Senior Pet Information
Due to increased availability of veterinary care, and better knowledge of how to care for our pets, dogs and cats are living longer. Once your pet reaches eight years of age he/she is classed as a senior pet.
Older pets have different requirements than younger animals. Nutritional requirements change, certain diseases can be more common and some changes should be made to their environment to help them have more comfortable senior years.
Older pets are more likely to suffer from:
- Heart disease.
- Joint / mobility problems.
- Lumps and bumps.
- Dental disease.
- Kidney disease.
- Diabetes.
- Un-neutered females are at high risk of mammary tumours and uterine infection (pyometra).
- Un-neutered male dogs are at risk of prostatic or testicular disease including tumours.
- Digestive upsets or intolerance.
- Urinary incontinence.
What we Can Do To Help:
Our Qualified Nurses offer free nurse clinics for pets over eight years old. The aim of these clinics is to give you the knowledge to help your pet have a comfortable senior life.
Prior to your first appointment we will send you a senior pet questionnaire, which will help give us an insight into your pet's needs. At your appointment(s) we will weigh your pet, perform a basic health assessment, advise on any nutritional or environmental changes your pet may require and demonstrate how you can perform regular health checks at home. Your nurse will be happy to help with any questions you may have, so don't be worried about asking them anything.
If there are concerns about the wellbeing of your pet, the nurse may ask you to make an appointment with a vet or offer to do a blood test that checks your pet's liver and kidney function. If you wish to take up the blood test we will perform a free test on your pet's urine to check for glucose in the urine and signs of urinary infection.
We would recommend that your pet comes to the surgery twice per year – once for his / her health check and vaccination with the vet, and six months later to see your nurse.
Senior Food:
We recommend Royal Canin life stage nutrition. As older dogs require less energy they can stay on the neutered dog food for life. Cats actually require higher protein and energy levels as they age and hence we offer Mature food for cats aged 7-10 and Senior diet for cats over 10years old.
For a 4kg cat over 10 years old a 3.5kg bag of senior food would last 63 days and would cost approximately 38p per day to feed.
For a 15kg dog a 10kg bag of neutered medium breed adult dog food would last for 50 days and would cost approximately 86p per day to feed.
Supplements:
There are different supplements available to help your pet through his / her senior years including:
- Aktivait helps with brain ageing.
- Go-mega helps with coat and skin condition.
- Synoquin / seraquin help with stiff joints.
