Senior Pet Wellness: Strategies for a Healthy and Happy Life

Raising puppies is hard, but taking care of senior dogs is even more challenging. You'll have to follow a few tricks since changing your perspective after many years of living with a puppy or even an older dog might be difficult. 

When can a dog be considered senior?

Depending on the size and breed of your dog, a dog is termed senior when it attains the age of seven.

If your dog's muzzle is turning grey, he or she may be nearing the senior stage of life.

A change in eating and sleeping habits is one of the indicators of aging. Keep track of the behavioral changes in your dog to identify age-related health issues in the long run.

What do senior dogs need?

The most fundamental needs of your dog will include shelter, comfort, and a lot of love. Apart from these balanced meals twice a day, sufficient water, exercise also play a vital role when it comes to basic necessities. Also, grooming your senior dogs and making them look better will nourish them from the inside.

Common problems faced by senior dogs:

It will be heartbreaking to see our dogs suffering from any kind of health issues at their older age. Although this can be avoided only if you know what all disorders they will face in their senior stage in advance. Some common disorders and some signs they show include:

Arthritis or joint problems:

You might have noticed that your dogs might have shown stiffness when they wake up in the morning. It’s not due to their aging, they have a high chance to get affected by arthritis. Noticing at the early stage will help in treating them the best.

Blindness or blurred vision:

Older dogs have a chance to go under a condition called nuclear sclerosis where your dog’s eyes are clouded. Your dog's eyesight will be diminishing slowly as they can see well even if they are affected by this disease for a very long time. 

Deafness:

One of the most obvious symptoms that your dog is getting older is a loss of hearing to some point, however, it can be difficult to know if they're truly deaf or merely have selective hearing in their late adulthood.

Deafness isn't generally a cause for concern unless it's accompanied by ear pain, a head tilt, or swellings of the skull. You may, however, choose to teach them to sign language commands.

Changes in weight:

As your dog gets older you may notice changes in its shape. One of the evident signs that your dog is getting older is that their metabolism slows, making it easier for them to gain weight and causing them to lose muscular mass. 

Elderly dogs may have a reduced appetite and be less efficient at digestion, resulting in weight loss. Many disorders of old age can lead to weight loss, but arthritis can make dogs unwilling to move, resulting in weight gain.

Cognitive dysfunction:

It affects 1 in 10 to 1 in 2 dogs over the age of 8, and it is becoming more common in old age dogs. 

Memory loss, anxiety, behavioral changes, and disturbances in sleep cycles are all symptoms of cognitive dysfunction. 

Treatment with brain-boosting vitamins can help a lot of dogs. Playing games and delivering food puzzles can also keep your dog's brain active.

Breathing problems:

Young puppies seem to run all day briskly. On the other hand, your senior dog may struggle more and become out of breath more rapidly. You may notice that you are trailing behind on everyday walks as a consequence of this.

This could be related to persistent lung disease, heart disease, anemia, or discomfort and stiffness that limits mobility.

How can you maintain a healthy diet for your aged dogs?

Like humans, dogs love food too. Pain, sickness, and suffering are common features of old age in dogs. It's never too late to boost your dog's nutrition by upgrading his or her food bowl. Here are the some tips for your dog’s diet plan:

• Your dog needs protein intake daily for proper functioning. Add more protein-rich foods like eggs, cheese, meat, etc as it helps in body repairing too.

• Add more green leafy vegetables as it has high nutrients needed for your dog at an older age.

• Try to serve cooked food for your older dog rather than raw foods. Because it will be easier for them to digest and the risk of pathogens will be reduced.

Even if it's just cuddling on the couch, our happy senior dogs cherish meaningful time together. And, fortunately, that's a simple task for you to accomplish!