Geriatric Stage

 Your Geriatric Stage Pet is aging and is probably beginning to slow a bit.  During this life stage, we focus on the early detection of disease and monitor existing disease.  This is the time of life when your pet will inevitably begin to encounter medical problems.  We will work together to keep your older pet as healthy and comfortable as possible.  The best thing you can do for your pet is to perform the following preventative medicine:

 Biannual Physical Examination:  Things change quickly during this stage of life.  It is important for us to see your pet every 6 months.  

Vaccinations:  Animals in this stage can still need some types of vaccinations.  We will discuss these with you.

Heartworm Prevention:  We will discuss what is appropriate.

Dental Care:  This is the life stage when teeth seem to become most diseased.  We will discuss appropriate care.

Blood Work and Urinalysis:  We recommend that this lab work be performed every year during the Geriatric Life Stage.  Routine testing helps to detect problems not evident on physical exam.  Trends in your pet's lab work can be established.

Thyroid Testing: Cats and dogs of the appropriate breeds should have their thyroid hormone tested every year during the Geriatric Life Stage.  It is very common for cats to become hyperthyroid and for certain breeds of dogs to become hypothyroid with age.

Abdominal Ultrasound:  A Twice- a- year abdominal ultrasound will help detect cancer, liver or kidney problems that may not be seen on physical exam or routine blood work.  This is a thorough scan, which looks carefully at all of the abdominal structures.

Chest X-rays:  Heart disease and cancer are common findings in this life stage and chest x-rays should be done yearly.