How to care for your Senior Dog

Senior dog care

Are you looking after a senior dog? Then it’s time to get informed on how to take care of your beloved senior pet.

A pet is considered a senior pet when he or she reaches the last stages of his or her normal life expectancy. For dogs, this is the third stage of their lives. You will have to look up your dog breed to learn his or her normal life expectancy. For example, a poodle can live up to 15 years so he or she would be considered a senior dog at 10 years of age.

Dog muzzles

Senior dogs can also be identified by level of health and wellness. It’s not always about age but level of injury a dog has experienced throughout his or her lifetime.

A common indication that your dog is now a senior pet can be observed in oral health. As dogs age they are more vulnerable to dental diseases. Roughly 80% of dogs experience some level of gum disease by 3 years of age. Oral diseases such as gingivitis can assist bacteria to enter the bloodstream and cause damage to your dog’s organs.

A good dental care strategy to combat gum disease is as followed:

  1. Use an oral water additive daily to help break down plaque and tarter or brush your dog’s teeth on a regular basis.

  2. On routine vet visits ask about your dogs teeth.

  3. Feed your dog hard kibble to strengthen the teeth.

  4. Buy chew toys for your dog to help remove plaque.

A second way to care for your aging dog is to provide him or her plenty of exercise. This is crucial to your dog’s health because muscles not in use regularly will make your dog vulnerable to losing muscle mass and tone rapidly. Take your dog for walks and swimming when you have time. These exercises will keep your dog in shape and help with weight control.

If your dog experiences arthritis, buy your dog a ramp to easy on the joints. You should also invest in a orthopedic bed for your dog to make slumber easier.

Beyond arthritis, the most common health concern for dogs is obesity. Feed your senior dog in moderation to combat obesity. You should also keep your dog current on vaccinations to fight off canine diseases.

Although your dog is aging, his or her quality of life doesn’t have to change for the worse.

Senior dog supplements

As long as you do the following for your dog, he or she will live the rest of his or her days happily:

  1. Feed your dog nutritional foods daily and add helpful supplements like NUPRO. This will help your senior dog fight aging by providing the daily energy he or she needs. With the right quality, ingredients and formula, your dog will thrive.

  2. Never let your dog spend days curled up lying down. Get your dog up and at it physically and mentally on the daily. Keeping your dog active will help prevent health issues as long as possible.

Take a look at My Pet Store And More dog health care products to better care for your senior dog today.

My Pet Store And More is here to educate customers on how to better care for their pets. We offer quality products with the best prices around. We provide friendly service with the ability to help guide customers to find exactly what they need.

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Source:

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/pic/article.cfm?aid=235

http://www.petfinder.com/dogs/dog-care/senior-dog-care/

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 20th, 2013 at 2:28 pm. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.