Senior Pet Healthcare Month

By: Michael Lamping, DVM

            Older pets need veterinary care to diagnose and manage age-related diseases.  Senior pets can acquire many diseases similar to those that affect older humans.  Heart failure, periodontal disease, arthritis, kidney failure, chronic liver disease, cancer, glaucoma, and hypertension all afflict older individuals more often.

            Life expectancy of purring pets is advancing.  Expectations in years past were that a cat might live to be 15 years old.  Now we should anticipate celebrating many cats' 20^th birthdays.  Hypertension is a disorder that can affect any cat, but especially those over 10 years of age.  We measure this in our clinic with a blood pressure monitor.  Hypertension can occur by itself or be secondary to an underlying cause.  For example, we are currently managing hypertension in 3 older cats:  A 19 year old with hyperthyroidism, a 17 year old with chronic kidney failure, and an 18 year old with hypertension who acquired sudden blindness due to the condition.

            Life expectancy of panting pets is also on the rise.  Now we consider dogs' anticipated lifespan to be 15-17 years old if they are small breeds, 12-15 if they are medium-sized, and 10-12 if they are giant breeds.  As dogs age we should be aware of the risk of glaucoma, an eye disease that can lead to blindness.  Glaucoma symptoms can be subtle.  For instance, a 9 year old poodle was seen for a routine checkup and we discovered abnormalities during the eye exam.  We tested her with a simple, non-painful eye test right then and diagnosed glaucoma.  Over a year later, her glaucoma is being controlled well, and her vision remains optimal.

            We are highlighting senior pet care at Murphy Road Animal Hospital in the month of September.  As part of this effort, we are promoting glaucoma and hypertension screening tests during senior pet exams.  Pets don't have to receive miraculous or expensive treatments to benefit from modern veterinary care.  Many simple and affordable treatments are available.  The key is to know what to treat.