Senior Dogs

[sabies]

Sadie has been getting bloodwork since she was 9. This August she will be 12. I had to ask for the bloodwork to be done - no vet ever suggested it. I have been to several vets over Sadie's years and haven't met one that stands out to me.

Right now Sadie is dealing with a heart murmur that started about a year or 2 ago. It is still mild but it's not something that will go away. The vet made no suggestions on what I can do for it except to feed her a senior diet but I have begun giving her supplements that I read are helpful (Wysong's c-biotic and EFA). I hope she can survive many years with this.

[aly]

Good for you on researching it yourself!

I've learned to listen to vet's suggestions, but to also educate myself on issues. They are wrong or uneducated about things more often than I'd like to admit

I too am trying to find a vet who I can totally trust. There is one in town who I do like a lot. I've been meaning to get all my animals transferred to that clinic, but their current vet is so close that I keep just going there. Its not a bad vet by any means, I just like the other one much better. Well, I guess they were kinda bad when I took Chance in with a HIGH fever and they didn't do anything to bring it down. When I took Chance to the other vet, they got rid of his fever in an hour.

[4 Dog Mother]

I didn't think a dog was a senior until it was 10 or older. But what do I know. Oreo is 14 and 1/2 and we think she will live forever because she is the orneriest of the bunch. (you don't MAKE her do anything unless you want bit!) I guess I would also say that I think it depends on breeds. Like with smaller dogs like Oreo they tend to live until 12-14 years or older so their senior age would be different than a large breed who may only live until 8 like a Great Dane. Then 6 would be senior.

[clara4457]

I always have the blood tests done on my senior dogs. I also have it done on newly adopted dogs. When I took Penny Lane to her first vet visit, they found low protein levels. As a result they were able to dig a little deeper and found a large ovarian cyst. My vet charges $80 for the extended tests. This is from a hand out my vet gave me:

Level I Baseline Screening
Beginning at a "human relative age" of 40 years, this basic screening uses blood tests
to evaluate internal organ function, especially the liver and kidneys, and monitors changes in red and white blood cells. It provides a "snapshot" of your pet’s health to help us monitor changes in the years to come.

Level II Senior Profile
Beginning at a "human relative age" of 45-50 years, the Level II profile is more thorough than the Level I Screen. In addition to the Level I blood tests, we check your pet for hypertension and glaucoma. A urinalysis is included, which aids in detecting early stages of kidney disease, one of the more common problems seen in older dogs.

Since dogs can't really tell us where they hurt or if they don't feel good - the blood tests can be an early warning system.

[stacwase]

With Jake (going on 8 years old) we do all of the preventative stuff (all the vaccines, teeth cleaning etc.). He has to have lab work before his teeth cleaning. My vet will sometimes do labs before prescribing a medication or something. Other than that, we don't have annually-scheduled labs. I think if he was going to be on any medications long-term, I'd have his liver and kidney labs checked at least once a year.