Health Problems Commonly Found in Older Dogs

Just as it is the case with human beings, the older a dog gets, the more prone they become to a variety of health conditions and problems that are associated with the aging process. The following content presents some of the issues that you can be faced with as the owner of an aging or older dog.

One of the more common maladies is bad breath, which results when the dog's digestive system has become constipated. When the digestive system becomes constipated, it traps putrefying waste (which are toxic) in the dog's body. When this occurs, the digestive stench is expelled when the dog exhales. If a dog has been subjected to a diet consisting of dead and/or refined foods, and has not been fed fiber or live, raw food, the problem will oftentimes result.

A dog can still have a constipated digestive system even thought they are having regular bowel movements, and at some time in their lives all dogs may suffer from this. With few exceptions this is just part of a dog's nature and most owners never have a clue that this is occurring. There are numerous remedies that you can give your dog to correct this but the most common are the following:

o rosemary leaves and flowers

o lemon juice mixed with either apple juice or water

o raw honey and water

Fasting for a few days can also help rectify the problem although the dog won't like that idea very much. From a preventative standpoint, a single day of fasting during the week will stave off any recurrences of the problem as well. You can calm the dog's hunger pangs by feeding them distilled water with raw honey mixed in on the day of the fast. Another recommendation is that you feed the dog any of the following foods:

Older dogs in failing or ill health are also prone to the slow loss of hair. Typically, the solution is to add (or increase the intake of) fruits, raw meats, and vegetables in the dog's daily diet. In order to provide the dog with unsaturated fatty acids, include the following in their diet as well:

o Brewer's yeast

o desiccated liver

o kelp

o olive

o peanut or safflower oil

o raw corn

Other remedies include either bathing the affected areas with daffodil leaves, marigold flowers, or rosemary leaves, or massaging castor oil or eucalyptus oil into those balding patches.

When an unsprayed female gets up in years, breast tumors oftentimes become a serious problem, stemming from changes or imbalances in hormone levels. The probability of breast tumors developing is increased if the dog is in ill health or is having toxemia issues. It can also be associated with estrogen levels in the body as well. What the owner needs to realize is that the growth or onset of a tumor is the body's way of trying to isolate a condition that is harmful to the overall health of the organism.

Tumors can also be benign in some areas and malignant in others. Aggravation and rapid spreading of the malignancy throughout the body can also occur should the tumor be biopsied, so the procedure is only done when it is absolutely necessary. Since the onset of a tumor is a warning sign that something is apparently wrong in the dog's system, simply removing it does not always remove the health risk and eliminate the problem. You need to focus on the cause or source of the tumor as well as removing it.