How to Help Your Aging Dog

As your pet dog ages, they start to become weaker, and thus, taking care of them happens to be much more difficult. If you are the pet owner, you may find yourself having difficulty keeping up with your dog’s aging process as they struggle with its effects.

Older dogs will have different needs when it comes to care compared to younger ones, which doesn’t really come off as a surprise. As a responsible pet owner, caring and navigating through this stage of life for your dog is important. An older dog may develop arthritis or other types of progressive medical conditions over time, causing them to slow down their pace. Your dog may even have difficulty walking or playing, and may even get tired easily as well. Your dog may have trouble going about their normal routine as they age.  But how do you help your dog as it ages?

REGULAR VISITS TO THE VETERINARIAN

In order to keep your pet’s medical condition monitored, regular visits to the veterinarian are recommended. This way, your dog’s veterinarian will be able to check on your dog frequently, enabling him or her to look at its heart functions, hearing, eyesight, and other vitals as well. If you can, you can do this once every six months. Your veterinarian will also be able to evaluate the overall health of your dog and make necessary recommendations in keeping them healthy.

VACCINATIONS TO PREVENT DISEASES

Dogs also need to be protected against diseases, and this is also the same for the ones who are getting older. As your dog ages, they may need to have routine vaccination trips to the veterinarian to help combat disease may be needed.

TAKE CARE OF THEIR MOBILITY

Another common issue that aging dogs have to deal with is joint pain such as arthritis. As they age, their joints and muscles become weaker too. Aside from giving them supplements or medications to ease the pain, you may also want to consider getting them equipment that can aid them such as support harnesses. A dog wheelchair or cart can also provide your pet with stability as well.

HAVE YOUR DOG EXERCISE REGULARLY

Some pet owners may think that dogs won’t need to exercise as they grow older. But the thing is, exercising can also have a positive impact on their health. This will help maintain their weight as well. This will help them balance and build their stamina, maintain their level of energy especially if they can still do light jogging. However, make sure you consult your veterinarian regarding possible exercises first for your dog so that you can work around your pet’s health limitations.

CONSIDER SUPPLEMENTS

There are also some dog supplements that can benefit aging pups. For example, fish oil can help with joint support, while glucosamine and chondroitin supplements can help dogs that are suffering from arthritis.

PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR OLD PAL!

Younger dogs can roam around freely without much supervision, but older dogs may need to be kept an eye on. As dogs age, their vision and hearing may also start to weaken, and this may put them at risk of accidents, and they may even get lost easily too. It is important to pay more attention to your pet as it grows older.