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  • Understand aging in pets | Animal Wellness Magazine

    Understand aging in pets | Animal Wellness Magazine

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    Understand aging in pets, ensuring your dog or cat’s health and quality of life are enhanced for comfortable and meaningful later years.

    Aging is something every living being goes through, including our dogs and cats as well as ourselves. But what precisely is aging, and what are the different ways it can affect our animals? More importantly, understanding aging in pets can shift how we care for them and make the final stages of life less difficult and painful for both ourselves and our four-legged companions.

     

    Every Animal’s Experience is Unique

    Many of us associate aging with increased illness, weakness and debilitation, but advancing years do not, in and of themselves, lead to specific physical changes in every dog or cat. We’ve all seen animals in their upper teens with bright eyes and a joyful energy that seem to bely the number of birthdays they’ve had. Conversely, of course, many older animals are dealing with failing organs or other disease states. Common concerns in aging animals include difficulties with mobility, chronic pain and illness, personality changes, and cognitive decline. But are these issues really due to how old the dog or cat is?  

     

    Environmental chemicals contribute to “age related” issues

    During my time as a veterinarian, the age of a “senior” dog or cat dropped from over 12 to below eight. This is certainly not due to a sudden epidemic of rapid aging in animals. A combination of nutritional and environmental stressors has led to a situation in which animals show symptoms we have defined as age related, when perhaps they are simply a sign of a reduced ability to manage the current conditions of life.  

    It is no secret that our environment exposes us to many more chemicals than it did 30 years ago. Some of these chemicals include agricultural residues, artificial scents in laundry soaps and body products, or flame retardants in our homes. No one can say for certain what the effects of this stew of chemicals are because each safety study focuses on a single chemical with a short exposure time, rather than a combination of chemicals with an exposure duration of years or a lifetime. Although the popular saying claims “correlation does not equal causation”, the number of chronic disease states continues to grow as more chemicals are introduced into home environments or as residues in diet.

    Point to ponder: Perhaps we can combat aging by simplifying the chemicals used in the home, and choosing diets with ingredients sourced from organic farms, or those that use fewer agricultural chemicals. 

     

    Managing Aging in Pets for Better Quality of Life

    But what about dogs and cats that have already lived a decade or so within the above parameters and are now facing health challenges? Understanding aging in pets can guide us in several ways to ease the aging process and the health problems that often (though not always!) accompany it. 

     

    1. Putting a plan in place 

    When a client comes to me well ahead of the actual deterioration of their dog or cat, I tell them to begin deciding on the right medical approach for their family. This can be driven by circumstances such as finances, religious beliefs, and the willingness of the dog or cat to be treated in the first place. 

    Point to ponder: Having a loose plan in place can help alleviate fear of the future and allows the focus to be redirected to your animal’s present needs.  

     

    2. Growing allopathic and alternative treatment options

    The veterinary profession continues expanding to offer better medical options for the majority of disease states, and these come close to matching those offered by human medicine. They can help maintain an aging dog or cat’s well-being and quality of life much longer than in the past. 

    We have both allopathic and alternative options for pain and disease management, anxiety treatment, and mobility assistance at our disposal. Pharmaceutical, herbal, homeopathic, electromagnetic, vibrational, energetic and structural modalities are also available. Adhering too tightly to any single paradigm does not create the best outcome; using several different approaches often yields more complete results with fewer adverse effects.  

    Because it is virtually impossible to access every option from a single practitioner or hospital, having a team that includes your regular veterinarian, an integrative or holistic vet, boarded specialists, and rehabilitation practitioners creates wonderful outcomes for aging animals. Sometimes an animal parent will work simultaneously with several different modalities, or move from one to the next as their dog or cat’s needs change. 

    Point to ponder: While many treatments need to be done in the hospital or clinic setting, many can be done at home, thereby increasing treatment frequency while reducing overall cost of care.  

    Discussing what you envision for your aging animal’s care, and what options are available, starts with the veterinarian you see for routine physical exams. If they do not have the tools you are looking for, let them know you would like a team approach and ask for local referral options.  

     

    3. Euthanasia decisions for aging pets

    When is enough enough? The answer is a moving target that’s different for every family and every animal. Euthanasia is an important option when the dog or cat is clearly suffering and there are no ways left to alleviate that suffering. 

    As a veterinary practitioner, I was taught we should always reach for humane euthanasia, almost as if a natural death was a terrible thing. However, I have had more than one client inform me they had no intention of euthanizing their dogs or cats, and wanted my assistance keeping the animals comfortable to the natural end of life. I was very judgmental with these first few clients, but after watching them graciously support their animals until they passed on their own, I gained a new appreciation of the particular gift that comes with caring for a dog or cat at the end of life. I was also surprised by how gentle and easy a natural death could be.

    If you make a decision to euthanize your dog or cat, start by discussing it with your regular veterinarian. If they have had a years-long relationship with you and your animal, they will want to be a part of this final stage of the relationship. 

    Point to ponder: Some clinics offer in-home euthanasia, which can reduce the stress of a final car ride for animals that don’t like the car.  

    The senior years of your dog or cat’s life are a time to reflect on the wonderful experience you’ve shared with him. The journey through this end-of-life stage can be challenging, and ultimately painful when he passes – but it’s also full of love as you honor him with your caregiving efforts. Approaching an aging animal’s final phase of life with an open heart and mind can bring grace and comfort to both you and your beloved companion.

     

    Changing your perspective on aging and death

    The last years of a dog or cat’s life present particular concerns and challenges when it comes to healthcare and quality of life. But with an optimistic and appreciative approach, it can also be a time where your relationship with your companion animal deepens as he teaches you about end-of-life care.

    Many people begin the process of grieving for their dogs or cats months to years before they are actually faced with either euthanasia or a natural death. This grief arises from a fear of what is to come, both in the lives of their animals, as well as in their own lives after the dog or cat has passed. I have encountered deep anxiety among my clients and colleagues about how long to support a dog or cat in advanced age, and what specific steps should be taken. I believe this anxiety stems from a fear of losing control over exactly how and when a beloved animal companion will pass. I have even seen clients and colleagues choose euthanasia at a point when the dog or cat was still clearly engaged in life, in order to be able to gain a sense of control over a disease state or condition. 

    But what if we approached the end of life as a joyous culmination of a beautiful relationship? Understanding aging in pets from this perspective can shift how we care for them and make the final stages of life less difficult and painful for both ourselves and our four-legged companions. I feel this perspective helps ease our fears and brings comfort as we honor the wonderful beings that shared their lives with us. 

    Culturally speaking we don’t like to look at death. Our senior relatives are often put elsewhere, such as nursing homes or hospitals, to live out their final months or years. We rationalize it by saying we don’t have the time, or capacity, to properly care for them — and this is absolutely true. But we have also created a society that fears death and does not want to engage with it. 

    In veterinary medicine, we often pride ourselves on being more humane because we have the legal ability to end suffering. Too often, however, I have noticed it’s the animal parent’s suffering that is being treated by the euthanasia  as much as (if not more than) the animal’s. As a veterinarian, I do my best to guide animal parents in both the physical and emotional needs of their aging dogs and cats, but also towards an awareness of the emotional triggers that may be guiding their decision-making.

     


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    Ayse Washington, DVM, CCRP, CVMMP

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    Ayse Washington, DVM, CCRP, CVMMP

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  • Sonia Sotomayor Should Retire Now

    Sonia Sotomayor Should Retire Now

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    On Election Day in 2006, Justice Antonin Scalia was 70 years old and had been serving on the Supreme Court for 20 years. That year would have been an opportune time for him to retire—Republicans held the White House and the Senate, and they could have confirmed a young conservative justice who likely would have held the seat for decades to come. Instead, he tried to stay on the Court until the next time a Republican president would have a clear shot to nominate and confirm a conservative successor.

    He didn’t make it—he died unexpectedly in February 2016, at the age of 79, while Barack Obama was president. Conservatives nevertheless engineered some good fortune: There was divided control of government, and then–Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refused to even hold confirmation hearings for Merrick Garland, Obama’s nominee to the seat. Donald Trump won that fall’s election and named Neil Gorsuch to the seat that McConnell had held open.

    But imagine for a moment that Hillary Clinton had won the 2016 election, as many expected. By running a few points stronger, she might have taken Democratic candidates across the finish line in close races in Pennsylvania and Missouri, resulting in Democratic control of the Senate. In that scenario, Clinton would have named a liberal successor to Scalia—more liberal than Garland—and conservatives would have lost control of the Court, all because of Scalia’s failure to retire at the opportune moment.

    Justice Sonia Sotomayor will turn 70 in June. If she retires this year, President Joe Biden will nominate a young and reliably liberal judge to replace her. Republicans do not control the Senate floor and cannot force the seat to be held open like they did when Scalia died. Confirmation of the new justice will be a slam dunk, and liberals will have successfully shored up one of their seats on the Court—playing the kind of defense that is smart and prudent when your only hope of controlling the Court again relies on both the timing of the death or retirement of conservative judges and not losing your grip on the three seats you already hold.

    But if Sotomayor does not retire this year, we don’t know when she will next be able to retire with a likely liberal replacement. It’s possible that Democrats will retain the presidency and the Senate in this year’s elections, in which case the insurance created by a Sotomayor retirement won’t have been necessary. But if Democrats lose the presidency or the Senate this fall—or both—she’ll need to stay on the bench until the party once again controls them. That could be just a few years, or it could be longer. Democrats have previously had to wait as long as 14 years (1995 to 2009). In other words, if Sotomayor doesn’t retire this year, she’ll be making a bet that she will remain fit to serve until possibly age 78 or even 82 or 84—and she’ll be forcing the whole Democratic Party to make that high-stakes bet with her.

    Steven Mazie: The Supreme Court justices do not seem to be getting along

    If Democrats lose the bet, the Court’s 6–3 conservative majority will turn into a 7–2 majority at some point within the next decade. If they win the bet, what do they win? They win the opportunity to read dissents written by Sotomayor instead of some other liberal justice. This is obviously an insane trade. Democrats talk a lot about the importance of the Court and the damage that has been done since it has swung in a more conservative direction, most obviously including the end of constitutional protections for abortion rights. So why aren’t Democrats demanding Sotomayor’s retirement?

    Well, they are whispering about it. Politico reported in January:

    Some Democrats close to the Biden administration and high-profile lawyers with past White House experience spoke to West Wing Playbook on condition of anonymity about their support for Sotomayor’s retirement. But none would go on the record about it. They worried that publicly calling for the first Latina justice to step down would appear gauche or insensitive. Privately, they say Sotomayor has provided an important liberal voice on the court, even as they concede that it would be smart for the party if she stepped down before the 2024 election.

    This is incredibly gutless. You’re worried about putting control of the Court completely out of reach for more than a generation, but because she is Latina, you can’t hurry along an official who’s putting your entire policy project at risk? If this is how the Democratic Party operates, it deserves to lose.

    The cowardice in speaking up about Sotomayor—a diabetic who has in some instances traveled with a medic—is part of a broader insanity in the way that the Democratic Party thinks about diversity and representation. Representation is supposed to be important because the presence of different sorts of people in positions of power helps ensure that the interests and preferences of various communities are taken into account when making policy. But in practice, Democratic Party actions regarding diversity tend to be taken for the benefit of officials rather than demographic groups. What’s more important for ordinary Latina women who support Democrats—that there not be one more vote against abortion rights on the Supreme Court, or that Sotomayor is personally there to write dissenting opinions? The answer is obvious, unless you work in Democratic politics for a living, in which case it apparently becomes a difficult call.

    I thought Democrats had learned a lesson from the Ruth Bader Ginsburg episode about the importance of playing defense on a Court where you don’t hold the majority. Building a cult of personality around one particular justice served to reinforce the idea that it was reasonable for her to stay on the bench far into old age, and her unfortunate choice to do so ultimately led to Amy Coney Barrett’s appointment and a string of conservative policy victories. All liberals have to show for this stubbornness is a bunch of dissents and kitsch home decor. In 2021, it seemed that liberals had indeed learned their lesson—not only was there a well-organized effort to hound the elderly Stephen Breyer out of office, but the effort was quite rude. (I’m not sure screaming “Retire, bitch” at Stephen Breyer was strictly necessary, but I wasn’t bothered by it either—he was a big boy, and he could take it.) But I guess maybe the lesson was learned only for instances where the justice in question is a white man.

    One obvious response to this argument is that the president is also old—much older, indeed, than Sonia Sotomayor. I am aware, and I consider this to be a serious problem. But Democrats are unlikely to find a way to replace Biden with a younger candidate who enhances their odds of winning the election. The Sotomayor situation is different. Her age problem can be dealt with very simply by her retiring and the president picking a candidate to replace her who is young and broadly acceptable (maybe even exciting) to Democratic Party insiders. And if Democrats want to increase the odds of getting there, they should be saying in public that she should step down. In order to do that, they’ll have to get over their fear of being called racist or sexist or ageist.

    This article was adapted from a post on Josh Barro’s Substack, Very Serious.

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    Josh Barro

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