Just like in people, as dogs age they experience more problems with their health. The age at which dogs are considered senior depends a lot on their breed, but in general anywhere from 8-10 years of age is when a dog is considered to be senior.
Generally for dogs it is recommended that you take them for a veterinary exam at least once a year. However for senior dogs is recommended that you see your veterinarian twice a year. The reason to see them twice a year is that way you can stay on top of health problems as they develop.
Here are five common senior dog problems:
1. Arthritis and joint problems
2. Site seeing issues (reduced vision due to cataracts)
3. Metabolism problems
4. Kidney and liver problems
5. Tooth and gum problems
As you can see these problems are the same ones we commonly see in older people as well. While many of these health issues are inevitable, you can delay or prevent many of them be feeding a high quality dog food, keeping your dog lean and in shape, and providing lots of fresh clean water everyday.
One of the main things that you can do to help your older dog stay healthy is to do your own physical exam on them every couple weeks. To do this, just simply rub your hands over your dog and fell for any lumps or any signs of pain. Also look in their mouth to see if you can see any problems as well, like missing teeth or inflamed gums.
