How to Help Your Senior Pet in Your Home
When our pet ages, we see the difference. Senior dogs and cats have different needs than they did when they were younger. We cannot stop them from aging, but we can provide them with changes around the house, to increase safety and comfort, and reduce fear, anxiety, stress and injury. These changes can be simple and inexpensive and can help your pet enjoy their old age safely.
Non-slip Surfaces
As your pet ages, just like people, they will experience osteoarthritis, muscle loss and decrease in flexibility. Slippery surfaces present an especially dangerous hazard to your older pet, as a slip, trip or fall can exacerbate existing pain and/or injuries. Luckily quite a few solutions are present for those slick areas of your home.
Yoga Mats: Hardwood floors can be covered with yoga mats or other inexpensive non-slip pads to prevent slipping. If you have a large amount of open flooring, prioritize the paths your pet commonly takes to their favorite resting spots, outdoor access, or litter box.
Inexpensive Option: Check your local Buy Nothing groups for yoga mats as you may need quite a few. You can also check the $1 or $5 stores, as the mat does not need to be high enough quality for yoga, just to cover the floor.
Dr. Buzby’s Toe Grips: These small rubber circles are sized to fit your dog’s nails, creating traction where their nails would otherwise slip. You can apply the toe grips yourself or ask us for assistance in applying them.
PawFriction by Pawtology: This is a dog paw pad coating system that involves adhesive non-toxic granules to the bottom of your dogs feet to prevent slipping. The application lasts 7 days and then needs to be re-applied. Dogs should ideally be standing during application, so a second person to assist would be ideal.
Decreased Vision or Cognitive Function
Multiple disease processes as well as degenerative changes associated with aging can decrease your pet’s vision. Pets with cognitive dysfunction (dementia) are also at risk of bumping into objects or getting stuck in corners.
Moving Furniture: If you’ve been looking for a reason to switch up your furniture, this might be a good opportunity. Creating a flow in your home, that is to prevent any dead ends where your pet may get stuck, can reduce anxiety and stress in your visually or cognitively impaired pet. This may also include lifting up dining room chairs, blocking off underneath couches, and closing closet doors.
Please Note: Pets who are already visually impaired may be used to the layout and a sudden change in furniture can cause stress. Try moving things around slowly, allowing your pet to adjust to before moving the next item.
Reduce Sharp Edges: Fear of bumping into a sharp corner or edge when navigating your home may be contributing to your pet’s anxiety and stress. Try “baby proofing” the home at the level of your pet, to prevent bumps or injuries.
The Power of Smell: A common recommendation for pets that suddenly lose their sight is to implement a different scent in each room. This allows them to more easily “map” the home using scent markers. We know that dogs and cats have exceptional scent glands, and may not need this extra step.
Important: Pets with respiratory diseases including nasal and lung disease should have scents in the homes minimized. No scented candles, smoking or air fresheners.
The Litter Box
The litter box is a key element in your cat’s wellbeing. Your cat visits it multiple times daily, and during certain illnesses, may be visited more frequently.
Add a Box: If your pet is experiencing a disease process causing them to visit the litter box more frequently, or you have a split level home, consider adding a box. The Ohio State Indoor Cat Initiative recommends n +1 litter boxes per household, where n = the number of cats in the household. This will alleviate any waiting or guarding of the litter box by other housemates, but can also reduce the commute time of your cat to the box if one is closer (i.e.: downstairs and upstairs).
Lower the Entrance: Traditional litter boxes have approximately 5-7 inch high entryways while the average height of a domestic cat is 9-10 inches. That is quite high for older cats. Can you imagine stepping over ¾ of your height at 80 years old every time you need to use the toilet?
Purchase a low entry litter box to eliminate this barrier to using the box. By reducing discomfort associated with the litterbox, you can reduce the risk of your cat holding their urine or feces or inappropriate elimination around your home.Inexpensive Note: You can use the litter box you already have by carefully using a utility knife to cut down the front edge, then using a lighter the melt the sharp edges.
Modify your Automatic Litter Box: Although observing litter box habits can provide a lot of information on your cat’s health, automatic litter boxes are a great way to minimize the work associated with cleaning and scooping a litter box. Some brands offer stairs as an accessory option, but if not, buying or creating stairs to the often high seated entryway of an automatic litter box can let you keep your existing litter box while reducing the discomfort of entry and exit for your cat.
Cozier Bedding
Older pets sleep more often and longer than younger pets, putting them at higher risk of bed/pressure sores, stiff joints, and discomfort and/or pain
Orthopedic Beds: These beds are created to relieve the stress on joints and improve sleep patterns. Big BarkerTM beds have a clinical study from University of Pennsylvania proving increase in joint function, reduction in pain severity, and reduction in joint stiffness leading to improvement in quality of life in 15.1% of dogs studied.
Heat or Cool Seeking: Pets experiencing different illnesses may find comfort in a change of temperature. Observe if your pet is heat-seeking (ex: laying in the sun) or cool-seeking (ex: laying on the bathroom tile). Depending on your pet’s preference, make one or both readily available to them with a heating blanket or heated bed, or a cooling mat that they can seek out when looking for comfort.
Change Locations: If your pet’s favorite spot to sleep is on the bed or at the top of the stairs, this may have to be adjusted as their mobility changes. Create comfy cozy areas to rest in areas that are readily accessible to them such as the floor or the downstairs level.
There are quite a few easy changes that can be made to accommodate your senior pet. Be sure to prioritize their comfort and specific disease process when doing so. It can be helpful to speak with a vet about changes you have observed in your pet and what changes you can make to accommodate them.
Gentle Journey Vet Care offers virtual consults where a doctor will go over your pet’s history and be able to recommend changes to the home. If you have questions about keeping your senior pet comfortable and accommodations that can be made around your home, we would be honored to help. Schedule your appointment today.
