How often should an older animal be examined?

The most widely used guidance is every six months from entry into the senior band, which for cats is around eleven years and for dogs depends on size. The frequency increases if a chronic condition is already being monitored or a treatment has been started that requires review. The point of two checks a year is having comparison points close enough together for a trend to be readable.

Why insist on a urine test when the blood work is normal?

Because the kidney loses its ability to concentrate urine before creatinine in blood rises. A low specific gravity can therefore appear months before any blood abnormality, and the urine protein to creatinine ratio detects protein loss that blood work does not show. Both change diet and treatment, they are not mere confirmations.

My pet is extremely stressed at the clinic: is it still worth it?

Yes, but the visit needs to be organised differently. Stress alters blood pressure and blood glucose, so values collected from a terrified animal can mislead. You can ask for an appointment at a quiet time, a settling period before blood pressure is measured, transport in an already familiar carrier, and in some cases a home visit. Giving up checks altogether is the worst option.

Is testing worth it if I do not intend to pursue invasive treatment?

Yes, and in that case the selection rule becomes even more useful. Many results lead not to complex procedures but to simple decisions: a different diet, an analgesic, a change in the home environment, a different check interval. Tests that would not lead to any of these can be left out by saying so openly, so that resources go to what improves daily wellbeing.

Senior pets and quality of life9 min readUpdated on August 4, 2026

The senior consultation: which tests actually change a decision

Blood pressure, urine, kidney and thyroid function in the older pet: which results change management and which panels move nothing at all.

Audience: Pet owners
Species: Dog, Cat
Scope: Valid everywhere

When a dog or cat enters the geriatric age band, the usual proposal is a package of tests. The package is useful if every item answers a question and every answer changes a choice; it becomes spending without effect if it produces numbers nobody compares with last year's. The difference between the two does not depend on the price list but on how the consultation is prepared and what you ask for at the end. This article lines up the tests that in practice change the management of an older animal, the ones that rarely do, and how to read results as a series rather than as an isolated snapshot.

What makes a consultation geriatric

Calendar age alone is not enough, because the speed of ageing depends on species and, in dogs, on size. A seven year old great dane and a seven year old chihuahua are not in the same life stage. The classifications most used today place cats in the senior band around eleven years and in the geriatric band from fifteen, while in dogs the threshold shifts with adult body weight.

Indicative thresholds for entering the senior band and check frequency
Profile	Senior band starts	Suggested frequency
Dog up to 10 kg	Around 10 years	Every 12 months, then every 6
Dog 10 to 25 kg	Around 9 years	Every 12 months, then every 6
Dog 25 to 40 kg	Around 7 years	Every 6 months
Dog over 40 kg	Around 6 years	Every 6 months
Cat	Around 11 years	Every 6 months

Moving to two checks a year is not a commercial rule: in an older animal six months represent a much larger share of remaining life than in an adult, and several chronic diseases move from early to advanced within that interval. It is also the only way to obtain two comparison points close enough together to read a trend.

The rule for deciding whether a test is worth it

Before authorising a test it helps to ask your vet a simple question: if the result came back normal, what would we do, and if it came back abnormal, what would change. If the two answers are the same, that test is not driving any decision at this moment. If instead an abnormal value would start a treatment, bring a recheck forward, change the diet or postpone an anaesthetic, the test has a defined job.

A test that changes an ongoing treatment ranks above a test that confirms an already known condition.
A test that needs repeating to be interpreted is only worth doing if you intend to repeat it.
A value close to the upper limit in an animal that feels well calls for a second check, not an immediate alarm.
A test requested before an anaesthetic answers a different question from a routine check: it estimates a risk on a specific date.
Comparison with last year's values is often worth more than comparison with the laboratory reference range.

The tests that change management

The table below sets each test beside the decision its result can change. It is the fastest way to see which items in a senior profile are doing work and which are there out of habit.

Common tests in the senior consultation and the decision each can change
Test	What it measures	Decision it can change
Systolic blood pressure	Hypertension and risk to eye, kidney, heart and nervous system	Starting antihypertensive treatment and booking a fundus examination
Urine specific gravity	The kidney's ability to concentrate urine	Recognising kidney disease before creatinine rises
Urine protein to creatinine ratio	Protein lost through urine	Introducing a renal diet and specific treatment for proteinuria
Creatinine and symmetric dimethylarginine	Kidney function, at different sensitivities	Staging kidney disease and setting the recheck interval
Total thyroxine in cats	Thyroid function	Treating hyperthyroidism that explains weight loss and restlessness
Blood glucose and fructosamine	Glucose now and the average of recent weeks	Telling a stress rise apart from genuine diabetes
Complete blood count	Anaemia, inflammation, platelet changes	Investigating the cause of anaemia and judging anaesthetic fitness
Oral examination under sedation	Periodontal disease, tooth resorption, lesions	Planning dental treatment that removes a daily source of pain
Orthopaedic and pain assessment	Mobility, tenderness, muscle mass	Starting an analgesic plan and changing activity

The tests that usually change nothing

There are no useless tests in the absolute, only tests requested without a question. In an older animal that feels well, some requests produce numbers destined for a drawer, and others produce anxiety without changing anything.

An extended biochemistry panel repeated every six months without ever comparing values with the previous ones: the information lives in the series, not in a single report.
A test repeated a few days later for a slightly out of range value, with no clinical signs and without removing the technical causes of variation.
Screening for very rare diseases in the absence of any compatible sign, when the starting probability is so low that a positive result would more likely be a false positive.
Repeating an imaging study without a new question compared with the previous one.
An extended profile run on the same day as a planned anaesthetic, when an abnormal result would not lead to postponing the procedure anyway.

Preparing the visit so that it produces decisions

Bring the weight series, not the latest value
In an older cat a five per cent drop in body weight is already meaningful and can precede any other sign by months. A column of monthly weights makes visible what the eye cannot see in an animal living in the house.
Collect a urine sample that same morning
The first urine of the day is the most concentrated and says the most about kidney function. A clean container and delivery within a few hours are enough; without a sample, half the kidney questions stay unanswered.
Write three questions before you go in
Questions formed in the consulting room tend to become generic. Three precise written questions steer the visit towards what you actually care about and send you home with usable answers.
Bring the full list of what the animal takes
Medicines, supplements, food and treats. Many interactions and many abnormal values are explained by something nobody thought to mention.
Record a thirty second video
Gait on your own floor, stepping up a stair, getting out of the bed. In the clinic the animal is tense and hides exactly the signs you are trying to show.
Fix the next check date before leaving
A recheck without a booked date slips by months. Fixing the date turns a series of occasional visits into monitoring, which is the only thing that makes a trend readable.

Turning results into a plan

A report becomes useful when it yields four pieces of information: what the condition is and at what stage, what changes from today, when the recheck happens, and which signs mean bringing it forward. If the fourth is missing, the owner is left without a threshold and ends up calling either too late or too early.

Ask for numeric values in the report, not just a verdict: without numbers, comparison with the next check is impossible.
Get two or three signs written down that, if they appear, justify a phone call before the planned date.
Check that every treatment started has a declared review point, otherwise nobody will be able to say whether it is working.
Keep reports in one place another vet can access, in case of an out of hours visit or a specialist referral.
Note the date and the laboratory beside each value: different reference ranges make comparison between reports from different sources misleading.

Frequently asked questions

How often should an older animal be examined?: The most widely used guidance is every six months from entry into the senior band, which for cats is around eleven years and for dogs depends on size. The frequency increases if a chronic condition is already being monitored or a treatment has been started that requires review. The point of two checks a year is having comparison points close enough together for a trend to be readable.
I was offered a full profile: should I accept all of it?: You can, but ask that every item be tied to a question. A profile makes sense when values are compared with previous ones and when the vet states in advance what an abnormal result would lead to. If an item would not change any choice today, it can be deferred to the next check without losing relevant information.
Why insist on a urine test when the blood work is normal?: Because the kidney loses its ability to concentrate urine before creatinine in blood rises. A low specific gravity can therefore appear months before any blood abnormality, and the urine protein to creatinine ratio detects protein loss that blood work does not show. Both change diet and treatment, they are not mere confirmations.
My pet is extremely stressed at the clinic: is it still worth it?: Yes, but the visit needs to be organised differently. Stress alters blood pressure and blood glucose, so values collected from a terrified animal can mislead. You can ask for an appointment at a quiet time, a settling period before blood pressure is measured, transport in an already familiar carrier, and in some cases a home visit. Giving up checks altogether is the worst option.
Is testing worth it if I do not intend to pursue invasive treatment?: Yes, and in that case the selection rule becomes even more useful. Many results lead not to complex procedures but to simple decisions: a different diet, an analgesic, a change in the home environment, a different check interval. Tests that would not lead to any of these can be left out by saying so openly, so that resources go to what improves daily wellbeing.

What to do next

Before the next check prepare three things: the weight series of the last twelve months, a urine sample collected that same morning, and three written questions. In the consulting room ask that for each test the vet states in advance what an abnormal result would change, and before leaving fix the date of the next check together with the signs that justify bringing it forward.