Senior Pet Wellness

At Austinburg Veterinary Clinic, our goal is to provide our patients with not only the best veterinary care, but the most compassionate as well. As a member of the American Animal Hospital Association, we are dedicated to providing excellence in small animal care.

Advances in veterinary medicine are allowing pets to live longer than ever before. However, as pets age, there are a variety of conditions and diseases they can encounter including: osteoarthritis, kidney disease, liver disease, heart disease, cancers, hormone disorders such as diabetes and thyroid imbalance, and more.

So when are pets considered seniors? The age of pets may vary, as species and breeds of dogs age at different rates. We typically consider pets seniors when they have reached the age of seven. Senior pets should have biannual physical exams because each year of their lives is equal to five to seven human years.

We strongly believe that early diagnostic testing is a valuable component for senior pets. When your pet is healthy, laboratory results establish your pet’s baseline values. When your pet is not feeling well, our veterinarians can more easily determine abnormalities by comparing his/her current laboratory results to the baseline values. Even subtle changes in laboratory test results can be suggestive of the onset of an underlying disease. This is critical, because successful treatment and management of numerous diseases requires an early diagnosis.

The goal of senior pet care is to provide your pet with the best quality of life for as long as possible. In order to accomplish this, we have created a Senior Wellness Program.