The Age-Old Adage

Everyone has heard the age-old adage, 'a dog ages 7 years for every 1 human year' and we all make assumptions based on that adage as to how old our pets are in 'human years'.  It is true that our pets age faster than we do and thus have a shorter life expectancy. It also means that we need to consider certain things as they age which means qualifying them as senior and geriatric earlier than we would their human counterparts.

Now, I'm not out here trying to put labels on your pets but I am advocating for them - why, you ask? As pets age, and since we have established that they age quicker than we do, certain organs start to change and certain diseases can become more apparent. While we might like to think that 5 year old Fido is still a spring chicken, the odds are that depending on his breed and body size, he may already be creeping into senior citizen status.

Since pets age faster than us and their life expectancy is shorter, a pet that is age 5-8 (or approximately 40-50 in human years) is already halfway through their lifespan . And in some cases, with large breed dogs for example, they are well beyond the halfway mark.

In veterinary medicine, it used to be that any pet over the age of  7 was considered a senior pet - that's just not the case anymore. Our smaller breed dogs and cats are not considered to be senior citizens until after the age of 9 however giant breed dogs reach senior status at age 6. While this may seem trivial, the age and rate at which our pets become adults, seniors and geriatrics affects the type of diagnostics we as doctors recommend as well as our expectations for their lifespan.

Just like in human medicine, as we age our doctors may recommend more advanced testing due to aging of our organs and body systems. The same holds true for our pets - a 1 year old Bichon may only require an annual exam, vaccinations and heartworm/fecal parasite checks; however a 10 year old cat will likely require bi-annual wellness visits,  vaccinations, annual labwork, thyroid monitoring, urinalysis, blood pressure checks and ideally some form of imaging (ultrasound preferably) to monitor her kidneys and intestines. It's the difference between taking my 4 year old to the doctor and my 40 year old self to the doctor - different expectations, different tests, different recommendations.

As our pets age it is often easy to overlook some of the subtle symptoms of disease - we often think that these things happen due to 'old age'. But is it old age? What if we were screening for these things earlier and could catch diseases sooner? Could Fluffy have more years with our family? When you are bringing your pet into the vet its important to start thinking about their behavior at home - some examples include, are they sleeping all night long or are they waking up to go outside? Have you noticed any bathroom accidents in the home? Do they seem to be experiencing some vision issues? Is your cat not grooming herself like she used to? Does Fido take longer to greet you at the door or perhaps he doesn't even realize you have come home? Maybe Scout is having trouble going up and down steps or Callie is drinking more water? If you think it's important, tell us! Even if you don't think it's important! Because old age is not a disease, but there are diseases linked to aging - so let's get on top of them sooner and maybe Fido will live to be 110!