At the Animal Clinic of Billings, our veterinarians love to provide your senior pet with the best possible preventive care in order to age both gracefully and comfortably. If you have an older pet that you’ve cared for all their life, then you understand how strong and tight our bonds with them becomes over the years. Caring for a senior pet is tremendously rewarding but also involves some challenges.

When it comes to aging changes and age-related diseases, our doctors know exactly what to look for, so during your exam the vet will ask you questions specifically targeted towards identifying if any common age-related medical problems are present. We will work with you to develop the best plan for your senior pet’s individualized medical needs to ensure they maintain an optimal level of health and happiness through this next stage of their life.

What To Expect During Your Exam

During a senior wellness exam at the Animal Clinic of Billings, one of our vets will perform a comprehensive physical on your pet and discuss with you which of the following health care services may be needed.

Senior Pet Wellness Exam Components:

• Nutritional consultation
• Body condition evaluation
• Vaccinations
• Parasite control
• Dental disease and health assessment
• Pain identification and management
• Mobility optimization
• Exercise recommendations

Physical evaluations are an integral component of senior canine and feline preventive care and wellness programs. Being obese or overweight is especially difficult for senior pets and will impact their quality of life tremendously. 

Senior physical examinations allow our veterinarians to determine if your senior pet is overweight and if so, to design a diet and physical activity plan to restore them to their ideal body weight. Additionally, any unexplained weight loss or muscle atrophy could be a sign of illness. Our veterinarians can identify any underlying conditions and institute the appropriate treatment, as well as teach you how to monitor your pet’s health and physical condition at home and what symptoms, if any, to watch for between visits.

When to schedule your senior pet health exam

Dogs and cats both age about five to seven times faster than humans do. It should come as no surprise then that age-related health problems occur five to seven times earlier in a dog or cat’s life, and progress more rapidly than they would in ours. 

For this reason, we strongly recommend you schedule regular senior wellness examinations with one of our veterinarians at least every six months for dogs older than seven years of age and cats over 10 years old. In addition to recommended senior wellness exams every three to six months, blood work and urine tests are recommended every six to twelve months for senior dogs and cats to screen for the development of age-related diseases.