By Kai Bragg
As our animals start to age, their bodies begin to need different things. By taking the time to familiarize ourselves with some of the things our aging pets need, we can help ensure them long and healthy lives. A key aspect of healthy aging, maintaining the necessary balance of a healthy diet, quality exercise and positive social interaction can help keep our
pets’ minds and bodies happily running.
A healthy diet is essential to the well-being of any animal and helps provide our pets with the nutrition needed to stay strong and active. As animals mature, their bodies become less efficient at extracting all of the necessary nutrients from food. By supplying our pets with food that has been specially formulated for a particular stage of life, such as a senior pet joint-care formula, we can help ensure that our aging animals get the specialized nutrition they need.
Consistent exercise is as important for our pets as it is for us and helps keep all of the body’s processes working smoothly. Exercise also helps transport hormones throughout the body and is necessary for continued musculature and skeletal health. Also, greatly assisting in the removal of toxins, frequent exercise can flush the body of harmful compounds. Regular exercise shows a greater benefit than periodic bouts of activity. A 20-minute walk, three times a day, can be beneficial to the health of both you and your pet.
Frequent social interaction along with sufficient exercise, is needed to keep your pets healthy and happy. Helping to keep pets engaged and stimulated, afternoons at the park, or pre-arranged play-dates with other owners, are both great ways to let your animals interact with others of their own kind. Alternatively, simply walking through your own neighborhood is often a great way to meet other pets and their owners. Providing both exercise and the opportunity for socialization, daily walks are one of the easiest ways to help aging pets get the activity and stimulation they need.
Learning how to care for your aging pets is a simple, yet necessary undertaking. Through learning and implementing the basics of care for your aging animals, you can extend the years of companionship, and aid in the prevention of malady. In understanding the ways their needs change over time, we can better prepare ourselves to help our pets age comfortably. By providing the proper diet, coupled with sufficient exercise and social interaction, we can help keep our aging pets happy and healthy.
Along with sufficient exercise, frequent social interaction is needed to keep your pets healthy and happy.
