When is a dog a “senior?” And when do we use the term “geriatric?”
Being a senior is an age. As our pets are living longer and longer, we are appreciating another age category – geriatric. What is the difference between a senior and a geriatric? In a word – fragility.
A Labrador that is 8 years old is a senior, as is a cat that is 10 years old. But most 10 year old cats are doing great! They may not have quite as many teeth, and they may sleep a bit more, but they are still hardy. A senior pet is still pretty healthy, and requires very little additional care. We recommend that senior pets have a reduced calorie diet with reduced sodium to ensure that we are not overburdening the joints and kidneys. They need their dental needs cared for to reduce inflammation and take care of small issues that can turn into major issues later. And we recommend more frequent checkups and bloodwork to catch and address issues early.
There comes a point with our senior pets where we suddenly think of them as fragile. They can’t fight off illness as easily, they seem to gravitate towards the fires in the winter, and they just aren’t as quick (mentally or physically). These are our beloved geriatric pets.
A geriatric pet reminds me of my grandmother. She is 91 (whoop!), and wears a jacket even in July. We help her walk to the car, talk a little louder to her, and may hear the same story a few times. She bruises easier than she used to, and we can tell when she’s overdone it. But man, we love her, and every day is a gift.
Our geriatric pets’ health can make those quick changes too, so we need to be more quick to jump to an exam or diagnostics as we work to keep their health on that precious balance. Here are our focuses:
- Pain management is primary for these pets – we must keep them comfortable to keep them moving.
- Food! Ideally geriatric pets should have a diet low in sodium to be as gentle as possible. However, if that isn’t enough to entice them to eat other options should be considered, as they must eat to maintain their energy and muscle mass.
- Veterinary care is needed to ensure that the balance of health and pain management are managed as well as can be. There is also the ethical considerations to veterinary care – we have to add in the question “is this the right treatment for the pet overall?” instead of just addressing each concern to the full potential of modern medicine.
- Household management is also a consideration for our geriatrics. They may be needing the weekly pill organizer now, and certainly require more caregiving than they used to. Sometimes they need household adjustments like more trips outside to go potty, or a puppy pad by the door overnight. They can struggle to get up from lying down, and are slower to move. Sometimes they can get lost due to vision, hearing, or cognition trouble. But the good days seem to outweigh the bad, and with medical management and your loving care they seem to do well enough.
Seem to… that’s the crux of it. With our geriatric patients we have to keep their quality of life at the forefront of our decisions. But we also have to remember your budgets.