Senior Pets and Health Care

HEALTH CARE AND YOUR SENIOR PET

DIET, EXERCISE AND MEDICAL ADVANCES ARE NOT ONLY BENEFITING HUMANS, BUT ARE WORKING TO ADD YEARS TO YOUR PETS’ LIVES AS WELL. AS PETS AGE, PHYSICAL SIGNS INCLUDING WEIGHT GAIN, THINNING AND GRAYING COATS, BAD BREATH, BEHAVIORAL CHANGES, ARTHRITIS, HEARING LOSS, DECREASED VISION, AND INAPPROPRIATE URINATION ARE OFTEN NOTICED. THESE PROBLEMS ARE POTENTIALLY FATAL IF THEY GO UNDIAGNOSED AND UNTREATED.

AS PETS GET OLDER, NUTRITIONAL AND METABOLIC REQUIREMENTS CHANGE. ALSO, JUST LIKE THE TINMAN IN THE "WIZARD OF OZ", THEIR JOINTS NEED LUBRICATING AND THE BODY HAS A HARDER TIME ELIMINATING WASTE PRODUCTS.

PETS AGE APPROXIMATELY 7-10 YEARS TO OUR ONE, THEREFORE, A 7 YEAR OLD PET IS APPROXIMATELY 50 YEARS OLD IN HUMAN TERMS. AND FOR THE LARGER BREEDS, THIS AGE RATIO CHANGES TO APPROXIMATELY 5 YEARS TO OUR ONE. AT THESE AGES, WE CONSIDER YOUR DOGS AND CATS TO BE OUR SENIOR PATIENTS.

HERE IS A CHECKLIST OF SYMPTOMS TO ASSIST YOU IN EVALUATING YOUR PET:

VOMITING DIARRHE

ACHANGES IN EATING HABITS

INCREASED THIRST AND URINATION

STIFFNESS WHEN GETTING UP

EXERCISE INTOLERANCE

WEIGHT LOSS OR GAIN

BEHAVIORAL CHANGES

IMPAIRED HEARING

APPARENT CONFUSION

LUMPS AND BUMPS ON BODY (SHOULD BE CHECKED FOR BY RUNNING YOUR HANDS ALONG YOUR PET’S BODY ON A MONTHLY BASIS)

THE ABOVE CAN SIGNAL ILLNESS SUCH AS KIDNEY DISEASE, HEART DISEASE, DIABETES, DENTAL DISEASE AND OTHER HEALTH PROBLEMS.

LET’S TALK ABOUT SOME SPECIFICS TO HELP EVALUATE YOUR PET’S HEALTH.

DIAGNOSTIC TESTS INCLUDE:

A BASE-LINE BLOOD PROFILE

URINALYSIS

THYROID TESTING

X-RAYS OF THE CHEST AND ABDOMEN

GLAUCOMA TESTING

BLOOD PRESSURE TESTING

ELECTROCARDIOGRAMS

AND POSSIBLY ULTRASOUND.

ASSESSING DENTAL NEEDS IS CRITICAL, AS BOTH PERIODONTAL DISEASE AND BONE INFECTIONS IN THE MOUTH CAN CAUSE SYSTEMIC DISEASES AND LOSS OF VITALITY.

THESE TESTS CAN IDENTIFY SENIOR DISEASES IN THE EARLIEST SIGNS.

WE NOW ARE AWARE OF SUPPLEMENTING THE NUTRITIONAL NEEDS OF SENIORS. THESE INCLUDE ANTI-OXIDANTS, ADDING FIBER TO THE DIET, NUTRICEUTICALS (ADDITIVES TO THE DIET TO ASSIST IN BETTER JOINT LUBRICATION AND WELL BEING), AS WELL AS CHIROPRACTIC CARE.

MANY OF THE FOLLOWING PRODUCTS CROSS OVER AND HELP IN MULTIPLE FUNCTIONS.

ANTI-OXIDANTS HELP ELIMINATE TOXIC SUBSTANCES FROM THE BLOOD STREAM AND RESPIRATORY SYSTEM. THEY INCLUDE THE OMEGA FATTY ACIDS 3 AND 6, BETA CAROTENE'S, VITAMIN A AND OTHER BENEFICIAL SUBSTANCES. OTHER SOURCES OF ANTI-OXIDANTS IN OUR PRACTICES INCLUDE THE COMMERCIAL PRODUCTS MSM, MISSING LINK AND COMFORT.

AS PART OF OUR SENIOR EVALUATION TO ASSESS YOUR PET’S NEEDS, WE WILL HELP CUSTOMIZE AND FORMULATE A NUTRITIONAL GUIDELINE FOR EACH INDIVIDUAL PET.AS WE GET OLDER, OUR JOINTS NEED HELP.

THE SAME IS TRUE FOR OUR ANIMALS. GLUCOSAMINES ARE NOW THOUGHT TO HELP REPLENISH JOINT FLUID. WE FEEL THESE ARE BEST UTILIZED BEFORE SEVERE DEGENERATION SETS IN, ALTHOUGH WE HAVE FOUND THEM TO BE BENEFICIAL AT ALL TIMES. THE SOONER THEY ARE IMPLEMENTED (WHEN STIFFNESS IS NOTED), THE MORE EFFECTIVE THEY WILL BE.

PRODUCTS WE RECOMMEND ARE GLYCOFLEX AND COSIQUEN , BUT THERE ARE MANY OTHER PRODUCTS AVAILABLE.

AGAIN, ANTI- OXIDANTS ARE ALSO FELT TO HELP IN JOINT DISEASE.

IN MEDICATING ARTHRITIS ARE THE NEW NON-STEROIDAL ANTI-INFLAMMATORY DRUGS DEVELOPED SPECIFICALLY FOR DOGS. THE PRODUCTS WE ARE CURRENTLY USING ARE RIMYDAL (CARPROFEN) AND ETOGESIC (ETODOLAC) TABLETS .

COGNITIVE DYSFUNCTION (SENILITY) CAN DEVELOP AS YOUR PET AGES. THIS CONDITION CAN CAUSE VARIOUS BEHAVIORAL CHANGES, INCLUDING ALTERED SLEEP CYCLES, EMOTIONAL WITHDRAWAL, LOSS OF APPETITE, TREMORS, URINATING OR DEFECATING IN THE HOUSE, AND COMPULSIVE BEHAVIOR SUCH AS PACING OR INCESSANTLY BARKING FOR NO APPARENT REASON. THERE IS A PROMISING MEDICATION CALLED ANIPRYL (DEPRENYL) TO HELP RETARD THIS BEHAVIOR AND GIVE BOTH YOU AND YOUR PET A BETTER QUALITY OF LIFE.

OBESITY IN OUR PETS IS A CONCERN. WE WILL EVALUATE METABOLIC FUNCTION AND, IF FOUND TO BE ABNORMAL, RECOMMEND A SPECIAL DIET.

CANCER IS THE NUMBER ONE NON-ACCIDENTAL CAUSE OF DEATH IN DOGS AND CATS. PETS FOUND TO HAVE CANCER CAN NOW HAVE PROLONGED AND NORMAL LIVES. THERE ARE NEW DIETS TO HELP RETARD THE PROGRESSION OF CANCER. AGAIN, WE ALSO RECOMMEND ANTI-OXIDANT THERAPY AS WELL AS SPECIALLY FORMULATED OMEGA FATTY ACID THERAPY. CANCER CELLS USE SIMPLE CARBOHYDRATES AND SPECIFIC AMINO ACIDS.

A CANCER FIGHTING DIET WILL HELP DEPRIVE CANCER CELLS OF THE NUTRITION THEY NEED TO GROW. THIS IS NOT THE CURE, BUT WITH PROPER MEDICAL CARE AND THE LOVE YOU GIVE YOUR PET.

ANOTHER TOOL IN THE BATTLE TO GIVE YOUR PET A BETTER QUALITY OF LIFE .REGULAR DENTAL CARE BECOMES MORE IMPORTANT AS THE PET AGES. PROPER DENTAL CARE IS CRUCIAL TO PREVENTING OTHER HEALTH PROBLEMS. PETS WITH DENTAL DISEASE DO NOT EAT AS WELL AND MAY GET INFECTIONS IN OTHER ORGANS SUCH AS THE KIDNEYS AND HEART.

ON YOUR PART, BI-MONTHLY EXAM OF YOUR PET IS HELPFUL. INSPECT THE INSIDE OF Y0UR PET’S MOUTH AND THE OUTSIDE OF THE BODY. IN THE ORAL EXAM, LOOK FOR SIGNS OF DENTAL DISEASE SUCH AS REDDENED GUMS, SWELLING OR UNEVENNESS OF EITHER GUMS OR TONGUE, TARTAR-COVERED TEETH, OR ODOROUS BREATH.

AS YOU CAN SEE, MANY OF THE PRODUCTS AND PROCEDURES WE ARE NOW RECOMMENDING HAVE A MULTIPLICITY OF USES THAT MAKE COMMON SENSE. PLEASE CALL US SO WE CAN TALK TO YOU ABOUT THESE PROGRAMS AND PRODUCTS TO GIVE YOU AND YOUR PET MANY HAPPY YEARS TOGETHER.