PHYSICAL CHANGES IN THE ELDERLY DOG (continued) – Vision, Tooth and Gum Disease

It behooves me to continuously advocate for the care of elderly pets as I lament the fact that, too often, pet owners ignore the aging signs and do not take actions to avert the animal’s decline, or worse, decide to stray the animal when its condition has significantly deteriorated. Your pet has been your faithful and loyal companion for years and now requires palliative care – a sad reality! Please do your utmost to provide all the Tender Loving Care he/she deserves.
Thus far, in relation to physical changes that occur as your dog ages, we have addressed the impact of arthritis and joint deterioration, changes in the skin/hair coat and deafness.
We will discuss vision, tooth and gum disease today.

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.
You should be looking for the following developments:
• Is the loss of vision sudden or gradual (over the past weeks/months)?
• Disorientation (occasionally or frequently, the animal bumps into objects, e.g. 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 and howling as a result.

Elderly dogs tend to 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 (Nuclear Sclerosis). Do not confuse this emergence with cataract development, even though cataracts is not a seldom occurrence in dogs, (not often in cats). Your vet will make the differentiation.

Nuclear Sclerosis of Eye
On a positive note, dogs and cats then 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.

TOOTH AND GUM DISEASES (TGD)
Periodontitis (inflammatory process taking place in the oral cavity, including the teeth and gums) is considered as one of the most common of all diseases in dogs. 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. Dogs do not generally chew. Rather they bite, chomp a bit, then swallow as they eat quickly. Their teeth are mainly used for tearing and gnawing. However, any oral ailments make the consumption of food difficult. Consequently, the animal eats less, and begins to lose weight, and becomes more susceptible to 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. Home cooked food should be soft and moist. Canned foods (some products are especially formulated and produced for elderly dogs and cats), should dbe moistened with water to soften into a pap. If the dog/cat is being offered kibble, 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.
Note that apart from dealing with feeding to deal with emerging gum and teeth issues, we also have to provide nutritious food as the metabolic rate of the animal slows down. We will address nutrition later but suffice to say that frequent small meals aid in better digestion and absorption of nutrients. Water must always be available.

Tartar build up on dog’s teeth
As a footnote, and based on my experience, the feeding of dry unsoaked dog/cat biscuits with bone (powder or chips) content to the older dog/cat leads to difficulty in stooling as the faeces become hard. The bowel motility difficulties (compaction/constipation) experienced when the animal tries to defaecate can result in a rectal prolapse, a condition that is most challenging to correct in an aging animal.