Caring For Your Senior Pet
Is your pet getting a little grey around the muzzle or slowing down on walks a bit? As your pet ages, it's important to understand what's happening and how you can make the adaptations that help them to keep on enjoying life.
This section of our website provides you with all the information you need to make sure your old pet stays active and healthy throughout his senior years. Click on any of the section links to learn more about how we can help you care for senior pets. Our vets are available for in-practice or tele-advice consultations on helping your senior pet to live well.
Helping Old Pets With Pain
As our pets get older it is common for them to develop painful illnesses or diseases. A concern for many pet parents is how to tell if their pet is struggling or not.
In this section, you'll find information about what painful conditions commonly affect pets. How to recognise the signs of pain in your pet. And, most importantly, what the range of treatment options including acupuncture, laser therapy, medications and supplements that can help your pets stay comfortable during their senior years.​
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What's the Difference Between a Senior Pet and a Geriatric Pet?
As animals enter their senior years, there’s a tendency among vets and pet owners to assume their needs are the same from the age of seven years. But this is a big mistake leading to poor decisions or missed opportunities to help animals live longer and better.
At Roundwood Vets we think differently and have developed a second age bracket, the “Geriatric Pet”, to allow you a better understanding of what is going on with your pet.
Living Well With Arthritis
Almost all older pets will struggle with arthritis and joint pain as they get older (much like we do).
The great news is that there are many remedies and treatments that have a hugely beneficial impact on your pet Allowing mobility to improve dramatically and pain to be controlled.
Roundwood Vets offer complete health assessments and access to supplements, medications, laser therapy and acupuncture. ​
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Living Well With Heart Problems
Heart disease affects about 15% of senior pets and in some breeds, this figure can be a lot higher.
While any condition that affects the heart muscle must be taken seriously, it is also perfectly possible with the right diagnosis, medications and home care plan, for a pet with heart disease to live a perfectly full and fun life for many months and years.
Click below to learn more about heart disease and how we manage it to help pets live a great life regardless.
Living Well With Kidney Problems
As our pets live longer and longer, we are starting to see cases of kidney disease more frequently.
Cats are affected much more often and almost all old cats will have some degree of kidney problem. So how can you help to protect your pet from this debilitating problem? And what are the best ways to maintain them if they have been diagnosed with the condition?
Click below to learn about kidney disease, how we diagnose it and most importantly what steps you can take to help your pet live a great life despite the disease.
Living Well With Cancer
Cancer is for many pet owners, the scariest of all diagnoses. And while it can be a devastating thing to hear, a diagnosis of cancer does not have to mean the end. In this article learn more about helping your pet to live well with cancer.​
Simply put, cancer is caused by a small group of normal body cells that start to do things they shouldn’t. Sometimes these rogue cells grow and divide to form lumps. Other times, they produce chemical imbalances in the body that cause problems. Some grow fast, some tiny. Some can be devastating, while others do very little and cause no harm. It is not a single disease and cancer affects every pet differently.
Learn more about cancer and how to help your pet live well despite the condition here.
Living Well With Tooth Problems
Although overlooked by many as insignificant or 'something to keep an eye on', the truth is that dental disease is the commonest disease your pet is likely to be suffering and almost all senior and geriatric pets are suffering from gum infections and toothache.
Affected pets lose years of quality life as a result. So what does dental disease look (and more likely smell) like? And how can you help your senior pet live a great life if he suffers from it?
