Is my pet getting old?

A common question that I get when seeing patients is how old would my pet be if it were a human.  There are a lot of formulas out there that claim to change your pets age into human years.  Many of these do work fairly well, but as far as figuring out an exact human age I wouldn't put huge faith in them.  What I can tell you is that I see many older dogs and cats and have a general rule of thumb when seeing them:

1. For smaller breed dogs (less than 10-15 lbs) I can routinely see 14-15 year old dogs.  I usually start to classify them as senior around 8-9 years of age.

2. Larger breed dogs (>60-70 lbs) tend not to have as long of a life span and I typically start to call them senior around 6-7 years of age

3. Cats can differ, especially between indoor or outdoor cats.  Indoor cat can live a very long time and I see many 16+ year old cats.  I usually classify them as middle age around 7 years and senior after 10 years.  Outdoor cats tend not to live as long, but I usually classify them the same way.

So, why does it matter when your pet gets older?  Well, just like with people, pets tend to develop medical problems as they age.  They might not show outward signs of problems, but bloodwork can sometimes pick up early signs of problems.  This is why we recommend a senior screening examination for pets determined to be elderly.

What does a seniors screening exam involve?

1.  With dogs, after the exam we run bloodwork that includes a complete blood count, a six panel chemistry (looking at liver, kidney, blood sugar, and protein values), urinalysis, heartworm test, fecal floatation test, and eye pressures.

2. Cats are slightly different and along with an exam we perform a complete blood count, six panel chemistry panel, urinalysis, thryoid values, and fecal floatation test

The reason that we run these tests are to screen for medical problems where we might be able to intervene and prevent further damage or manage the diseases successfully.  For dogs, we worry about liver disease, Cushing's disease, kidney disease and these tests help determine whether a problem is present.  With cats, we are looking for signs of kidney disease, hyperthryoidism, diabetes, or liver disease.

If changes are seen on bloodwork, then your veterinarian can recommend further diagnostic tests that should be pursued to better evaluate for what may be going on.  They can then recommend treatment options to help manage problems that are found.

Make sure to ask your veterinarian about your pet's senior health at your next visit.