"As pets age, their needs change. Sometimes it's obvious, sometimes it's dramatic, and sometimes we just can't see the signs. A few proactive habits can add comfort, safety, and even years to a senior pet's life."— Julie Schwenzer
Episode summary
When does a pet actually become a senior — and what should owners be watching for once they get there? Dr. LoSasso walks through both, starting with the numbers: dogs and cats are generally considered senior around seven or eight, giant breeds like Great Danes and Mastiffs hit that mark closer to five, and cats — who tend to live longer — often aren't senior until nine or ten. Cavalier King Charles Spaniels are a notable exception, reaching senior status as early as six because of their high risk of valvular heart disease and congestive heart failure.
"Age isn't a disease," Dr. LoSasso says, but advancing age raises the odds of cancer, arthritis, organ dysfunction, kidney disease in cats, and heart problems — often more than one at a time. That's what makes senior cases harder to diagnose: a coughing dog assumed to have simple bronchitis can turn out, on ultrasound, to have fluid in the lungs from congestive heart failure. Comorbidities hide behind each other.
"Dogs almost never complain about hip pain — they just move really slowly."— Dr. Michael LoSasso, DVM
His core recommendation is simple: once a pet reaches senior age, see the vet every six months instead of annually. Using the rough rule that a dog ages seven years for every human year, a six-month gap is roughly equivalent to a person seeing their own doctor every three and a half years. These visits don't need vaccines or procedures — just a thorough exam and a conversation about mobility, appetite, weight, and breathing, the kind of gradual changes owners rarely track on their own but a vet who sees the pet regularly will catch.
He also flags a safety issue specific to older pets: reduced muscle mass, arthritis, and fading vision make slick floors, stairs, and swimming pools more dangerous. It's typically the senior dog, not the puppy, that ends up falling into the pool.
Spotting hidden pain — the NSAID trial
Dr. LoSasso describes a diagnostic tool vets sometimes use: a short, veterinarian-supervised trial of an NSAID (he mentions generic carprofen or Galliprant) for about a week. If a dog suddenly acts years younger — moving faster, keeping up with a younger dog — that improvement reveals arthritis pain that had gone unrecognized. Any pain management plan, short- or long-term, should be directed by your veterinarian.
Questions answered in this episode
The following questions are answered by Dr. LoSasso in this episode, drawn directly from the conversation. These are real clinical answers from a practicing emergency veterinarian with 30+ years of experience.
Dr. LoSasso says most dogs and cats are generally considered senior at seven or eight years old. Giant breeds like Great Danes and Mastiffs reach senior status earlier, around age five, because of their shorter lifespans. Cats tend to reach senior status a bit later, around nine or ten. Some breeds are an exception — Cavalier King Charles Spaniels are often considered senior as early as age six because of their higher risk of valvular heart disease and congestive heart failure.
Dr. LoSasso says the signs are often subtle and easy to miss: slower movement, a decreased tolerance for walking or exercise, coughing, weight gain or loss, changes in eating habits, or difficulty rising. He notes owners often don't watch respiratory patterns or track weight closely enough to catch these changes as they happen gradually.
Dr. LoSasso recommends senior pets be examined every six months rather than annually. Using the rough rule that a dog ages about seven years for every one human year, a six-month gap between vet visits is roughly equivalent to a person seeing their own doctor every three and a half years. Twice-yearly exams don't need to include vaccines or procedures — just a thorough physical exam and a conversation about mobility, appetite, weight, and behavior changes.
Dr. LoSasso explains that senior pets often have comorbidities — multiple health issues happening at once — which makes their illnesses harder to diagnose. He gives an example: a coughing poodle assumed to have simple bronchitis that, on ultrasound, actually had pulmonary edema (fluid in the lungs) caused by congestive heart failure. Age-related conditions like cancer, arthritis, kidney disease, and heart disease can also mask or complicate each other.
Yes. Dr. LoSasso says senior dogs are more prone to slipping and falling because of decreased muscle mass and arthritis, and they're more likely to fall into swimming pools because of degraded vision or reduced control on wet or icy surfaces. It's typically the older dog, not the puppy, that ends up in the pool by accident.
Dr. LoSasso explains that dogs rarely show obvious signs of pain like limping — they usually just move more slowly. One tool vets use is a short, veterinarian-supervised trial of an NSAID (he mentions generic carprofen or Galliprant) for about a week: if the pet suddenly moves and acts noticeably younger, that improvement reveals arthritis pain that was going unrecognized. Any pain management plan should be guided by your veterinarian, not started on your own.
JulieAs pets age, their needs change. Sometimes it's obvious, sometimes it's dramatic, and sometimes we just can't see the signs. A few proactive habits can add comfort, safety, and even years to a senior pet's life. Before we get into the health and safety of senior pets — what age do you consider a dog or a cat, since they're the most common pets, to be senior? Does it vary by breed?
Dr. LoSassoSure. As a general rule, I think we start considering dogs and cats seniors at seven or eight. For really large breed dogs, we probably move that down to five — the Danes and the Mastiffs. For cats, I think you could definitely argue it's more like nine or ten; they tend to have longer lifespans. Somebody's probably written an official definition I'm not aware of, but as far as I know, that's still where we draw the line.
JulieHealth-wise, what are some signs that your pet is aging? I know there are older dogs that are still quite athletic and playful. What does it mean to you to see an elderly pet?
Dr. LoSassoAs I tell my kids — and I've got so much white in my beard now that I have children older than some of the doctors I hire, so I've been around a while — age is not a disease. They look at me like it's time to put me out to pasture. Age isn't a disease, but with advancing age, things certainly can start to break down. We see more cancer, we see the arthritides — arthritis in the hips, shoulders, or elbows, which is very painful — and sometimes organ dysfunction. Most of us think of cats and kidney disease as just a function of aging; cats like to try to outlive their kidneys, and they really can't do that very well. We also see heart problems. Most Cavaliers, as cute as those little spaniels are, are probably considered senior at six, just because of their propensity for valvular problems and congestive heart failure — quite early. It's not that they're necessarily so old, but they require more in-depth vigilance: paying closer attention to behavior and respiratory patterns, which most people don't watch at all, honestly, because nobody's told them to.
JulieAt the emergency clinic, do you not see as many senior pets given the kind of normal treatments you do? And if you do see them, is it usually an extreme circumstance, like a euthanasia request?
Dr. LoSassoNot necessarily — we have a pretty broad range, but we see different age categories for different problems. Very young puppies typically come in for parvo or contagious pneumonias, especially from pet stores. Toy breed puppies come in for hypoglycemia, low blood sugar, because they run around a lot and don't have a storage tank to pull from if they don't eat. Middle-aged dogs, we see a lot of injuries and dog fights, and some health problems like Addison's tend to show up there too. Older dogs get into fewer fights, but we see a lot of complicated illnesses because of comorbidities. They come in vomiting, and it turns out there's some underlying dysfunction we have to deal with. The coughing poodle that's been coughing for a couple months that we assumed was bronchitis — when we put the ultrasound probe on the lungs, they're really wet, pulmonary edema secondary to congestive heart failure. Nobody knew. It's definitely a different set of diseases in the older ones.
JulieA challenge we have as senior dog owners — we have an American lab and an English lab — is finding the balance. You don't want to put them under too much stress, and it's not just about saving money, it's about giving them a peaceful, fun life, but you still need to get them checked out. What do you recommend that isn't too much, given they're pretty senior?
Dr. LoSassoMost veterinarians would recommend that once you hit that senior spot, instead of the annual checkup, you get seen twice a year. If we use the old adage — not really true, but it works well enough — that a dog ages seven years for every one of ours, then taking your dog in every six months is like you going to your own physician once every three and a half years. Most of us would agree that even as relatively healthy adults, we should probably see our physician at least once a year. I'm not saying you need to take them in monthly, but touching base and having conversations about more subtle behavior changes makes sense. They don't need to be vaccinated or have a procedure tied to it — just an exam and a conversation. How's he or she getting up and moving around? Any changes in eating that would suggest a dental problem? Is there a heart murmur developing? Are they gaining or losing weight? That's something vets should be tracking that most owners don't — weight change — until the day they realize the dog's lost twenty pounds. That sounds great until you realize twenty pounds off a sixty-pound dog is thirty percent of their body weight. If it happens gradually, people don't pick up on it. But if somebody's weighing them every six months, it jumps out.
JulieAre senior dogs and cats more prone to heat stroke or more sensitive than younger ones?
Dr. LoSassoI don't know that they're more sensitive to heat specifically — that's really tied to anatomy and breed. But senior dogs certainly are at risk of falling — or falling and not being able to get up — on slick surfaces, because they've lost some muscle mass, so when their legs start to slide out they don't have the strength to catch themselves. Especially next to pools — it's not typically the puppy that falls in the swimming pool, it's the older dog who either didn't see it coming because their vision has degraded, or slipped because it was raining, snowing, or icy. As my own dog Bubbles gets older, she has a harder time on any slick surface — some of that's decreased muscle mass, some is probably an arthritic problem we don't necessarily recognize. Dogs almost never complain about hip pain; they just move really slowly. One of the things we've done for decades is what we call the Rimadyl response test — I actually use the generic carprofen now, not brand-name Rimadyl. You put an older dog on a safe NSAID, twice a day, or once a day in the case of Galliprant, for about seven days, and if your dog acts four years younger, well — NSAIDs aren't some fountain of youth, they don't make my dog younger. But if they make him feel that much younger, there was a lot of pain present that I wasn't appreciating as an owner. If it makes your dog run faster, longer, and keep up with a younger dog far better than before, that tells you there was a problem we weren't addressing, and a long-term plan to manage that arthritis is going to be important.
JulieI was also curious what you recommend for identifying whether a senior pet has a health issue or is suffering, since they're pretty stoic a lot of the time — we can't tell until it's extreme. Is there a recommendation for how often they should get bloodwork or a urine test, and what should be checked?
Dr. LoSassoThe very least, but yet the most important thing, is simply a thorough exam by your veterinarian every six months. That helps identify problems and gives them a chance to ask questions you may not have thought of — how well are they sleeping, how well are they eating, has their tolerance for walking decreased. That could point to an arthritic problem, or to some form of heart disease — do they get winded, do they start coughing with exercise. Those are things pet owners aren't trained to think about, and you're also not trained to listen to a dog's heart and detect a murmur — that's what we do. The more frequently your vet sees your dog, the better they know your dog and can recognize "hey, this is different than last time." It's valuable to build that relationship, and building it, like any relationship, takes putting the time in.