PHYSICAL CHANGES – Vision, Tooth and Gum Disease
Last week, within the context of sensory failings and deficiencies associated with old age, we discussed deafness as a physical change. Let us today look at other physical alterations to the animal’s physical well-being as it grows older
LOSS OF VISION
It is indisputable that dogs and cats of either sex and age may be predisposed to blindness, which could be linked to infectious diseases, glaucoma, cataracts, retinal detachment, growths inside or outside the eyeball, etc. Toxins (poisonous chemical agents introduced by caregivers and others) may also result in gradual or immediate loss of vision.
Before the caregiver takes the animal to the veterinarian, it should be ascertained whether the loss of vision is unilateral (symptoms exhibited only in one eye), or whether both eyes are involved.
Further, relative to the loss of vision in the elderly (or any) animal, the following should be ascertained:
* Is the loss of vision sudden or gradual (over the past weeks/months)?
* Disorientation (occasionally or frequently, the animal bumps into objects, eg. furniture, within the house) and an inability to find objects (e.g. toys).
* Listlessness (not involving itself with the environment).
* Anxiety (uneasiness; uncertainty; lack of confidence in its mobility; or brooding fear about any new/unusual development in the home; apprehension resulting in trembling; etc.)
* Obvious vision defects in dim light; worse, during the hours of darkness.
I should mention that many elderly dogs coming into the Clinic exhibit a greyish or bluish haze on the lens – that part of the eye which the caregiver can actually see behind the pupil. This is due to the aging of the lens. (This condition has a technical name: Nuclear Sclerosis). Do not confuse this emergence with a cataract development, even though cataracts (as in humans) is not a seldom occurrence in dogs, (not often in cats). Your vet will make the differentiation.
Nuclear Sclerosis of Eye
Good news. Most dogs and cats tend to adjust well to a gradual loss of vision associated with old age, especially when their hearing and sense of smell are functioning reasonably well. Usually, it is the caregiver who panics.
TOOTH AND GUM DISEASES (TGD)
I remember one of my professors dramatically pointing out that periodontitis (inflammatory process taking place in the oral cavity, including the teeth and gums) is the most common of all diseases in dogs. That may be so, and probably is. For sure, however, TGD is very common in elderly dogs, especially those which have not been exposed to constant veterinary care and dental hygiene. Obviously, this condition interferes with the animal’s ability to eat comfortably. Although it is a fallacy to believe that dogs chew (they just bite, chomp a bit, then swallow), any oral ailment would make the consumption of food difficult. Consequently, the animal eats less, and begins to lose weight, and becomes more susceptible to any and all agents of ailment and disease.
Oral hygiene is imperative in the elderly dog/cat. Please do not panic when the vet advises, after professionally cleaning the teeth, that some (even many) of the loose teeth must be removed.
Good news. With proper treatment, pain and suffering and loss of appetite can be relieved. If the caregiver feeds canned food (some products are especially formulated and produced for elderly dogs and cats, and should be soon seen on our supermarket shelves), one can soften the meal even more by adding some water, therefore, producing a pap (soft or semi-liquid food). If the dog/cat is being offered hard, dry dog/cat food, soak it for about twenty minutes before offering the meal.
On the market, there are dry biscuits which help to reduce tartar and calculus (and other deposits) on the teeth. We have spoken to importers of pet products to introduce these foods for elderly dogs and cats.
Tartar build-up on dog’s teeth
Having documented the facts in the previous paragraph, it would be remiss of me, after so many decades of encounters with elderly companion animals, not to mention that dry unsoaked dog/cat biscuits with bone (powder or chips) content should not be given to the older dog/cat, because the resulting stool (faeces) becomes hard, leading to bowel motility difficulties (compaction/constipation) when the animal tries to defaecate. The important role of nutrition of elderly animals cannot be overstated given their inability to optimally process and digest food and eliminate the end product. This will be discussed in a future “Pet Care” article.
