Rethinking Senior Pet Care: A Comprehensive Approach Beyond Diagnostics and NSAIDs
Senior dogs often present for routine concerns while the issues affecting their daily comfort and function go unrecognized. Chronic pain, mobility changes, cognitive decline, and other quality-of-life concerns frequently develop gradually, making them easy for both owners and veterinary teams to overlook.
This lecture explores a practical approach to senior dog medicine focused on recognizing suffering earlier, asking probing questions, and identifying opportunities to improve daily life. Drawing from experience in hospice, euthanasia, relief practice, and senior dog medicine, it examines how clinicians can uncover hidden concerns, work within real-world client limitations, and support both patients and caregivers before quality-of-life discussions become end-of-life discussions.
- Identify clinical and behavioral indicators of declining quality of life in senior dogs.
- Incorporate targeted history-taking and quality-of-life assessment tools into routine senior patient evaluations.
- Create practical care plans that combine pain management, environmental modification, and supportive care strategies.
- Navigate quality-of-life and end-of-life discussions while accounting for caregiver limitations, client goals, and real-world barriers to care.
