Lakeland Veterinary Hospital

The Only Veterinary Facility in North Central Minnesota With 24-Hour Staffing

Living longer, living better - starting at 7

Beginning at around age 7, your pet enters his or her senior years (see the below charts to determine your pet's "true" age). Often, pets begin to develop common to their senior human counterparts, such as diabetes, heart disease, endocrine disease and cancer. These diseases can go unnoticed in their early stages; therefore, preventive health care is very important.

Early detection can help in disease prevention and can minimize suffering. If left undetected, many diseases can put your pet's health at risk. The best approach to caring for your senior pet includes preventive diagnostics such as:

• Establishing baseline blood work
• Identifying existing health problems
• Monitoring progress during treatment

Together, we can help your pet. You know your pet better than anyone else and can alert us to any changes in your pet before they become serious. We can help you understand the common medical conditions that your senior pet faces and discuss a regular monitoring plan.

Watch for these signs:

Keep track and then report them to us immediately, before they become serious.

• Just not acting like himself/herself

• Interacting less often with family

• Responding less often or less enthusiastically

• Showing changes in behavior

• Showing changes in activity level

• Having difficulty climbing stairs

• Having difficulty jumping

• Exhibiting increased stiffness or limping

• Drinking more often

• Urinating more often

• Changing eating patterns

• Noticeably gaining or losing weight

• Losing housetraining habits

• Changing sleeping patterns

• Becoming confused or disoriented

• Changing hair coat, skin or new lumps or bumps

• Scratching more often

• Exhibiting bad breath/red or swollen gums

• Showing tremors or shaking

• Other?