Health & Mobility
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Purebred vs. Mixed-Breed Dogs and Cats: Does It Affect How They Age?
Large studies find mixed-breed pets don’t have a clear health edge overall — hybrid vigor mainly protects against specific single-gene conditions concentrated in certain breeds.
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Heart Disease in Senior Cats: Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Explained
Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is the most common heart disease in cats, and it can progress for years with no visible signs. Here’s what to watch for and how it’s managed.
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Which Cat Breeds Face Extra Health Risks in Their Senior Years
Maine Coons and Ragdolls face heart disease risk, Persians face polycystic kidney disease — genetic testing and earlier screening can catch both before symptoms show.
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Liver Disease in Senior Cats: Signs and Management
Prolonged appetite loss can trigger hepatic lipidosis, a fast-moving liver emergency that’s largely unique to cats. Here’s how to spot it early and what treatment involves.
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Feline Lower Urinary Tract Disease (FLUTD) in Senior Cats
Straining, frequent litter box trips, or crying out while urinating can signal FLUTD, and in male cats it can precede a life-threatening blockage.
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Hearing Loss in Senior Cats: Signs and How to Help
Not responding when called, sleeping through noise, or startling easily can signal age-related hearing loss in a senior cat — common, usually untreatable, but manageable with a few habit changes.
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Dog Breeds Prone to Joint Problems in Their Senior Years
Large breeds face hip dysplasia, small breeds face patellar luxation, and chondrodystrophic breeds face disc disease — knowing which shapes when to start screening.
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Skin and Coat Changes in Senior Cats: What’s Normal vs. What’s Not
A duller coat comes with age, but matting, bald patches, or a greasy coat usually point to arthritis pain or dental disease making grooming harder, not vanity.
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Cold Weather and Arthritis: Helping Senior Pets Through Winter
The first genuinely cold week of the year tends to bring a familiar complaint from owners of older dogs and cats: stiffness that was barely noticeable in warmer months suddenly…
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Recognizing Pain in Senior Dogs: The Subtle Signs
Dogs are notoriously good at hiding pain. It is an old survival instinct, showing weakness once made an animal a target, and that instinct does not switch off just because…