Helping you and your pet have a long life together Thanks to advances in veterinary health care, cats and dogs are living longer than ever before. At Broadway Veterinary Hospital, we want to help you and your enjoy these years as much as possible. To make sure that your pet has the best quality of life possible, we follow AAHA's Senior Care Guidelines, a framework that helps us help you. What can you do?
While old age is not a disease, there are many diseases that unfortunately accompany old age. As our pets age, they often slow down, gain or lose weight, and slowly quit doing some of the activities they enjoyed in their youth. We are conditioned to downplay these changes as just old age. However these "old age changes" could be signs of early organ failure or other disease. With preventative care, you can greatly improve your pet's life.
Exams are crucial to help detect and prevent disease. They are where Senior Care begins. Pets cannot talk to tell us how they feel and they often mask symptoms, hiding any illness from us. During the exam, your veterinarian will check all of your pet's body systems and ask about key behavior or activity changes to determine your pet's state of wellness.
Laboratory Testing is a like window into your pet, allowing the veterinarian to know the status of your pet's internal organs, like the kidneys, liver and thyroid. We recommend starting annual lab work when your pet is well, to help us establish a "baseline," letting us know what is normal for your pet and helping us track changes. Sometimes even subtle changes can help us catch things early, hopefully before your pet even shows any symptoms.
ActivityAs pets age, their major senses can dull. Play-time and training can help keep them sharp.
Nutrition Pet's nutrition needs change as they age. Super-premium Senior Pet diets help prevent obesity and can help prevent certain diseases or illnesses. Feel free to stop by our Pet Nutrition Center or talk to a member of our staff to find out what diet would be right for your pet.
Supplements can provide extra nutrients, benefit the immune system, decrease joint paint, act as inflammatories, and possibly even improve memory, vision, and concentration, but not all supplements are created equal. For example, when Omega 3 and 6 fatty acids degrade they can actually cause negative health consequences, such as inflammation. For this reason, we only carry high-quality nutrional supplements in our Pet Nutrition Center.
Excercise The body of a pet that does not exercise will deteriorate more rapidly. Exercise is a great idea to help keep your pet fit; just be gentle with arthritic or debilitated pets. Also, like with people, start slow if your pet has not exercised in awhile.
Other Tests may be recommended depending upon your pet's age, breed, and general health. With these tests we can detect heart disease, elevated blood pressure, eye disease, and other issues. Please speak with your veterinarian to determine what tests would be appropriate for your pet.
When is Your Pet a Senior?
Cats are considered seniors at 7 years of age, the equivalent of 45 human years, and geriatric at the age of 10, the equivalent of 57 humans years.
For dogs, it varies based upon their size. Dogs generally becomes seniors between 5 and 8 years of age.
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hile old age is not a disease, there are many diseases that unfortunately accompany old age. As our pets age, they often slow down, gain or lose weight, and slowly quit doing some of the activities they enjoyed in their youth. We are conditioned to downplay these changes as just old age. However these "old age changes" could be signs of early organ failure or other disease. With preventative care, you can greatly improve your pet's life. 
As pets age, their major senses can dull. Play-time and training can help keep them sharp. 