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Healing & Alternative Health
Dr. Carson's Holistic Animal Care:
Care of the Aging Dog and Cat
by Kathleen M. Carson, D.V.M |
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Our companion animals are living longer these days. A large part of the reason for this is the many rapid advances in veterinary medicine. However, an equally important reason is a change in our perception - it is becoming less common for the problems of advancing years to be dismissed as “just due to old age”, as if things ended there, as if there was nothing anyone could do about them. It is now understood that something can be done about a large number of things associated with old age, thereby not only increasing the quantity, but also the quality, of a companion animal’s “sunset years”.
The above perception is crucial to helping an older companion animal get the most out of his or her geriatric years. Equally important is knowledge about what to look for as an animal ages, so help can be sought in time to make a difference if/when a problem develops.
First of all, when does a dog or cat enter the geriatric years? Of course, there is individual variation, just as there is for humans. Some animals age more quickly than others of the same chronological age. However, rough guidelines can be drawn.
In animals, size makes a significant impact on lifespan. The larger the animal, the shorter the lifespan. A giant breed dog like a Great Dane or St. Bernard lives an average of 9-10 years. A toy breed dog like a Chihuahua or a cat can live into the late teens or longer.
Keeping the above facts in mind, it can still be stated that for most dogs and cats, the geriatric years start around 8 years of age (obviously earlier for giant breed dogs and later for toy breeds). It is at this point that bodily changes associated with aging begin to show up in most.
Regular checkups by your veterinarian are important throughout your animal’s life, but they are especially important in the geriatric years. Since a dog or cat’s lifespan is shorter than ours, problems associated with aging come on more rapidly. Yearly checkups are a good idea for a healthy young animal. When a dog or cat reaches his geriatric years, checkups at least twice a year are recommended. More frequent checkups are needed if certain problems develop.
However, you live with your animal on a day-to-day basis, and it’s important that you be aware of things to look for in your geriatric dog or cat. The rest of this article and one(s) on the subject in the future will give you information about what these are.
To do this in an organized way, I decided to start at the front and work back. One of the most obvious changes that comes about with age is in the eyes. The lens, which sits behind the pupil, thickens with age. In humans, this is what causes us to have problems with seeing things close up as we get older, necessitating reading glasses or bifocals. In dogs and cats it causes both pupils to look bluish-grey rather than black. This condition is called nuclear sclerosis or lenticular sclerosis. It is a benign process and does not interfere with vision.
For a lay person, however, it is often confused with cataracts. Both affect the lens behind the pupil. However, with cataracts, the pupil looks white, often in a star-shaped pattern, and only one eye may be affected rather than both. The intensity of the white increases with time until the entire pupil is white. The opacity of cataracts does lead to blindness, partial at first, then complete as the condition progresses.
If you’re not sure about what you see in your geriatric dog or cat’s eyes, especially if he/she seems to be having trouble seeing, take him/her to your veterinarian for an examination.
Hearing is another sense which is affected with age. It tends to get worse with time. The degree of hearing loss varies from individual to individual. For some reason, I’ve had fewer clients report hearing loss in their geriatric cats compared to geriatric dogs. Usually, the onset of the loss is gradual, taking place over months or years. The sounds which are hardest to hear are those which are soft and/or low-pitched; higher-pitched and/or louder sounds continue to be heard for a longer period.
If your dog or cat is suffering from hearing loss, he may not respond to your call. You may also notice that he appears to hear something but is not sure of the direction the sound is coming from; he will look around trying to locate the source. You may also notice that she can jump up in panic if you touch her when she’s asleep, for she hasn’t heard you approach. Hearing loss can also be selective; he may not hear you when you call him to go outside to relieve himself on a rainy day, but he comes quickly when he hears you get out his food bowl!!
Hearing loss associated with aging is usually caused by a hardening of the 3 little bones in the middle ear which connect the ear drum (tympanum or tympanic membrane) to the auditory nerve, which leads to the hearing center in the brain. What’s supposed to happen is that when sound waves come in, they cause the ear drum to vibrate, which in turn vibrates the little bones, whose movement stimulates the auditory nerve. When the bones have hardened, they don’t vibrate properly, and so the nerve doesn’t always get stimulated adequately. At this point in time not much can be done for this condition.
If your animal seems to lose her hearing more quickly, it may be due to wax in her ear canals, usually associated with ear allergies and/or infections. If these are present, there usually also is increased redness, swelling, pain, and/or a bad smell to the ears. If any of these are noted, a trip to your veterinarian is called for.
Next month I’ll continue with things to look out for in your geriatric cat or dog.
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Dr. Kathleen Carson, DVM
Veterinarian & Author
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Dr. Carson received her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the University of California at Davis in 1968. She's been a small animal practitioner (dogs and cats ) for all the years since, except for a short stint at the San Diego Zoo when she first graduated.
She belongs to the American Veterinary Medical Association and the American Holistic Veterinary Medical Association.
Since 1974 she's lived and practiced in the South Bay Area near Los Angeles. She started the area's first house call practice in 1976 and the first pet crisis/loss group in 1989. The human-animal bond is of special interest to her.
She started exploring complementary veterinary medicine in 1987. Her practice became 100% holistic in 1996. She utilizes acupuncture, herbs, supplements, Bach Flower Remedies, homeopathic remedies, nutrition and medications for her patients in her practice.
She's currently taking a leave of absence from her house call practice due to health reasons but continues to do phone consultations and to write.
E-mail:
Critterhlr@aol.com
website:
http://www.holistic
vetconsult.com
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