My dachshund is aging. What health problems should I watch for?

Question

What problems should watch out for in a (almost) 7 year old standard dachshund? What should I watch out for as my dog is aging? How can I keep him healthy threw aging? Pet's info: Dog | Dachshund | Male | neutered | 6 years and 11 months old | 16 lbs

Anna M., DVM · Accepted Answer

Hello, and thanks for your question. Regular preventative care, exams with your veterinarian, and maintaining a healthy body weight are the most important things to keeping a dog healthy! Keeping Oscar up to date on vaccines, heartworm prevention, and flea & tick prevention will go a long way towards protecting him from infectious diseases. Routine prophylactic dental care under anesthesia will help keep him more comfortable and prevent oral infections - your vet can help guide how often this should be done, as it differs a bit from one dog to another but most dogs benefit from having this done annually. If Oscar hasn't had bloodwork done recently, that's a great way to detect disease processes early rather than waiting until he's sick or symptomatic. Arthritis is common in aging dogs, and your vet can evaluate if Oscar would benefit from joint protection supplements or pain medication to keep him comfortable. So, in short, seeing your vet for routine wellness exams is my strongest recommendation - since your vet will be able to evaluate Oscar's most pressing issues at any given time, and help guide you through his care. And, I always tell my clients that if you can do one single thing to help a pet age well - it's keep them at a lean, healthy body weight! Here's a helpful article that discusses many aspects of caring for a senior dog. https://www.petcoach.co/article/caring-for-your-senior-dog/ Hope this helps!

My dachshund is aging. What health problems should I watch for?

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