Co-sleeping with geriatric dogs made safer with this inexpensive product

There are countless ways the human-animal bond can be strengthened, but one that lots of pet guardians really love is co-sleeping. As a pet ages, though, many wonder whether it’s feasible due to some age related problems like incontinence, and as importantly, the pet’s safety: plenty of my families have expressed they’re understandably concerned after their dog has fallen out of bed. 

Since the bulk of my practice is devoted to palliative and hospice care support offering overnight stays, I can attest to my families’ concerns about an aging dog’s changing ability to judge the edge of the bed, especially at night. 

Some pet guardians decide that doing away with the frame of the bed makes most sense since it lowers the height of the bed considerably, while others have gone in a different direction to keep things safe while not changing their cherished routine. The video below highlights one budget-friendly way that’s done. 

With over 20 years of experience in pet care and the past 10 of those focused on animal hospice, Lorrie Shaw is a Certified Animal Hospice Practitioner, Certified Hospice and Palliative Care Advocate and Certified Fear Free Professional. She is CXO of Telos Companion Animal Services, LLC. She can be found at lorrieshaw.com.

Waning appetite in a pet’s final months requires monitoring—and perspective

Many guardians discover as they tend to pets in their final months, their appetite just isn’t the same as it once was. It’s not a happy observation.

It’s important to understand that pets aren’t giving up or being willful about their desire to eat: it’s something that can emerge with that time of life. Disease processes can affect a pet’s appetite, along with medications and changes in physiology can impact how food tastes to them. Pain of all sources most definitely plays a role, in fact it’s the most common reason behind appetite challenges, with anxiousness following closely.

Pets who’ve entered the period that leads up to animal hospice supported natural death—usually three months prior, give or take—most certainly see a decrease in food intake, along with other signals, and that’s expected and interpreted differently. While that is a topic for another time, what I will be focusing in on here is that messy, grey area in those final months when families really struggle since death isn’t imminent, and sustaining life looks different for the pet. 

When assisting pet guardians who are in my concierge animal hospice & palliative care program with quality of well being (QWB) assessments, getting granular about appetite challenges is a priority. Being curious about any changes in the household and other stressors, whether or not they’re able to stay on track with their medications that are designed to address pain are my starting points. And then it’s always critical to ensure that we have perspective: that is, differentiate between dysrexia, hyporexia and anorexia. Honing in on that can tell us a lot about what’s going on, and what direction we need to go with hurdling that before getting in touch with the vet. In most cases, the family and I are able to pin down what’s going on and get the situation sorted.

Of course, there are times that the veterinarian needs to intervene to medically suss out what might be behind the change in appetite. There are times they determine the pet is eating plenty given their lower activity levels, it’s just way less than what they needed when they were younger, more healthy and active. And perhaps they just can’t eat as much due to various reasons.

Regardless of the shift, it’s always a great idea to ensure that the amount of food that a pet is eating—or will eat—is on par with their caloric needs (and nutritional requirements). The truth is, brands and recipes vary in their caloric and nutritional composition, no matter if it’s kibble, canned, fresh frozen, homemade and other types, measure for measure. And that fact highlights a valuable consideration that I learned years ago in my animal hospice training, and it has reduced the stress for many of my families: quantity doesn’t necessarily need to be the thing that should be considered with one food over another. A hard concept, no doubt, given that a certain amount of food feels reliable and telling that things are on track. And that's the kind of thing pet guardians need in this stage of their pet’s life. 

For guardians struggling to get their pet to eat what they deem to be a meaningful amount of food and they’re laser-focused on that, instead, they should consult with their veterinary team and have them evaluate the pet’s caloric and nutritional requirements against the specific diet or diets they are eating. From there, they can calculate factors like the number of calories (sometimes referred to as kilocalories, or kcals) that the pet needs to be at their best. It’s not that uncommon that a family discovers that the pet needs fewer of those than they expected. And with that, they can relax a little, have expectations of themselves that are more realistic, and have mealtimes less stressful for both guardian and their beloved pet. 

And, the veterinary team can even suggest solid alternative diets that are suitable no matter the changing needs, should a pivot be necessary. 

With over 20 years of experience in pet care and the past 10 of those focused on animal hospice, Lorrie Shaw is a Certified Animal Hospice Practitioner, Certified Hospice and Palliative Care Advocate and Certified Fear Free Professional. She is CXO of Telos Companion Animal Services, LLC. She can be found at lorrieshaw.com.