Senior Pet Health Profiles

Senior pets are generally considered those aged over 8 years, or over 5 years of age in giant breed dogs (like Bernese Mountain dogs, St Bernards and Newfoundlands).

Senior pets, like senior people are more likely to suffer from age-related illnesses like arthritis, kidney disease, cancer (generally speaking) diabetes and heart disease.

To help protect senior pets we advise an annual (blood test) health profile for all pets aged over 8 years.

Age-related illnesses

· Kidney Disease

· Heart Disease

· Cancer

· Arthritis

· Diabetes

· Liver disease

· Hyperthyroidism (in cats)

· Hyperadrenococricism (in dogs)

What does a senior pet health profile involve?

Senior pet health profiles involve a small blood sample taken from pets, often at time of their annual vaccination and health exam. A urine sample is very useful and frequently required to assist in determining a pets health.

Blood samples are sent to the laboratory and tested for renal (kidney) parameters, liver enzymes, blood glucose (sugar), blood count and thyroid level in cats. A urine sample allows us to look at the concentration of urine, and presence of sugar (in diabetes), protein (kidney disease) or blood (urinary tract infections, cancers or kidney disease).

Blood test results are returned overnight, and we then call pet owners and discuss results.

Text Box: What if my pet has changes on their blood tests? Changes noted on blood test results enable us to control older-age related diseases soon. Some diseases like chronic renal failure (most commonly in cats) do not have a cure—but can be dramatically slowed by helping pets with diet and lifestyle changes. Many older diseases are occurring without pet owners knowing—the early signs of kidney disease are insidious. Pets may seem to drink a lot of water. Sometimes changes on blood test results require further investigation, either with further, more specific tests or imaging i.e. ultrasound, radiographs or CT. Pre-Anaesthetic Profiles All anaesthetics carry some form of risk to the patient. Before pets (and people) undergo anaesthesia, a pre-anaesthetic blood test is recommended to determine the function of kidneys and liver which are affected by an anaesthetic, and are used by the body to recover from anaesthetics. This is especially important in older pets, where the chance of having diseases is higher. A small blood sample is taken, usually with a urine sample and run in our in-house pathology machine before pets are sedated to determine the best course of anaesthesia.

Text Box: Why perform routine blood tests on senior pets? Many diseases afflicting senior pets can be treated more successfully if caught earlier—even before pets are noticeably sick. Older pets are often on medications which may affect liver of kidneys Older pets are more likely to be afflicted by certain diseases

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Text Box: Did you know? Cats and dogs age at 4-5 times the rate of people. Having an annual blood test for a cat or dog is equivalent to a blood test taken every 5 years for a person.