Senior & later life
Senior Pets
Helping an older pet thrive, decoding what changes mean, and caring for comfort and quality of life.
6 stages · 31 guides from PetsLikeMine
Who can help near you
- Your vet1 kind
- Specialists1 kind
- Therapists2 kinds
- Comfort care2 kinds
Listed by distance from you. Nobody pays to be listed.
Is my pet a senior now?
Stage 1 · 4 guides from PetsLikeMine
When is a cat "senior"? The mature, senior and super-senior yearsWith cats it tends to creep up on you. There is no single moment, just a slow accumulation of small things. A few white hairs on the chin that you are fairly sure were…14 min read · on PetsLikeMine When is a dog "senior"? Ageing by breed and sizeThere is no birthday for it. A grey hair or two appears on the muzzle that you are fairly sure were not there last summer. A pause arrives at the bottom of the stairs…13 min read · on PetsLikeMine The first signs your pet is getting older (normal vs not)A few grey hairs around the muzzle that you are fairly sure were not there last year. A slower greeting at the door. A cat who used to pour herself onto the top of the…15 min read · on PetsLikeMine
All 4 guides in this stage
Keeping them thriving
Stage 2 · 7 guides from PetsLikeMine
Feeding an older pet: what changes, and what "senior diet" really meansThe pet aisle has a particular bag of food: greying dog or softly lit cat on the front, the word "senior" in friendly letters, doing a lot of quiet emotional work. Your…14 min read · on PetsLikeMine Keeping an older pet moving: exercise, joints and staying strongSomewhere in the middle of a pet's life, a kind instinct quietly takes over. The walks get a little shorter, the jumps a little more careful, and without quite deciding…14 min read · on PetsLikeMine Muscle loss in older pets (sarcopenia): spotting it and slowing itMost owners feel it before they ever see it. You lift your old cat and she seems to have hollowed out under the fur, lighter than her cuddly outline suggests. Or you run…14 min read · on PetsLikeMine
Something's changed
Stage 3 · 5 guides from PetsLikeMine
Is my dog losing his mind? First signs of canine cognitive dysfunctionIt is usually something small and strange that sends an owner looking. A dog standing in the corner of a room he has lived in for a decade, facing the wall, as if he…16 min read · on PetsLikeMine Hearing and sight loss in older pets: helping fading sensesYou call her in from the garden and she does not turn round. You ring the doorbell yourself, almost as a test, and he sleeps through it the way he never used to. He…15 min read · on PetsLikeMine Lumps, bumps and the cancer conversation in senior petsNew lumps tend to turn up during an ordinary moment. Your hand is moving through your dog's coat on the sofa, or you're rubbing an old cat's chin the way you have a…14 min read · on PetsLikeMine
Managing more than one thing
Stage 4 · 4 guides from PetsLikeMine
The senior cat with kidney disease and an overactive thyroidTwo diagnoses for one small, ageing cat is a surprisingly ordinary place to end up. Perhaps the vet found an overactive thyroid first, started treating it, and a few…13 min read · on PetsLikeMine When your old pet has several things wrong at once: the whole-pet viewThere is a particular kind of tired that comes with an old animal. You stand at the kitchen counter with three or four bottles in front of you, a folded printout from…16 min read · on PetsLikeMine Juggling medications for a senior pet: the safe-polypharmacy guideSomewhere in the senior years, the cupboard quietly becomes a small pharmacy. A tablet for the joints, a capsule for the kidneys, something for the heart that has to be…15 min read · on PetsLikeMine
All 4 guides in this stage
Comfort and quality of life
Stage 5 · 7 guides from PetsLikeMine
You are not a bad owner: caring for the carer of a senior petYou have been up three times in the night: once to help her find her way back from the corner she got stuck in, once because she was pacing and panting, once to change…14 min read · on PetsLikeMine The 3am pet: managing night-waking and sundowningOf all the things that go wrong with an ageing pet's mind, the broken night is the one owners find hardest. When researchers asked owners of dogs with an ageing mind…16 min read · on PetsLikeMine Feline cognitive dysfunction: the old cat who yowls and forgetsIt usually starts in the small hours. A long, flat, oddly toneless yowl from the bottom of the stairs at three in the morning, from a cat who has lived with you for…16 min read · on PetsLikeMine
All 7 guides in this stage
Cherishing the time left
Stage 6 · 4 guides from PetsLikeMine
Anticipatory grief: mourning a pet who is still hereThere is a particular kind of crying that happens with an old dog or an old cat still warm beside you. They are right there, breathing softly against your leg, purring…13 min read · on PetsLikeMine Making the most of the time you have left togetherThere comes a point with an old dog or cat when the question is no longer whether they are getting on in years, but how to make the time you still have a good one. It is…13 min read · on PetsLikeMine Knowing the road ahead: a gentle guide to what comes nextOnce you know, deep down, that your dog or your cat is in the last chapter of a long life, a particular kind of fear tends to settle in. It is not the sharp fear of an…13 min read · on PetsLikeMine
All 4 guides in this stage
Find care near you
Your senior pets care team
These are the practitioners this condition can call for, from your everyday vet to specialists and therapists. Enter your postcode to see who's near you at each step.
- Your vet (primary care)
Internal-medicine specialist
Veterinary physiotherapist ·Hydrotherapist
Home & hospice end-of-life vet ·Mobile vet (home visits)
Understand the condition
Clinical background on vetcanon, the ConciergeVet reference library. Vetcanon is published by Concierge Vet LTD, which also operates PetCare Atlas.
With PetsLikeMine
Read the whole journey on PetsLikeMine
Every senior pets guide, in order, sits in its own space on PetsLikeMine, written by owners and vets who have been through it. We show the first few here and link to the rest.
Read every senior pets guide