Yesterday was my dad's birthday. He turned a spry 77--which he reminded me is the new 67. It is not only people who are benefiting from advances in medicine and nutrition to make us feel as young as we think we are, but animals too are living longer and longer lives.
In fact, the Philadelphia Zoo has quite a few geriatric patients as the Philadelphia Inquirer reported last week. There's Spot, age 25, a spectacled langur; BooBoo, the Andean bear who is now 30 and Twigga, age 28, who is the fifth-oldest giraffe in North America.
Anyone who has ever had an senior pet knows that old age usually comes along with medication and the zoo geriatric set gets its share of supplements, all cleverly disguised in food. You try giving a giraffe an arthritis pill that is as big as a nickel! The zoo keeper hides it in her banana but I know that Amos would find a way to eat around it.
Better nutrition has also played a huge role in animals' increased longevity. As much as you may not like commercial pet foods, they do provide dogs and cats with complete and balanced nutrition, some specifically developed to correspond with age and size.
And I know you have seen the bevy of products on the market for aging dogs: everything from a sling to hold up their rear legs and help them up the stairs to portable ramps to help them in and out of the car. My two dogs have benefited from a "therapeutic" bed, bought for a canine long deceased since they were both puppies!
The bottom line is that we all get older and quality of life is very much an issue for pets as well as people. With proper care, everyone should be able to enjoy their golden years.
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2 comments:
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