Arthritis & Aging Pets, Helping Geriatric Dogs & Cats

It’s easy to take care of aging pets because we have so many new supplements and treatments to keep pets healthy mentally and physically.

If you have a geriatric dog or cat, start by checking if the pet has any symptoms of arthritis. The questions to ask are does your pet:

·          hesitate before climbing stairs

·          walk more slowly than you when on the leash

·          need help to climb onto the sofa or bed

·          hesitate or circle several times before lying down

·          make a soft thudding sound when lying down because it actually falls over rather than flexes its joints and lowers itself to the ground

·          wobble when it squats to urinate or defecate

·          urinate or defecate without bending its knees

·          have constipation (hard stools) because it hurts its back & knees to pass stool

The odds are your geriatric dog and cat have arthritis. Remember, cats and dogs evolved to hide signs of illness, which is the opposite of what humans do, so we need to train ourselves to look closely at their behaviour. Don’t wait to treat your pet until its arthritis is so severe it cannot hide the symptoms any more. With our geriatrics, often the arthritis is so severe they cannot hide all the signs.

 The multimodal approach we discussed in a previous blog listed nearly a dozen different ways to help pets with arthritis. Some of them will be ideal for your geriatric dog and cat.

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