Caring For Senior Pets
As our pets get older, their health needs change. Their physical health can deteriorate quickly, which means that a single annual check-up sometimes isn’t enough to keep up with their evolving needs.
As your pet ages, we recommend bringing them in for examinations more frequently – twice annually is our usual recommendation. We also recommend specific adaptations to their lifestyle and sometimes their diet, which we’ll discuss with you whenever you bring your pet in for a visit.
Senior pets of all species and breeds have an increased likelihood of developing arthritis, diabetes, cancer, and blindness/deafness. These more frequent examinations will help us spot potential issues like these early when they’re still either preventable or highly treatable.
Bloodwork
Drawing and analyzing a sample of your pet’s blood helps us search for infections, anemia, and other age-related conditions that can include diabetes, kidney disease or kidney failure, liver disease, and more.
Urinalysis
Many early warning signs of disease, infection, and illness can show up in your pet’s urine. Urinalysis allows us to get an overall indication of your pet’s health while also offering us the chance to catch any potential problems with their digestive system, urinary tract, and other bodily systems.
Diagnostic Imaging
Many of the health-related issues that senior pets experience, such as arthritis or organ failure, can occur below the surface. That’s why we sometimes rely on diagnostic imaging to see inside your senior pet’s body and look for signs of potential issues. If we believe that diagnostic imaging is necessary to pinpoint the cause of a problem your pet is experiencing, we’ll always discuss with you first before proceeding with this non-invasive process.