What can I do to keep my aging dog's organs healthy and strong?

Hello and thank you for reaching out to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. While there are no anti-cancer foods, medications, or supplements, we recommend keeping pets at an ideal weight and body condition score (BCS), regularly exercising them, and feeding them a consistent diet. Avoiding human foods or very fatty foods can help reduce the risk of developing diseases such as liver disease or pancreatitis. Do not smoke cigarettes around your pet. That being said, cancer in dogs is unpredictable, and can occur even if you do your very best to keep Oscar as healthy as possible. I recommend at least annual check-ups at the veterinarian, and having him evaluated any time you feel that he is not acting himself! Sometimes subtle clinical signs such as hiding, skipping a couple meals, etc, can be signs of underlying disease. I hope this is helpful!

We can always help our four-legged friends age as gracefully as possible by staying on top of their wellness care. This includes regular visits to the veterinarian for physical exams and blood tests, as well as staying active and healthy at home. Keep your dog at a healthy body weight. Overweight dogs have additional strain placed on their joints, which can exacerbate existing arthritis, and are at a higher risk for developing diabetes or heart disease. Feed your dog a high quality diet and avoid offering too many treats or table foods since these can quickly pack on the pounds. A general guideline is that treats should represent less than 10% of your dog’s total food volume. Routine veterinary care is also critical for picking up on small problems before they become larger concerns. Although age is not a disease, our aging dogs are more prone to developing a variety of health conditions. Once your dog reaches “senior” status, it is recommended to increase the frequency of visits to the veterinarian from once a year to every 6 months. For an average-sized dog, this happens at 7 years of age, but for giant breeds like Great Danes and Newfoundlands, this occurs early, at 5 – 6 years of age. During this time, your veterinarian will be able to perform a full physical exam and routine blood tests to assess overall health of the heart, liver, kidneys, eyes, mouth, and joints.

Hello. As long as you feed Hadli the best quality food you can, keep her up to date on her vaccinations, keep her on heartworm preventative there is not much else for you to do but supply plenty of love. Where people get into trouble is when they try to over-supplement a pet & thus introduce imbalances. Do not let your pet become obese, give her plenty of exercise, & follow your veterinarians recommendations for any testing that might be appropriate as she ages. Just like they recommend for you & me, eating a healthy balanced diet is far more important than any supplements you can buy. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Hello. Thank you for using PetCoach. Peanut is very handsome! The most common thing that happens as large breed dogs age is arthritis so I would just put him on a good all around supplement that contains joint supplements in it. I love this supplement by Missing Link. http://www.allivet.com/p-1647-missing-link-vet-canine-plus.aspx Some signs he may have arthritis are: * having a hard time getting up from a down position * not jumping up on the couch, bed, etc like he normally does (if he does that) * slowing down on walks (like he doesn't seem like he can go as far as he used to) Even if he is not showing signs of arthritis I would put him on a joint supplement. The other thing I would recommend is yearly blood testing with your vet to check his organ function. Declining organ function is not something you can see from the outside just by looking at your dog. Usually by the time you do see something abnormal it is often too late to do anything about it. It is better to test yearly so you can catch things early. Peanut looks to be in great shape! You are doing a great job! Hope this answers your questions. Please post again if you have more question. Best wishes.

Yearly vet checks, keeping up with vaccines, take Dakota into the vet whenever he isn't feeling well, keeping up with deworming and flea treatments, administering heart worm medication, and feed a good quality dog food. Also keeping the weight healthy, and regular exercise.

Omega 3 fatty acids for pets can help with heart health. Royal Canin makes a diet for dogs with heart disease. Lastly, it is not fully understood, but there appears to be a link between grain free dog food and heart enlargement. If you are feeding a grain free diet, you may talk with your veterinarian about a diet change. I hope this helps.

I would definitely recommend some blood work, if this hasn't been done recently. Older dogs are prone to a number of health issues that can cause decreased appetite along with being less active - chronic kidney disease and hypothyroidism are two possibilities that are both very common. In many cases, these issues are treatable (at least to some extent) once a diagnosis is made, so it's well worth checking for them if you can - hopefully, there are some things you can do to make him feel better for as long as possible, even though he's getting older.