Veterinary medicine has raised the quality of care available for our pets and with it, increased the longevity of our furry companions. However, a growing list of geriatric conditions are becoming more common, among them;
1-Thyroid Disease
Dogs tend to have problems with a low thyroid whereas cats tend to have too much of the thyroid hormone in their system. Either imbalance can cause a cascade of problems and adversely affect their quality of life.The low thyroid levels have caused excessive shedding, obesity( despite eating very little), chronic skin infections and seizures. The high thyroid levels can cause cats to have abnormal heartbeats, lose weight (despite eating ravenously), vocalize loudly at odd hours of the night( hallucinations) and vomit chronically. Both conditions can be treated and ill effects minimized if found early enough during their yearly wellness blood analysis.

2-Heart Disease
Cats and dog are affected a bit differently from heart disease as well. In dogs, the symptoms usually include a non-productive cough, exercise intolerance, abnormally fast breathing, a purplish or grey tongue and generalized weakness. In cats, heart disease is a silent killer: most cats show zero symptoms! (other than a sudden death). In a large number of cats diagnosed with heart disease, the only symptom was vomiting.Dogs over 10 years old should be monitored for development of heart issues and their chest auscultated at least every 6 months to intervene early enough before the heart goes into failure. Luckily, there are many holistic nutraceuticals and Chinese herbals used to prevent or slow down heart disease in dogs. In our practice, we start by doing chest x-rays to determine if there’s a problem then recommend an echocardiogram to confirm it and in some cases refer to a veterinary cardiologist. Cats can be diagnosed the same way.

3-Kidney Disease
In Chinese medicine the kidneys are the first system to go in a “natural” lifespan they consider if you die of any other issues , you died earlier than what your body could’ve done. There is an early detection test for kidney disease called SDMA and since we have been using it we have been able to intervene an average of 18 months prior to the elevation of kidney enzymes in the blood! The kidneys can be influenced by the diet so we recommend a lower protein diet and supplementation with Amminovast, a blend of antioxidants that heals the kidney tissues. We have also used Aquapuncture with vitamin B12 to manage chronic kidney disease in pets.

4-Degenerative Joint Disease
Arthritis becomes very common in all pets over 7y ears but as it progresses there are bony changes (bone spurs) that turn their joints painful, dry (with reduced range of motion), and swollen. acupuncture, glucosamine and, omega fatty acids supplements along with western medicine pain control medications will help manage these tough cases.

5-Dementia
If you pet sits and stares at a spot for hours, finds his/herselve stuck into corners of the room, defecates or urinates inside the house or acts weird, it might mean their cognition is declining. There are herbals and supplements like Neutricks that could help, however, at this point we need to start the discussion about euthanasia.