Woof! Furiends, how is old man winter treating you?  Nasty!  Right?  I don’t know who the dude was that came out of the ground a few weeks ago and said more winter, he needs to rethink his announcement and bring warmth, sunshine and funnigans.  Show of paws; who is with me?

Winter weather can be challenging for senior dogs
Show of paws; who is ready for spring

Old man winter and I have something in common; we are getting older, perhaps that is why he is slow to move on and let spring come in?  Yes, furiends you heard it first, I am getting older; truth be known, I am slowing down quickly in front of Mom’s eyes.  She doesn’t know that I see her watching me, something her eyes begin to leak; it was just yesterday that I was a puppy that she brought home.  I am not alone, Carla Mae is slowing down too; we both will be 13yrs old this year.  Now according to all the charts out there, we should be admitted into “Geriatric Dog Home”; good news, Doc says we aren’t even close because we are looking pawsome.

The other week we went in for our visit and Mom ordered every test under the sun, furiends, sometimes she just needs to relax.  Talk about one life lesson that I still haven’t been able to teach her, r-e-l-a-x.  One day, she will learn.  Woof!  Carla and I both have heart murmurs and they were given a grade, we both a grade III.  Doc explained to Mom that normally he sees dogs with this grade and our age having either the inside wall of our heart good and outside wall not so good; or, vice versa.  Guess what?!  Both our walls were the same and we do not need any heart meds.  Mom asked about exercise and told Doc about our walks, oh yes furiends; she shared how crazy she is with our walks.  The doc said “wow!” he said that if Carla and I begin to slow down or stop, then Mom needs to listen to us.  Wooofeee finally!  See, too much exercise can be equally dangerous for us senior dogs as no exercise.  Carla and I can still do 1 mile; just the other day, I couldn’t do anymore and I slowed down.  Mom reached down and carried me.  Oh yeah!  Little did she know this was part of my plan, she carried me into the neighborhood; there I was giving the royal paw wave for all to bow.  I plan worked!  BOL 

Small amounts of exercise is great for senior dogs
A little exercise is still good for us senior dogs

Mom had our kidneys, liver, lungs, blood looked at too.  Now our kidney count was slightly high, Doc wasn’t too concerned because Mom had pictures taken of our inside.  What is it with cameras and Mom?  She certainly likes taking photos of us whether it is our hearts, paws, tails, eyes, liver, etc.  Tellin’ ya, she is crazy!  Any kibble, our kidneys smiled pretty because Doc said they looked great in the photos.  They started talking about what Mom is feeding us; she told them she feeds us Castor & Pollux Grain Free/Poultry Free Salmon Kibble and Wellness Limited Ingredient Canned 1 tsp Salmon.  Doc told Mom good news our skin looks Grr8 due to the salmon and that explains why our hearts are doing so well.  However, since we are geriatric (hey! Who are you calling old?) our kidneys are not that of pups and need less protein; too much protein can be damaging to our kidneys.  Our poor Mom was crushed; she thought was doing the right thing for all of us.  Doc told her that she was and is, for Carla and I, just had green beans for more carbs and this will help our old kidneys stay young.  

How about you?  Now that you may be a tad older; have you ever over done something to realize not a young pup anymore? 

Health, exercise and nutrition will help your senior dog
Carla Mae and I, not bad for two senior dogs

Would wuv to hear how you try to stay young as a pup even if you may be geriatric?

Wuv

Mr MaGoo and Carla Mae

Two senior Lhasa Apso’s lovin’ life (in style)

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