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Activities & Enrichment Dogs Life at Home Senior Pets

Games to Play with Your Senior Dog

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Reading Time: 4 minutes Not so long ago, your dog was barely beyond puppyhood, and you could throw his ball so far you could barely see it and wait for him to race to it, fetch it, and return it. You could toss a flying disc, and he’d leap to catch it. You could throw a stick in the […]

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Cats Dogs Fears & Anxieties Life at Home Other Senior Pets Veterinary Care

Anxiety Often Accompanies Cognitive Dysfunction

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Reading Time: 4 minutes If your pet has cognitive dysfunction—canine or feline dementia—you may have noticed that he seems to be more anxious than in the past. That’s a common side effect of the condition, but there are ways to manage it. Aging dogs and cats have problems similar to those of elderly humans, and not just physical ones: […]

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Cats Dogs Other Senior Pets Veterinary Care

Make Your Pet’s Last Vet Visit as Free of Fear as His First

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Reading Time: 3 minutes Saying goodbye to a beloved pet is never easy, but planning and care can help it to be less stressful for your pet, yourself, and veterinary staff. Gracie was nearing 12. She had arthritis in her hips and in both knees. For two years we’d been able to manage her increasing pain with a combination […]

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Activities & Enrichment Dogs Life at Home Senior Pets Training & Grooming

New Tricks That Make Life Better For Old Dogs

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Reading Time: 3 minutes Old dogs are the best dogs. They know the rules, they’re not full of crazy energy, and they love nothing better than a good nap. The downside, though, is that all that makes it easy to slip into the habit of not spending as much time with them. Your dog may no longer need long […]

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Activities & Enrichment Cats Fears & Anxieties Life at Home New Pets Senior Pets Shelters & Fostering

How to Help a Senior Cat Adapt to Life in a New Home

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Reading Time: 2 minutes Margaret Slaby loves animals, so for a time she worked in animal care at a shelter in Monterey County, California. But after two and a half years, she had to call it quits. “I saw a lot of older cats didn’t make it out of the shelter simply because they were older, and it just […]

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Dogs Fears & Anxieties Life at Home New Pets Senior Pets Shelters & Fostering

New Family? How To Help A Senior Dog Adapt

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Reading Time: 3 minutes Last year my husband and I did something incredibly rewarding: adopted a senior pet. We wondered if Peach, a little 8-year-old Poodle rescued as a stray, would find it challenging to adapt to life in a new home with us and our Labrador Retriever mix, Rio. But the adoption coordinator suggested I feed Peach canned […]

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Activities & Enrichment Cats Dogs Life at Home Senior Pets

Pets Plus Seniors Equals Happiness

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Reading Time: 4 minutes When Robert Hampton recently moved into the Brookdale Memory Care Center in Dallas, his wife, Marilyn, knew exactly what he needed to boost his spirits and to encourage him to be social with other residents. She brought in four friendly cats from a local pet rescue group into her husband’s room and said, “Pick one.” […]

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Cats Life at Home Senior Pets Training & Grooming

Can Fear Free Strategies Help When Your Cat Is Dying?

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Reading Time: 3 minutes We dread the deaths of our beloved cats, and every death is different. We may or may not get notice; we may or may not have time to say goodbye. Assuming there is time to say goodbye, what can we do to make an already stressful and possibly dreaded process as calm and meaningful as […]

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Cats Dogs Other Senior Pets Veterinary Care

Senior Pets Have Special Anesthesia Needs

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Reading Time: 3 minutes Feeling a little more tired as you age? A little out of breath? The same is likely true for your aging dog or cat. The fact is that organs change with age, and those changes can affect not only day-to-day activities, but also the way our pets respond to anesthesia. Changes related to aging can […]

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Dogs Senior Pets Training & Grooming

12 Tips To Caring For Your Senior Dog’s Coat

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Reading Time: 3 minutes Your elderly canine friend might be a little grumpy about being brushed as she ages. Here are some tips to keep grooming sessions stress-free while taking a few extra steps to ensure her day-to-day comfort. Keep Sessions Short Older dogs may not be able to stand comfortably for more than a few minutes at a […]