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Care of older pets-Wellness Care  Services for pets

What is wellness care? It is care to improve enjoyment and quantity of life.

At Remuera vet it is aimed at diagnosing common oncoming chronic illnesses e.g. kidney failure before your pet actually gets sick from them.

In the instance of most kidney disease a simple diet change will then make your pet feel better and double their remaining life expectancy!!

Most New Zealanders will get a checkup from their doctor at least within a 5-7 year period .Pets age much faster than people in fact about 5-7 times faster so need to visit at least annually for a checkup.

By age seven, most cats and dogs are entering their senior years.

Because dogs and cats age faster on average, than people, significant health changes can occur in a short amount of time. And, the risks of cancer, diabetes, obesity, arthritis, heart disease, metabolic problems and other serious conditions all increase with age and of course with very advanced age this goes up greatly .

Many pet owners are not aware that taking a dog or cat to the veterinarian once a year is the same as a person seeing their doctor or dentist once every seven years. Pets need a wellness exam annually so that veterinarians have the opportunity to detect, treat or, ideally, prevent problems before they become life-threatening. Vaccinations may be given at the same time. In senior pets  more frequent checks may be desirable but regardless annually at least blood tests need to be performed and urine and blood pressure checks may also be desirable as well as a full examination. The push for these checkups has been driven by the following two main factors:

1.      We can do more for many problems if they are discovered early e.g.  kidney disease in older cats is very, very common but modern treatment can double an affected cats quality and quantity of life! If we find the problem when your cat has a few months to live that is not going to be a big benefit but if we get it early when they still have several years left and double that then we have a really big benefit.

2.      As discussed in several other spots in our site dogs and cats are reluctant to display obvious signs of up to severe pain .Particularly cats –they are natural predators and they know what happens to weaker individuals!! Did you know that 90% of cats over 11 years of age have severe arthritis on x-rays that is often unrecognized? Below are pictures that show a dog and cat in less than severe pain.

You see the problem –pets affected by low to moderate grade pain or sickness often just withdraw and try and hope to sleep it off. This is often mistaken as being tired or “just getting old.”  With regular checkups these sorts of problems can be spotted and dealt with.