Celebrate your pet in its golden years

A pet's life is never long enough for those of us who love him or her. However, barring disease or trauma, today a pet can live at least an average of 10-12 quality years due to advances in nutrition and medical care.

Of course, there are many pets that live well past 12 years depending on the animal type. Older pets have different veterinary and nutritional needs and can benefit greatly from specialized care, health testing and dietary planning. The following tips will hopefully help you keep your senior pet in good shape over the years.

Pets start to enter their golden years about age 7. Giant breed dogs enter this stage even earlier, because of their shorter life span. This classification is based on the principle that pets on average age seven times faster than humans, which in turn means that most pets at age 7 are considered as senior or geriatric.

Diseases associated with aging are more easily identified if you report small changes in appearance and behavior to your veterinarian or if you take your pet in for checkups twice a year after reaching the age of 7. So, as with your own human health, prevention is paramount when it comes to the health of your older pet.

Besides just having a thorough physical exam to check your pet for stiffness, heart murmurs, bad breath, skin lesions and other typical signs of aging, a geriatric exam usually includes blood work, urinalysis and other diagnostic tests to determine the status of your pet's organs' functions and body chemistries. These tests can help identify diseases in their earliest and most treatable stages. Your veterinarian may also ask if you have seen signs of disorientation or other behavioral changes and may recommend lifestyle changes such as a different diet, an increase in exercise or minimizing stress by creating a more stable routine.

So, if you have an older pet that has been living in comfort his or her whole life, here are a few extra things you can still do to make life easier as he or she ages:

1. Provide a comfy bed. Those old bones need warmth and cushioning more than ever. Choose a bed that best fits your pet's needs. Make sure that the bedding is also washable to account for the possibility of incontinence issues.

2. Offer an easy step up. Make it easier for your pet to get up and down from the furniture, if that is allowed. By providing a ramp or steps up to a sofa or bed, you can lessen the likelihood of a fall. Some pets may also need to be carried up and down stairs both inside and outside of the house.

3. Give your pet plenty of opportunities to go out to eliminate. The aging bladder may not have the holding capacity of its younger years, so spare your pet the embarrassment of having an accident in the house. Take your pet out several times throughout the day and do not scold him, if an accident does happen.

4. Provide mental and physical stimulation. Just because your pet is older does not mean that he or she won't still enjoy a fun game or a short walk. Exercise maintains muscle tone, enhances circulation, promotes digestion and helps maintain a proper weight.

5. Brush those teeth. Dental disease is often the scourge of many older pets. It is critical for your pet's overall health to maintain good oral hygiene. Professional teeth cleaning by your veterinarian has been proven to extend older pets' lives by at least one to two years. Who wants their furry companion panting the breath of Godzilla on them anyway?

6. Maintain regular grooming. For example, Even the simple tasks of plucking ears (for those pets that require it) and nail trims tremendously help to maintain the quality of an older pet's life. Also, grooming associated with the face, feet and fanny of a pet can provide optimum hygiene in these critical areas on an aging pet.

All of these suggestions are aimed at allowing you and your geriatric pet companion to live life to the fullest and to enjoy these precious moments. As a veterinarian, I ask that you not give up or ignore your pet just because he turns 10 years old. Your pet may be just reaching the prime of his life, seriously. Just look at the dog Stump, the Sussex spaniel who won the Westminster Dog Show at the ripe "old" age of 10 last week. Trust me; older pets are worth every bit of effort because the return to you as the owner is nothing less than priceless.

Dr. Tracy Acosta is a veterinarian at Biloxi Animal Hospital.