Golden Years Questions
 

Jazzie is 8-1/2 years old. She is my first Yorkie. Now that she is entering the early stages of her Golden Years we decided to start having her blood tested every 6 months. We plan on adding X-Rays to her check up when she turns 10.

Ok, here's Question #1.
Is there any age related illness that can be avoided or delayed with careful monitoring, vitamins, supplements, etc?

Question #2
What type of illness it typically associated with growing older?

Any advise or information on caring for a Yorkie in their Golden Years will be very appreciated.

I'm not sure but I have a 9 year old Pom who I now have yearly blood work done on. I think they look at kidney and liver function and immune system checks as well as thyroid conditions.

Thanks Patti...

Anyone else? We want to care for our babies and give them the best Golden Years. Help!

Question #1: Exercise is the best answer I have because exercise helps the organs to function properly and helps to stave off arthritis. I gave vitamins daily, too.:) You may laugh, but I used deep massage all over their bodies including their legs and feet. I remembered reading once about a veterinarian who took in a surrendered dog that was partially paralyzed. She used a whirlpool to exercise his legs and deep massage and that dog was fully recuperated! No joke. I saw the pictures of him. Amazing!

Question #2: Brain tumors/diabetes/cushings disease/congestive heart failure/cataracts. Also, they can use a sonogram is it? (my memory is failing me here, but I had them use it on Muffin) to check for bladder stones, etc.

This is an interesting thread, since we all want our puppies to live forever!:)

Thank you for a through reply. I'm going to start researching age related illnesses and diseases and see what I can do to help prevent some of it.

Do you have a pdf reader? Like adobe acrobat? If so, you can go to this link:

http://www.tcdog.com/files/TCD_NovDec04%20v9LR.pdf

I haven't read it yet. Just skimmed through it.

I can only tell you about my experience with my precious Bridget. Around age 11 she developed cataracts and diabetes. I had to give her insulin shots daily and also test her urine. She then got dementia around age 12. By 13 her quality of life was just not good. She was more and more confused, peed and pooped anywhere at any time and we had to take her to the vet frequently. We finally had to make the decision to have her put down. Until she developed the diabetes the only medical issues were food allergies and it was a long time until we learned what was causing all her scratching. Once we eliminated corn and wheat, that pretty much disappeared. But, she was the best pet anyone could ever have. Everyone loved her and she loved everyone. It has taken me a long time to actually get another Yorkie....not sure why, but just could not bring myself to even consider it until 2-3 years ago. And now I have little Abbey. I hope she lives even longer and a healthier life than Bridget. One thing that is different, is I am making sure she gets no corn or wheat nor artificial preservatives. We shall see. She also is very precious and I am so glad she is now part of our family.
Ellie