Read12 min read
The aging cat: what to actually monitor at home
Cats hide illness and show it differently from dogs. Very often a senior cat is not simply aging: it has a treatable condition no one has spotted.
Cat
Animiyo blog
Senior pets and quality of life
A senior animal is not a sick animal, but it needs different monitoring. This section collects tools for measuring pain and quality of life, home adaptations that give back independence, and how to face end of life decisions with explicit criteria.
12 articles
- Read12 min read
End-of-life care: comfort and companionship for the senior pet
End-of-life care does not cure the illness: it makes the remaining days good ones. Here is how to set up the home, manage symptoms with your vet, and support the family.
DogCat - Read9 min read
Nutrition and hydration in the senior animal
In the senior animal, eating and drinking become signals as well as needs. Here is how to read changes in appetite and thirst and how to support hydration and muscle.
DogCat - Read10 min read
Incontinence and hygiene in the senior pet: managing it without punishment
Urine or stool loss in a senior pet is not spite: it is a symptom or a physical limit. Here is how to read it, what to have checked, and how to manage hygiene without stress.
DogCat - Read8 min read
How sleep changes in the senior pet: reading the restless nights
A senior that sleeps all day and walks at night is not simply old. Changed sleep is a signal: here is how to read it and what to bring to the vet.
DogCat - Read8 min read
Polypharmacy in the senior pet: managing several drugs
A senior animal with several conditions often takes different medicines every day. Each added drug brings a benefit and a risk, and home management decides the outcome.
DogCat - Read9 min read
Mental stimulation in the senior animal as a form of care
With age the temptation is to leave the animal in peace. But a little used mind declines faster: here is how to keep cognitive activity going while adapting it to changing senses and joints.
DogCat - Read10 min read
Mobility and weight in the older pet: the lever with the best return
In an older animal weight and the ability to move hold each other up. Here is how to measure both at home and how to act without making things worse.
DogCat - Read10 min read
Cognitive dysfunction or deafness: telling them apart at home
Ignoring a recall has at least two very different explanations. Here are the home tests, the DISHAA checklist and the medical causes to rule out before concluding.
DogCat - Read9 min read
Chronic pain is not old age: recognising it in dogs and cats
Slowing down is not ageing. Here are the signs that separate musculoskeletal pain from age, the validated questionnaires and how to make a treatment trial readable.
DogCat - Read9 min read
The senior consultation: which tests actually change a decision
Not every item in a senior profile earns its place. The test is simple: does the result change what you will do tomorrow, or does it not.
DogCat - Read10 min read
Measuring a senior pet's quality of life with a scale
Impressions change daily, scores do not. Here is how a quality of life scale is used, what it actually measures and when the measurement changes a decision.
DogCatAll species