An old dog becomes sluggish: sleeps more, plays less. The former ardor and energy disappear. He is slow and clumsy when walking outdoors. Inside the house the old companion finds a worm cozy place to take a rest and may sleep there for all day. The dog's fur grows gray, more thin and brittle. The senior dog may not hear the owner's call and sometimes barks without a reason.
What is the exact age when the dog gets old? For each animal this line is individual and depends on a dog's size, its' breeds and health. Small dogs usually live longer. Many toy breeds live as much as 20, and seem to be old at 12 to 14 years, whereas large breeds get old at about 6 years. A tiddler that weighs less than 10 kg may live 15 years and more, a middle-sized dog - 11-14 years and the limit for the giants is 8-10 years.
One should be especially attentive when your companion enters a so-called "middle age". For giant dogs it begins at 5 years, for large ones - at 7, for middle-sized - at 8 and for the smallest - at 10 years. At this age it is easy to make a mistake when estimating the dog's condition and leave unnoticed some serious disease regarding it as age-related feature. The symptoms of hard disorders are weight loss, absence of appetite, intensive thirst, frequent urination, heavy breathing, lameness, exhaustion, chronic diarrhea or vomit, bad smell in the mouth or inflamed gums.
Your friend can't tell you he is ill. That's why you should be alert at any alterations in the senior dog's behavior such as refusal to go outdoors, involuntary wetting, apathy. These alarming signs are the evidence of the dog's ill health.
Look at the next 10 rules addressed to the owners of the old dogs.
1. Twice a year necessarily show your dog to the veterinary. The general blood and urine tests made on a healthy dog allow to find out his normal state. And this may help as a comparative matter when the dog will get sick some day. Make veterinary control a routine: the doctor will examine the dog's heart and lungs, mouth, eyes, ears and lymph nodes.
2. Yearly make vaccinations. There is a common mistake that old dogs need not be inoculated, whereas, to the contrary, with age animals become more sensitive to infections and their immune system needs extra-protection, one can obtain through vaccines.
3. Never delay a visit to the vet when you notice something wrong with you companion's health. Don't linger till the situation gets worse. For instance, if your dog's teeth are covered with a brown plague let the vet clean them before they will start to decay and will become the source of infection for the whole organism.
4. In general, you must clean the dog's teeth by yourself using special toothpaste for domestic animals and then wipe the teeth with a soft napkin. Many dogs like the taste of the toothpaste and quickly get used to this procedure. According to the statistics, 85 percent of all senior dogs suffer disorders in teeth and gums.
5. Comb your dogs regularly. Old dogs need more frequent bathing with special shampoos to prevent dandruff and other skin irritations.
6. While combing palpate the dog's body to check up if there are no tumors. Observe the skin and fur, ears and eyes. A healthy mucous membrane of eye must be pink, as well as gums.
7. Sterilization and castration may prevent tumors in mammal glands and prostate. These operations should better be done in the young age, but if not, they also may be very effective in the old age as a preventive measure.
8. Try not to make changes in the home routine to avoid stresses in the old animal. The best for your dog is to live in the family he is accustomed to, and to eat his usual food. Any changes in his life should be introduced gradually. From the moment when the new animal appears in your house, your old companion needs even more attention.
9. Physical exercises should be moderate. Several small walks a day are enough. If the dog gets tired quickly and breathes heavily after a walk, consult your vet.
10. The food for a senior dog must be high-quality and well-balanced. When got old dogs often put on weight because of slow metabolism. But obesity may cause other health problems. Therefore it is very important to keep to the special diet. Give food several times a day, do not allow table scraps and tidbits.
Most often senior dogs are subjected to such serious diseases as cancer, renal dysfunction, liver and heart disorders. If the disease is diagnosed in time and the treatment is started at the early stage, this will elongate the dog's life for several years.
RENAL DISEASES
Each organ begins to work worse some day. In dogs kidneys become weak quicker than other parts of the organism. Specialists say each dog upwards 8 years suffer renal insufficiency. But even if the kidneys are ill, they don't stop their activity. Therefore unfortunately, it is often impossible to diagnose renal deficiency at an early stage. And there are no evident signs until 60 to 75 % of renal function are lost. The disease develops slowly. The first alarming sign is when the dog drinks more and more asks to go outside. Later she loses appetite and her weight reduces. At this stage vomit, diarrhea or constipation can appear, as well as apathy and anemia. Spoiling inside the house may also be due to renal insufficiency, though incontinence (enuresis) may also happen in healthy sterilized bitches when they get old.
Kidneys filter and remove toxins away from the organism, maintain the water-salt balance of blood, as well as balance of minerals and acids. If one or both kidneys are ill, the toxic substances accumulate inside the organism. This can be revealed through the blood and urine tests.
Drugs to cure renal insufficiency include phosphorus, salt, antibiotics and steroids. Kidney transplantation is possible but still is applied in very rare occasions.
LIVER DISEASES
Liver secretes bile, removes toxins, controls blood composition and helps the organism absorb proteins and glucose. In senior dogs the liver activity may reduce because of inflammation, infection, injury or after long administration of certain type of drugs, which keep up liver metabolism. The primary symptoms (apathy, loss of appetite and weight) the owners by mistake recognize as a common age-related changes. In serious cases there are high temperature, vomit, icteritiousness, intense thirst and urination, depression, and enlarged liver revealed by palpation. For correct diagnosis blood, glucose and urine tests as well as biopsy are required. The dog needs low-protein diet with reduced sodium.
CARDIAC INSUFFICIENCY
This disorder most often affect dog upwards 5 years. The average insufficiency may happen because cardiac valves and muscles get worn, or be caused by infection or cardiac helminthes. The symptoms are heavy breathing, cough, weakness during any physical exercise, swollen legs and belly, bluish tongue and gums. The diagnostics procedure implies X-ray examination of ribcage, electrocardiogram, blood pressure test and ultrasound examination. For dogs with this disease only foods low in salt are recommended; calcium and vitamin supplements are highly desirable and sparing exercises are offered. The owner should also watch over the dog's weight, since obesity frequently results in heart disorders.
CANCER
Lymphoma is the most frequent type of cancer found in dogs. It locates in lymphatic glands but may spread to other organs.
Skin tumors of different kind are very often in senior dogs. So it is important to show the animal to a vet to determine whether these skin new growths are malignant or not. Chemotherapy is a standard form of treatment which turns some forms of cancer to remission.
The development of many serious diseases is possible to be interrupted by means of drugs and special diets in case if they are diagnosed timely. In civilized world dogs live longer because preventive measures of many diseases have become customary for the owners who come to know more about them and feel more responsible for their charges. The best remedies in the last decade - the more effective antibiotics, new anti-inflammatory and cardiac medicines - save animals' lives every day. Veterinaries say dogs now live longer because of high-quality feeding and timely treatment.
Translated by Tatiana Karpova (Moscow)
(MSU, Biology faculture, Dep. zoology and ecology).