Senior Dog Comfort & Care

Another way to catch things early for your aging senior is by establishing a baseline. For example, the routine blood work you started when your dog was young and that you continue to do every 6 months at their senior visits provides a pattern (baseline) while your dog is healthy. Over time, any variation in the pattern from one visit to the next helps detect issues at their earliest stage. Kidney disease, for example, can be detected early, and treatment started sooner rather than later. Early treatment can significantly help slow down the progression of a disease. So, even when your dog is the picture of health at their vet visits, the samples they provide (blood, urine, etc.) are helping their future self.

Additionally, as your dog ages, and possibly depending on the conditions common to their breed, like heart, liver, or eye diseases, your veterinarian may begin to recommend diagnostic testing for those to set their baseline.