Senior Care

Years ago veterinarians used to focus on treating disease. Over time vaccines were developed and veterinary medicine began to emphasize prevention. From your puppy to kittens first visit, we promote vaccinations, regular health checkups, proper nutrition and control of parasites (heartworm or intestinal worms). These services along with sterilization (neutering) lay the foundation for a long, healthy relationship between you, your pet and our health care team.

"Our pets are like our children who somehow age much quicker than we do"

Pets are living longer, just as we are, and we need to offer our senior pets the increased level of care they need before age related illness occurs. Just as in humans, age related health problems can occur well before a pet shows any signs of this aging. Senior care begins by recognizing that older animals differ from young or adult animals due to the effects of aging. Senior care in dogs and cats parallels the increasing focus on senior or "wellness" care in humans. For example as we enter our 40's, screening for high blood pressure or heart disease becomes more important. More over, women recognize the importance of a baseline mammogram at this time. In veterinary medicine, early detection of kidney, liver, thyroid or heart disease and management of chronic disease such as arthritis can begin at 8 years of age.

Some may ask the question, "why 8 years of age"? Well a pet doesn't become suddenly old at 8 years any more than a person at age 50. But this generalization helps us to understand that it is at this time in your pet's life we must work together to pay a closer attention to your pet's health status. Senior pets need more frequent physical examinations, more comprehensive diagnostic testing and an increased awareness of abnormal symptoms by the owner beginning around age 8.

Use this chart if your pet is ever six years of age to identify (by weight) your pets relative age in human years.

As your pet enter their "senior" years conditions may develop. These may occur singly or in conjunction with other illnesses. These include:

Our solution: We offer a senior screening of:

As a baseline on all pets over 8 years of age to screen for the most common age related illness, other testing, such as:

may be recommended based on the pets physical examination or results of the senior profile. The diagnostic equipment necessary for this testing is all located in the hospital and can be done by experienced veterinarians.

It is our goal to increase the standard of care for senior dogs and cats. This will result on pets living longer, happier, healthier lives and give you more precious time to treat them like family.

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