Oldie
Guides
Senior dog care guides
Fifty-five short articles on what changes in a dog after about seven, written for the person doing the caring. Each one cites veterinary guidelines and peer-reviewed research, and each one ends the same way: your vet knows your dog. They are the same articles that live inside the Oldie app.
Jump to: Senior basics · Mobility and joints · Mind and behaviour · Eyes and ears · Teeth and mouth · Weight and nutrition · Kidneys, hormones and digestion · Heart · Cancer and lumps · Breathing and airway · Comfort, skin and temperature · Emergencies and when to call
Senior basics
- When is a dog senior There is no single birthday that makes a dog senior.
- Senior checkups and screening Both AAHA and the AVMA recommend that senior dogs see the vet at least twice a year, because older animals.
- Life expectancy and body size Large studies of pet dogs agree on the main pattern: smaller dogs live longer, and the heaviest breeds live.
Mobility and joints
- Arthritis and joint stiffness Osteoarthritis is one of the most common chronic painful conditions in dogs.
- Recognising chronic pain at home Dogs rarely cry from long-term pain. They change habits instead, which is why AAHA's 2022 pain guidelines say.
- Hip dysplasia Hip dysplasia is abnormal development of the hip joint.
- Elbow dysplasia Elbow dysplasia is abnormal development of the elbow in young, large, fast-growing dogs, most often Labrador.
- Intervertebral disc disease Discs cushion the bones of the spine. In chondrodystrophic breeds such as the Dachshund, French Bulldog.
- Degenerative myelopathy Degenerative myelopathy is a slow, painless deterioration of the spinal cord in older dogs, usually starting.
- Luxating patella A luxating patella is a kneecap that slips out of its groove.
- Wobbler syndrome Wobbler syndrome, known to vets as cervical spondylomyelopathy, is compression of the spinal cord in the neck.
- Corns on the paw pads A corn is a hard, painful circle of thickened keratin in a paw pad, almost always in a sighthound.
Mind and behaviour
- Cognitive decline Canine cognitive dysfunction is the dog's version of dementia.
- Keeping an older mind busy Enrichment is the one part of cognitive care an owner controls completely.
- Night waking and restlessness A senior who paces, whines or wants out at three in the morning is describing a change, not misbehaving.
- Seizures and epilepsy Epilepsy is repeated seizures with no cause that can be found.
Eyes and ears
- Cataracts and cloudy eyes Most older dogs develop a bluish haze in the centre of the lens.
- Glaucoma Glaucoma is high pressure inside the eye.
- Progressive retinal atrophy Progressive retinal atrophy is a group of inherited diseases in which the retina slowly degenerates.
- Dry eye Dry eye, or keratoconjunctivitis sicca, is a shortage of the watery part of the tears.
- Hearing loss Age-related hearing loss is common in older dogs.
- Lens luxation in terriers Primary lens luxation is an inherited weakness of the fibres that hold the lens in place.
Teeth and mouth
- Dental disease Periodontal disease, infection and inflammation of the tissues around the teeth, is one of the most common.
Weight and nutrition
- Weight gain Extra weight shortens a dog's life. In 50,000 neutered dogs of twelve breeds, overweight dogs had a higher.
- Choosing food for an older dog There is no legal definition of a senior diet.
Kidneys, hormones and digestion
- Chronic kidney disease Chronic kidney disease develops quietly over months or years before it shows, and once present it is.
- Urinary stones Bladder stones are common, and the type decides the treatment.
- Diabetes Diabetes in dogs is almost always the insulin-dependent kind, and it is a disease of middle-aged and older.
- Hypothyroidism An underactive thyroid slows everything down.
- Cushing's disease Cushing's disease, or hyperadrenocorticism, is too much cortisol.
- Addison's disease Addison's disease, or hypoadrenocorticism, is the mirror of Cushing's: the adrenal glands make too little.
- Pancreatitis Pancreatitis is inflammation of the pancreas.
- Liver disease The liver rarely announces trouble early.
Heart
- Mitral valve disease Degenerative mitral valve disease is the most common heart disease of dogs, and it is a disease of age and of.
- Dilated cardiomyopathy Dilated cardiomyopathy is a weakening of the heart muscle that is the most common heart disease of large.
Cancer and lumps
- Cancer in older dogs Cancer is the leading cause of death in older dogs.
- Hemangiosarcoma Hemangiosarcoma is a cancer of blood vessel walls that grows most often in the spleen or heart, where it can.
- Osteosarcoma Osteosarcoma is bone cancer, and it is a disease of big dogs.
- Lymphoma Lymphoma is a cancer of the immune system's lymphocytes and one of the most common cancers of dogs.
- Mast cell tumours Mast cell tumours are the most common skin cancer of dogs, and they can look like anything: a soft lump, a.
Breathing and airway
- Laryngeal paralysis Laryngeal paralysis is a common acquired problem of middle-aged and older large breeds, above all the.
- Brachycephalic airway problems Flat-faced breeds breathe through an airway that is too small for the body.
- Collapsing trachea In some small breeds the rings of cartilage that hold the windpipe open weaken with age, so the trachea.
Comfort, skin and temperature
- Setting up the home for a senior Most falls and refusals in an older dog trace back to slippery floors and heights.
- Cold sensitivity and thin skin Sighthounds such as Greyhounds, Galgos, Whippets and Italian Greyhounds carry very little body fat, a fact.
- Heat sensitivity Heat-related illness is more often caused by exercise on a warm day than by a hot car.
- Skin and ear problems Ear and skin trouble is among the most common reasons any dog visits the vet, and in seniors a new skin.
- Zinc-responsive skin disease in northern breeds Alaskan Malamutes, Siberian Huskies and some German Shorthaired Pointers inherit a reduced ability to absorb.
- Sebaceous adenitis Sebaceous adenitis destroys the oil glands in the skin.
Emergencies and when to call
- Signs that need a call today Older dogs hide illness. AAHA's senior guidelines list the changes owners should report rather than watch.
- Bloat (gastric dilatation and volvulus) Bloat, or gastric dilatation and volvulus, is the stomach filling with gas and twisting on itself.
- Anaesthesia and sighthounds Greyhounds, galgos, whippets, salukis and the other sighthounds were bred for speed, and the body that.
- Blood tests that read differently in sighthounds A Greyhound's normal blood work can look abnormal on a standard laboratory report.
- Leishmaniasis in dogs from the Mediterranean Galgos, podencos and other dogs adopted from Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece may carry Leishmania infantum.
- Drug sensitivity in collie-type breeds (MDR1) Collies and the breeds descended from them can carry a mutation in the MDR1 (ABCB1) gene that removes a pump.
This is general information, not a diagnosis. Your vet knows your dog. If something is urgent, the signs that need a vet today guide is the place to start.