As a dog owner, an inevitable problem is that as time goes by, dogs will slowly grow old. The care of elderly dogs cannot be like the care of adolescent dogs. We owners need to pay close attention to the status of dogs. Old age Dogs are different from young dogs and mature dogs. Their physical fitness is definitely not that good. Here we owners need to take into account all aspects. I believe many owners will have many questions. Please read below and I will explain them one by one!
I believe many people are curious about this question: How old is an dog? In fact, the level of pet medical care has actually improved a lot in the past ten years. Relatively speaking, people's care for dogs has also improved a lot. Therefore, most people may still have the same old understanding that a dog is seven years old. From the above, I feel that the dog is a very old dog.
In fact, studies in recent years have found that the current average life span of dogs is probably 13-16 years old, so we can basically assume that dogs over 12 years old are considered to be in advanced age ( large dogs ten (over 10 years old), so owners of dogs of this age should pay attention to: , whether it is going to the toilet, eating, or some mobility; our owners need to pay special attention to these on a daily basis!
and . What are the signs if a dog reaches old age? ? In fact, the most common thing is that the dog's mobility starts to slow down. The second thing is that the dog starts to lose weight. The dog's hair is not as shiny as before, and then the dog's whole body starts to lose weight. The reaction will start to become sluggish , and it will no longer come over as soon as it barks. Therefore, when the dog reaches its age and has these symptoms, the first thing our owners need to pay attention to is that these conditions in dogs are caused by diseases. Or is it a normal aging phenomenon of ?
This is actually a big misunderstanding. I used to mistakenly believe that the normal aging of dogs is actually normal and not the same as the disease ! means that if a dog is old, it does not mean that it is sick. ; conversely, this sentence can also be said that if a dog is sick, it does not mean that it is old, so I hope everyone can recognize this. Of course, dogs The chances of dogs getting sick will also increase significantly as they age, so it is very important for us dog owners to pay close attention to the points I just wrote above at home!
In fact, regarding the physical health of elderly dogs, the editor knows through consultation with veterinarians that we dog owners can actually evaluate it through the following aspects. The key point is that friends who have elderly dogs at home need to take good notes!
-1, dog weight
The weight of a dog is very important, because it is related to many diseases. If the weight suddenly reduces to 10% of the total weight, it is actually very thin. At this time, our owner You need to be vigilant. There are many reasons why dogs become thin, and they are nothing more than: first, poor nutrition, and second, dogs may have some potential diseases, such as kidney disease, diabetes ; these will It causes the dog to lose weight, so if the dog suddenly becomes weightless in a short period of time, we need to be alert and send it to the hospital for examination. Of course, it is best to be fine for peace of mind!
-2, evaluate the muscle mass of dogs
How to evaluate the muscle mass of dogs ? After consulting the veterinary editor, I learned that the assessment method is to have a back muscle on both sides of the dog's dorsal spine. You can try it at home and gently press the muscles on the dog's back. is normal and young. A dog is healthy and elastic, and its muscles will be very full . If it is an elderly dog, after it becomes thin, we will generally see that the elderly dog is very thin, and the spine will be obvious, because The back muscles of older dogs will begin to shrink, and when we press them, they will feel thin and have no elasticity.What does
mean? ? This means that the nutritional status of the dog is not very good, and there may be underlying problems that cause the dog to lose muscle mass. Therefore, I recommend that pet owners with elderly dogs at home measure the dog’s weight about once a week. If the weight is decreasing every week, and it drops to the 10% I just mentioned above, it is necessary to take the dog to a regular veterinary hospital to consult whether there is any underlying disease occurring in the dog, or whether it is due to the owner’s feeding method. Something went wrong.
-3, Is your dog dehydrated?
Also, you can judge whether your dog has symptoms of dehydration at home. This is a good judgment. We can pull the dog’s skin. Normally, the skin of a dog that is not dehydrated is full of elasticity, so when you pull it up and let go, it will It will return to its original position immediately; you can also open the dog's mouth to check the moistness of its gums. Normal gums will feel wet when you touch them. If it is a dehydrated dog, its gums will feel dry when you touch them. It's dry, and the dog's skin will look like gummy , but it will slowly return to its original shape when pulled, which means the dog is dehydrated.
There are many reasons why dogs are dehydrated. The most common one is not drinking enough water. If it is a disease problem, it is usually diabetes and kidney disease. It can also cause symptoms of dehydration in dogs. In this case, it is recommended to go to the hospital. Test it, after all, it is not a young dog, so there is no cost of trial and error.
-4, some small details of dog life
and then there are things that happen to older dogs. A few things that our owners usually need to observe are: whether the dog suddenly drinks too much or too little water , is there any situation where the dog is lame in and when walking? Even more serious is that the dog suddenly can't get up one morning; there is also the problem of dog's oral cavity . Check whether the dog has a lot of dental calculus . This is very important for dog oral problems, because the oral cavity Problems will affect the dog's eating, whether the dog has red and swollen gums, etc.; these small details can actually be discovered by us owners in life. The key point is that we owners should take timely action and respond if we find out. Change, otherwise the dog's physical condition will get worse and worse.
-5, Pay attention to the diet of elderly dogs
As dogs enter their advanced age, diet is actually particularly important, because as dogs get older, their food intake and appetite usually decrease, and they do not eat as much as they did when they were young. , so the nutrients absorbed by the body will also be reduced a lot, so elderly dogs tend to eat high in animal protein and eat more meals less, otherwise the nutrition will not be supplemented. In fact, this is one of the important reasons for muscle atrophy in elderly dogs; focus: old age Protein supplementation for dogs is the key point. High-protein foods are nothing more than egg whites and steamed chicken breasts mixed with some dog food . By the way, it is best to add some vegetables, sweet potatoes, broccoli, and so on.
-6, a problem that medium and large elderly dogs will encounter - the dog gradually becomes unable to walk.
The editor is actually quite uncomfortable with the problem I will talk about below. Generally, medium and large dogs, such as: Labrador , golden retriever and other types of dogs, even after they have made a lot of efforts, will slowly begin to be unable to walk as they get older. Most of the inability to walk occurs in this way. Medium and large dogs over 12 to 13 years old generally cannot stand up smoothly on their own and need the help of their owners to stand up. They may also fall to the ground after walking a few steps.
Generally, in this case, it may be that the dog has degenerative arthritis, or there are some neurological and muscle problems. However, if these diseases are ruled out, it can only be said that the dog is older. , as owners, it is best for us to consult a veterinarian and do some muscle rehabilitation for the dog. I remember that there is a Chinese medicine acupuncture that is actually very effective for elderly dogs who cannot stand up. The editor has seen dogs after acupuncture. The dog, who couldn't stand up before, actually stood up later.
The above methods can help elderly dogs regain a certain degree of mobility. Unfortunately, I still have to pour a bucket of cold water on everyone. The above methods do not mean that if you keep doing it, the dog will gradually get better. Most of them After a while, the dog will eventually become unable to walk.
-6, care after the dog cannot walk
If the dog starts to be unable to walk, the dog will lie on the ground almost all day, then the time it is in contact with the floor will be longer than before, and it may be on the floor at home for a day It is possible to lie on the floor for more than ten to twenty hours. Once the dog's muscles and joints are in contact with the floor for a long time, they will generate pressure. The pressure will cause bedsores on the parts of the dog's body that are in contact with the ground. It makes sense. Simple, just like people, if they are paralyzed and bedridden for a long time, bedsores will appear. Once these bedsores appear in dogs, it will be very painful for the dog because they will be very painful.
Therefore, in order to prevent the occurrence of bedsores , the pad on which the dog sleeps is very important. You need to choose a suitable bedsore pad for the dog. Remember not to think that everything will be fine with a bedsore pad. The owner still needs one every 3 to 4 times. Help your dog turn over when he is young, because if he does not turn over frequently, bedsores will appear on his elbow joints , shoulder joints, hip joints , so be especially careful.
-7, the cleaning part of elderly dogs
For elderly dogs that have difficulty walking or are paralyzed, if the cleaning is not done well, there will be a high probability of some urine burns, on the skin, and even some urinary tract infections. , so generally veterinarians will recommend shaving the dog's lower body hair slightly, and we owners also need to clean around the dog's urethral opening frequently, so as not to cause some infection problems in the dog.
The above are a few small details of caring for elderly dogs at home. I hope they can help everyone. They are also recorded by the editor myself. My dogs may use them in the future, so prepare them in advance. Although the editor’s dogs I am still very healthy now, but I feel sad thinking about how I will slowly age and stagger around in the future.
Finally, I want to say that maybe the dog is old and has difficulty walking. If we take care of it day after day, our owners will become irritable and forget the joy of raising dogs. In fact, we change the position. You can understand it after thinking about it. We humans don’t want to keep rolling around in feces and urine in our old age, or lie in bed all day unable to move. We hope that we can project such emotions onto dogs and be considerate of dogs. Dogs In fact, I don't want to do this, and I also want to play with the owner.
I think this is very important. It is best for us owners to constantly ask ourselves when taking care of our dogs: Is the dog happy today? Or how many hours in the 24 hours today is it happy? Only when an elderly dog lives happily can it have meaning in life!
PS: I have a lot to say today, sorry, I hope everyone’s dogs will live a healthy life in the future!
