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Veterinarian and owner of the Animal General in Cranberry, Dr. Mike Hutchinson, joined KDKA Radio on Thursday morning to answer some questions about aging dogs.
Here are some of the questions that he was asked:
Our 17-year-old Mutt is still happy, hungry and healthy with his only problem being his loss of hearing. Our question is do we still need to vaccinate him at his age?
“I wouldn’t vaccinate my dog at 17, except for rabies because that’s one required by law. I think they probably already have enough immunity and I wouldn’t recommend that to my clients unless there is a very unusual circumstance,” Dr. Mike said.
“But you should ask your veterinarian what their recommendation is.”
My dog is on medication for chronic kidney disease. Everything is going well with his kidney problem, but he is very arthritic in his hind legs. Is there anything that can be given to him for the arthritis that won’t hurt his kidneys?
“Ask your veterinarian about adequan. Adequan helps relieve pain caused by arthritis by soothing or lubricating the inflamed joint. It’s FDA approved, and they claim it stimulates joint repair,” Dr. Mike added.
“I don’t know if it really does that it does help the pain a lot. More advanced treatment would be stem cells; that might lead to a repair as well.”
Is arthritis normal for most dogs when they get older?
“Yea, it is when they get older. A large breed dog, typically at seven to ten years of age they start to get arthritis,” Dr. Mike explains.
“If you keep them thin, that could be transferred till about 10-13. That’s why I promote keeping animals at a healthy weight because it dramatically helps their quality of life as they get older especially. It could help them to live longer too.”
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