The average lifespan of a dog is 12 years, with super small or large dogs living slightly shorter lives and medium-sized dogs living longer. Small dogs begin to age in their fifth year. Of course, each dog’s health varies, and it is common to see older dogs getting stronger. Exercise: Choose a cool day and take a leisurely walk (1 km at 30 minutes). In addition, dogs that are obese or have heart disease should pay attention to their breathing and heart rate, and the level of exercise should be controlled. Regular health checkups: Dogs between the ages of 6 and 10 years old should have an annual health checkup, which can be done at the same time as their annual vaccination. Older dogs over 10 years of age should have bi-annual checkups (older dogs still need vaccinations because of their reduced immunity). Temperature change: Older dogs are less adaptable to temperature, too cold or too hot can easily cause discomfort. Therefore, in winter and summer, please provide your dog with the right temperature environment as much as possible. Bathing: Depending on each dog’s health condition, if there is no skin disease, a bath once a month is sufficient. If it gets dirty, wipe it with a dry cloth or a hot, wet towel. Because bathing can easily cause nervous tension or psychological stress in dogs, and if they accidentally catch a cold, there is a possibility of pneumonia. Always use warm water when bathing and make sure to blow dry afterwards. Considerate mood: The old dog’s back and legs are not as strong as they used to be, so it can’t be active in the game to experience your love for it. If there are other young dogs in your home, you must take special care to give the older dog the dignity of an elder in action, otherwise once the other dog becomes the pack leader, fights usually result in physical and mental injuries to the older dog. On the other hand, older dogs also have a tendency to be stubborn, and if the situation is not serious, you may wish to tolerate it in a considerate mood. Just because they need a quiet and peaceful resting environment, a loud reprimanding attitude should be avoided at all costs. Food for Older Dogs From middle age onwards, the dog’s diet must be gradually adjusted, so please grasp the following four points. Give soft food to suit the chewing ability of the teeth, but avoid fatty meat. Constipation is a common occurrence due to reduced digestive organs, so it is important to provide adequate fiber. To reduce the burden on the kidneys, liver and heart, reduce the intake of salt and protein. In order to help digestion and easy absorption, it is better to have three feedings a day. Although the amount of food is not as much as when they were younger, the basic nutrients should also be complete. There are now dog foods on the market designed for older dogs that are well suited to their needs. If your dog no longer has healthy teeth to chew food, you may want to soften the dog food with milk or water first, and try to chop and cook the meat food. However, if your dog has not been used to drinking milk for a long time, suddenly giving too much milk may lead to dysentery, so add milk slowly in small amounts and then increase it slowly. Diseases that older dogs are prone to diseases that are more difficult to cure in old age, plus the resistance to skin diseases and infectious diseases is weakened in older dogs, so the chance of going to the hospital is even higher. Therefore, a healthy old dog is dependent on the young age to start maintenance. Old dogs have a wide variety of diseases, including internal organ problems, brain and nerve disorders, and cancer cases. The five diseases listed in this article are the most important old dog diseases, and if your dog has started to have such symptoms, it also indicates the beginning of the aging phenomenon. Cataracts﹕Symptoms – clouding of the crystal body of the eye, which can lead to blindness in severe cases. It is easiest to detect when you choose to observe your dog at night, when the pupils are wide open. Treatment: There are treatments such as surgery and medication, but they are not always cured depending on the severity. So early detection is an important key to treatment. Generally speaking, dogs will have cataracts around the age of ten. Diabetes can also sometimes cause cataracts, which can be detected by urine tests. However, treatment of excessively thin dogs is generally not encouraged, as its effectiveness is very limited.
