So You Have an Old Dog
I get this question a lot:
“I’ve got an older dog and I wanna do “all I can” to extend life, but more importantly QUALITY of LIFE”
MOST of the time it comes down to “getting around comfortably” and not losing condition quickly.
What can you do to ensure that the dog is
- Comfortable
- Basically healthy
- Mentally sharp
- Competent to engage
- Not carrying infection in its mouth
- Not aging-out too fast? (How to de-celerate arthritis and make medications last a LOT longer)
Aging in dogs *actually* has to do with:
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Teeth Quality
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Organ Function
Blood testing can be “pretty basic” and still provide insights into the prospects for an old dog. If the dog’s liver and kidneys are high-functioning there is a LOT you can do for an older dog. I do support “basic biochemistry” for older dogs. After that, Fructosamine tests, glomerular filtration rates, a neurology consult, blood Ammonia levels, double contrast cysto-urethrography and other unnecessary tests should be left to the commissioned, franchise vets should you choose to use those hospitals.
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Neurological Function (Mobility, but also Mentation – Dementia)
If a dog is disengaged, and not participating in family life either by choice, or by way of dementia – nothing else really matters. If your dog doesn’t join you at dinner, supervise the kitchen, check out the perimeter of the house, beg for food, engage in it’s own “version” of play – maybe life has lost it’s luster? Is it Time?
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Orthopedic Function or Dysfunction (Mobility)
There is a ridiculous amount you can do for arthritis and mobility issues. If your pet is NOT responding to arthritis medications and seems uncomfortable – do NOT put them to sleep before getting a few (or a lot) of pounds off them. I cannot stand it when an old dog comes in with a BCS6 and isn’t responding to medications to help it get up. And the owner wants to put it to sleep. And I’m like, do you think ANY old man could get up if he weighed 350 pounds? Drop some pounds off such dogs and suddenly, their medications work. Older dogs shouldn’t be put on Steroids for arthritis before the weight is DOWN and the simpler safer remedies are tried. Examples include RAT protocol, Aspirin, or following this PROGRESSION leading up to “heavyweight” medications. NEVER USE LIBRELA. If you don’t know what Librela is, try to never find out.
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Immune System and Anti-Oxidants
There are a lot of supplements and anti-oxidants on the market. Some of them have been REMARKABLE in their effect. I highly recommend NAC for any dog over 10 years old. I highly recommend DHEA, and Geraniol. I HIGHLY recommend the RAT protocol even if you’re using Deramax or Phycox. And I highly recommend Phycox. There are so many other supplements.
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Cancer
I’m the worst as finding cancer because I don’t try very hard. Here’s a simple example: A dog has a big swelling between it’s eyes. You can “pretty much tell” (or with some easy tests” that it’s not the usual abscess or lipoma. So you wonder if it’s a sinus problem, bone infection, cancer. Well if you treat a sinus problem and a bone infection and it DOES NOT GET BETTER – isn’t it cancer? Usually. And do we want to do chemotherapy, targeted radiation, implants, etc on a dog that is already “checking out” mentally and physically? I doubt it. And yet, in franchise veterinary medicine with young, commissioned vets on production-quotas and bonus, it’s common to jump on board with chest xrays, blood cultures, bone marrow biopsies, cancer gene-testing, MRI of the brain, liver biopsies and ultrasound, glomerular filtration rates, a neurology consult for good measure mainly to sustain having the service, blood Ammonia levels, double contrast cysto-urethrography and other unnecessary, even unrelated tests. This link explains what is (sometimes) my approach to cancer.
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When “It’s Time” to Let Them Go
This is a simple document that’s NOT a tear-jerker, no drama, no melodrama. It asks you twenty easy, OBJECTIVE questions that have come from FORTY years behind the counter as a veterinarian. The answers are totaled and then you can “see” what you “probably” should be doing.
