is often a severe problem. Excessive calculus can cause infection and eventual tooth loss and can even be life-threatening when untreated. Almost 90% of pets 5+ years have some degree of dental disease. Gum disease can eventually lead to tooth loss. Severe dental disease can also leak bacteria into the bloodstream, which in turn can lead to serious kidney, liver, and heart disease.
Symptoms: If your pet has nasty breath, chances are good he already has dental calculus. Also look out for excessive tartar buildup, gum inflammation, dark or discolored teeth, drooling, and difficulty eating.
Prevention: Dogs and cats that are fed dry or kibbled foods are less likely to develop calculus. An occasional doggie bone acts as a fair tooth cleaner. For a thorough cleaning job, get out the toothbrush. There are toothbrushes and toothpastes specially made for pets, which will help eliminate calculus. The surest way to prevent bad breath and tartar is with Pet toothpaste.
4. The Senses: An animal’s senses diminish just a as human’s do as they age. They may have trouble seeing, hearing, and tasting. An animal that can’t see or hear may react suddenly to quick movements or noises; work and play around your pet more slowly and quietly.
What you can do: Avoid making any drastic changes around your pet, such as in daily diet and exercise. Try calming tablets to help your pet relax.
5. Skin: Sores are common in pets that have lost some mobility and may be a sign of arthritis, where the pet refuses to move due to pain. Tumors may show up as lumps that are not noticeable until large enough.
Symptoms: Sores, unkempt coat, lumps or abnormalities in the skin.
Treatment: Keep your pets comfortable, groom them frequently, and maintain their coat. Treat dandruff, dry skin and greasiness. Provide comfortable beds and cushions. In the case of a lump, see your vet to rule out most cell tumors, and deadly skin cancer in dogs.
6. Obesity: Senior cats and dogs are extremely susceptible to obesity. As pets age, they don’t burn as many calories because they don’t move around as much. However, many pets continue to eat the same amount of food, leading to obesity that can lead to a series of medical conditions, from diabetes to heart disease.
Symptoms: Your pet is probably overweight if you cannot feel their ribs. A rounded back in cats is a sign of extra weight.
Treatment: Your pet’s diet should be low in fat and calories. In pets with severe obesity, a special prescription diet usually high in fiber may be administered, that will aid digestion and make your pet feel full with less food. Small, frequent meals throughout the day are better than one or two large meals. Help your pet shed extra pounds with exercise.
7. Diabetes: Diabetes, as with humans, is a medical disorder that involves elevated blood sugar levels. Small breed dogs and overweight pets are more susceptible, but animals can also develop diabetes after treatment with steroids or reproductive hormones, pancreatitis, or infectious viral diseases. Type I diabetes is always insulin dependent (IDDM), while Type II may or may not require insulin injections (NIDDM). Most diabetic dogs have IDDM.
Symptoms: Your pet may exhibit excessive urination, appetite and thirst, weight loss, and lethargy. As Diabetes progresses, depression and vomiting may be seen. Weak rear legs or wobbling is common in cats. With dogs, cataracts and blindness may develop, even if no other symptoms exist. Lab test results will show elevated blood sugar and/or glucose in the urine.
Treatment: Only a handful of cases can be treated with oral insulin-enhancing drugs; most pets require insulin injections. Some cats experience transient DM, where the insulin requirement can come and go without any real pattern.
8. Heart Disease & Circulation Problems: While pets can’t get heart attacks, they can suffer a series of other equally serious heart conditions. In older dogs, Chronic valvular heart disease (VHD) is the most common heart condition. The heart valves thicken, and make it difficult for the heart to effectively pump blood. This causes accumulation of fluid in the lungs. Some types of heart disease are manageable if caught early and treated with medicine and dietary changes. Others are very hard to treat. Detecting heart disease early is the key to saving your pet’s life. High blood pressure is also common in older pets- especially cats, and it’s often associated with kidney disease.
Symptoms: Weakness, loss of appetite, coughing or labored breathing, fainting, enlarged abdomen, or tachycardia. Symptoms in cats usually don’t show until the disease has advanced. X-rays may be done to show heart disease signs like the enlargement of the chambers, thickening of the walls, or stretched muscles.
Treatment: Diuretics are used to remove pooled fluid from the body when the heart can’t efficiently pump. Other medicines are prescribed to increase heart strength and/or contractility, and reestablish normal heart rhythm.
9. Cognitive Dysfunction Syndrome: This disease affects older dogs, causing chemical changes in the brain. It is like Alzheimer’s disease in humans. Dogs affected by CCDS show no physical signs of disease and continue to eat normally.
Symptoms: You may notice strange behavior for no apparent reason. These symptoms are NOT part of the natural aging process, and you should notify your vet if you notice: A change in sleeping patterns or activity level, confusion and disorientation, excessive whining, isolation, anxiety attacks, substantially less interaction with the family, and forgetfulness. Dogs also sometimes appear to be stuck in corners or wander around aimlessly. Housetrained pets may have frequent accidents.
10. Cushing’s Disease: A disease caused by excessive levels of the hormone cortisol. A tumor in an adrenal gland may be the cause of the overproduction of cortisone. However, it is normally due to a malfunction or lesion of the glands.
Symptoms: Excessive drinking and appetite, increased urination, weakness in the back legs, lethargy, thinning hair, skin hyper pigmentation, panting, frequent urinary tract infections, distended abdomen, and obesity.
Treatment: Medication from your Vet with several large daily doses for a period of a week, and after maintenance dosage, which should be kept for the duration of you pet’s life.
11. Hyperthyroidism: Commonly affects older cats and caused by an increase in production of the thyroid hormone, which controls the body’s metabolic rate. Cats will burn energy faster than they can consume it, so they end up losing weight. Eventually, it affects other organs in the animal’s body and results in high blood pressure, intestinal problems, and renal failure.
Symptoms: Lethargic behavior or hyperactivity, irritability, weight loss, slow heart rate, low body temperature, muscle weakness, elevated cholesterol, hair loss, cold intolerance, frequent ear and skin infections.
Treatment: The most common form of treatment is medication in the form of a Carbimazole tablet, which needs to be administered daily for the rest of the pet’s life. Radioactive iodine therapy is a 95% effective cure consisting of a single injection of radioactive iodine.
12. Cancer: A frequent and fatal problem in older pets. Female pets, not been spayed, are prone to mammary tumors, which are often malignant and very hard to treat.
Symptoms: Weight loss, lethargy, weight loss, repeated infections, nausea, blood in the urine or stools, frequent infections, abdominal swelling, lumps, and pain.
Treatment: Surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy.
References:
- This information was obtained directly from www.healthypets.com
Next Month in our July issue look for Part III: Aging Shelter Pets
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