Archive for the ‘Senior Dog Information’ Category
Tumors In Senior Dogs
Tumors of the brain and spinal cord are seen with relative infrequency in senior dogs, the former having a higher incidence in boxers and Boston terriers
Symptoms will vary depending on the actual location and size of the tumor but will often include dullness, staggering, pressing the head against a wall, walking in circles, convulsions, or just weakness in one or more legs.
In the hands of a competent veterinary neurosurgeon, many spinal tumors can be removed if detected before permanent damage has been done to the spinal cord in senior dogs.
Chemotherapy is sometimes needed for senior dogs and a brief period following such an operation. Brain tumors can only occasionally be removed, as most are inoperable due either to their size or location within the brain.
Such was the case with my dog TiTi, a gentle and ever so lovable standard poodle. Within a period of only one week he became suddenly aggressive, growled often at his owner, developed an insatiable appetite, and finally had a severe convulsive seizure.
In consultation with a veterinary neurologist, an inoperable brain tumor was diagnosed. Medication controlled the symptoms and improved the dog’s behavior for almost a month, then seizures started again, but with increased frequency and severity. Medication was ineffective at any dose and TiTi was euthanized.
This could happen to any dog but are most common in senior dogs.
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Rare Diseases That Strike Senior Dogs
Fortunately,senior dogs have relatively few disorders of the brain and spinal cord associated with the process of growing old. Arteriosclerosis, that bane of human aging and a primary cause of senility, is quite rare in dogs. Hence it is unusual indeed to meet a truly senile dog.
Cerebral hemorrhage, also called apoplexy or stroke, is likewise a very infrequent occurrence in senior dogs. Rabies is caused by a virus which is attracted specifically to nerve tissue and is transmitted by the bite of a rabid animal. However, there have also been rare reports in recent years of airborne transmission.
It has been traditionally believed for centuries that once symptoms of rabies develop, death is inescapable, and because of the hazard to other animals and people, senior dog are euthanized if they have not yet bitten anyone.
Recent reports of two human rabies cases which were treated successfully and survived the development of rabid symptoms, if confirmed, may possibly alter the present grim outlook for rabid dogs. With the extremely effective and safe vaccines available today to protect senior dogs, however, there is no excuse for you to ever have to worry about this disease.
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Prevention Of Heat Stress In Senior Dogs During Summer Months
Heat Stress and Senior Dogs
There is no excuse for heat stress ever occurring in senior dogs. No one questions your love for your dog, or he wouldn’t have survived this long. Just a little logical forethought during hot weather is all that is needed. Don’t take him shopping with you if your stores do not allow dogs on the premises.
Then you won’t have to tie him outside. If you are going for a drive, be sure he will be welcome at every place you intend to stop. If his outdoor exercise area is small, take him indoors before you leave the house for any length of time.
Those breeds more prone to heat stress (pug, boxer, English bulldog, Boston terrier, etc.) should have even normal outdoor activity severely curtailed during periods of hot sun and high temperatures.
In extremely hot parts of the country they may require air-conditioning. Certainly, free access to frequently changed cool water is a must.
As far as I am concerned, any dog, especially senior dogs, who suffers heat stress, and survives, ought to pack up and look for a new owner!
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Muscle Atrophy In Senior Dogs
The muscles of most aged mammals lose much of their strength and actually decrease in size with each advancing year, including senior dogs. This is a normal part of the aging process and is to be expected. However, there are two as yet poorly understood muscle disorders which at first may look like normal aging weakness.
In one the dog develops weakness in the leg muscles during periods of exercise or other physical stress, may fall down briefly, seem to recover, get up for a short time only to fall down again. This is often seen in polymyositis, a disease which causes inflammation of any or all muscles in the body of senior dogs.
Polymyositis occurs mostly in late middle age and early old age, the most common of its several possible causes appearing to be a defect in the dog’s immune mechanism. Treatment with corticosteroids is quite successful despite the often alarming appearance of the dog. Occasionally the muscles of the esophagus are affected, making swallowing difficult, but even these respond.
Muscular dystrophy, the second disorder, occurs mainly in older dogs, bears some similarity to muscular dystrophy in people, and has a cause as yet unknown. Affected senior dogs develop a stiff gait as the muscles become progressively weaker and smaller in size. There is nothing we know of which will stop the deterioration or cure the disease. Treatment is palliative, trying to keep the patient as comfortable as possible, and is based on your senior dogs individual symptoms.
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Nutrition And Dog Health
When dogs were wild, or at least still hunted for their food, hunger may have been an occasional concern, but rarely were deficiencies or imbalances ever a problem when pertaining to dog health.
Dogs killed and ate almost all of their prey’s carcass including the entrails, skin, and even bones.
Domesticated and dependent upon their owners for food, today’s dogs are amply fed, right to the point of obesity, yet they often develop bad overall dog health due to a number of deficiencies from their improperly balanced diets.
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The advent over the past decade of nutritionally “complete” or “balanced” commercial dog foods, and their increasing acceptance by dog owners and veterinarians alike, has drastically reduced the incidence of dietary deficiencies. Today such nutritional problems are seen mostly in dogs who are fed homemade diets or a diet of table scraps and leftovers.
Poor nutrition, whether from dietary deficiencies or excesses, has a significantly negative effect on your dog’s ability to remain in good health. Resistance to infection is lowered, as is the production of antibodies, allowing infectious agents to multiply rapidly and spread.
The resulting fever, diarrhea, or other manifestations of illness, more than likely will make your dog less interested in eating, thus increasing the state of malnutrition and is concerning to dog health.
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