# Sticky  AAHA Senior Care Guidelines



## Dallas Gold

I was doing some digging around the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) website in connection with another thread and found something that might be helpful to many of us with our senior dogs--Senior Care Guidelines.
Keep this PDF handy and review it before your senior dog's next veterinary exam, particularly if your dog's veterinary clinic isn't a AAHA member (most are not), so you can ask questions, ask the vet to perform certain tests and make sure your senior gets the best preventive exam possible.

Here is the pdf:




https://www.aaha.org/globalassets/02-guidelines/senior-care/senior-care-guidelines




Senior Canine Health Care Checklist



https://www.aaha.org/globalassets/02-guidelines/canine-life-stage-2019/caninelifestage_checklists_senior.pdf



Senior Care Guidelines FAQs-






AAHA Senior Care Guidelines for Dogs and Cats FAQs


The guidelines provide an educational tool to broaden the profession's understanding of optimal senior care. Likewise these guidelines provide a...




www.aaha.org


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## Penny & Maggie's Mom

Wow, that's great Anne. Hope this can be made a sticky, mods.


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## hotel4dogs

that's excellent, thanks!


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## Bob Dylan

I will bookmark it, Thanks!


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## Dallas Gold

I'm printing this out and I'm going to go through it and "pre-exam" Toby before his next wellness appointment, just so I can see if there is anything that looks odd or I should bring up at the appointment. I want to be pro-active and catch anything early on and this article gives me a very good idea of what I should be looking for (from a layman's perspective that is).


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## Sweet Girl

Thank you! I'm printing it out as I type this.


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## TucAl

Thanks - I'm printing it now.


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## seeana

Thank you for that, our Goldens are on this earth for such a short time and its so important to help them live as long as they can in with the best care we can give them.


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## GoldensGirl

Thank you for this. I found this passage especially thought provoking in terms of what our dogs need from us and when to let go: "The five freedoms include freedom from hunger and thirst; freedom from physical and thermal discomfort; freedom from pain, injury, and disease; freedom from fear and distress; and the freedom to express normal behavior." 

With these as criteria for quality of life, I suspect that most of us put our beloved companions through too much.


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## guild.tom

GoldensGirl said:


> Thank you for this. I found this passage especially thought provoking in terms of what our dogs need from us and when to let go: "The five freedoms include freedom from hunger and thirst; freedom from physical and thermal discomfort; freedom from pain, injury, and disease; freedom from fear and distress; and the freedom to express normal behavior."
> 
> With these as criteria for quality of life, I suspect that most of us put our beloved companions through too much.


I was referred to the thread from my thread asking how to deal with my golden, Willie, having seizures. Willie had an MRI that revealed a good sized brain tumor. We decided against radiation therapy. We chose to make his final days as normal as possible. Since being referred to this thread, the "five freedoms" have been very much on my mind. As a matter of fact, I have always believed what these freedoms state. In talking with my vet, I am quite sure that Willie has only weeks remaining. His meds have completely changed his normal carefree and happy life. I don't want Willie experience more seizures, especially long lasting or cluster seizures. I don't want to have make an emergency trip to the vet nor do I want Willie to suffer while waiting for our vet to come to our home. Willie loves car rides. He even likes the vet's office...that is until it is time for a shot or the trip down the hall to have his nails trimmed. We have decided to have Willie euthanized this Friday. It will be a sad, sad day, but then every day since we received his diagnosis has been sad.

I do not want to put Willie through "too much". I love him too much for that. In the past I think that I may have waited just a bit too long in making this decision for my beloved furry friends. I do not want to do that with Willie.

Members of this forum have been most helpful and kind over the past couple of weeks. Thank you so very, very much.


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## GoldensGirl

guild.tom said:


> ... We have decided to have Willie euthanized this Friday. It will be a sad, sad day, but then every day since we received his diagnosis has been sad.
> 
> I do not want to put Willie through "too much". I love him too much for that. In the past I think that I may have waited just a bit too long in making this decision for my beloved furry friends. I do not want to do that with Willie...


I am so very sorry. I hope that we have the courage to follow your excellent example as we watch over Joker.

Wishing you peace.


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## guild.tom

I very much appreciated being referred to this thread. I wish that everyone who faces the difficult choice that we have to make concerning when and how to bring an end to their furry companion's life would read it. 

Please consider my belief that many of us put our friend through too much just because we want him or her with us for a longer period of time. Regardless of when the time comes, it will be terribly sad...so very, very sad. 

My wife and I were heart broken when we were given Willie's terminal cancer diagnosis. I talked with my vet whom I have known for 25 years. He's is a "real dog guy" with a very tender heart. When I told him that we would like to euthanize Willie before he experienced another seizure, he agreed wholeheartedly saying that it was the right decision and that's what he would do if Willie was his dog. He also said that in all reality Willie would not have that much longer to live and could possible suffer quite a bit at the end. 

We made our decision in as rational manner as possible considering our emotional state. We believe it was simply the right thing to do for both Willie and us. I only hope that when our other golden's time has come we will have the wisdom and courage do the same.


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## Mouchka

Would you able to send me a screen shot or copy past the information on here Because sadly the links are no longer available ?


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## CAROLINA MOM

Mouchka said:


> Would you able to send me a screen shot or copy past the information on here Because sadly the links are no longer available ?


I looked them up for you-

https://www.aaha.org/globalassets/02-guidelines/senior-care/senior-care-guidelines

FAQs-

https://www.aaha.org/aaha-guidelines/senior-care-configuration/senior-care/faqs/


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## Susan Q

Dallas Gold said:


> I was doing some digging around the American Animal Hospital Association (AAHA) website in connection with another thread and found something that might be helpful to many of us with our senior dogs--Senior Care Guidelines.
> Keep this PDF handy and review it before your senior dog's next veterinary exam, particularly if your dog's veterinary clinic isn't a AAHA member (most are not), so you can ask questions, ask the vet to perform certain tests and make sure your senior gets the best preventive exam possible.
> 
> Here is the pdf:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> https://www.aaha.org/globalassets/02-guidelines/senior-care/senior-care-guidelines
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Senior Canine Health Care Checklist
> 
> 
> 
> https://www.aaha.org/globalassets/02-guidelines/canine-life-stage-2019/caninelifestage_checklists_senior.pdf
> 
> 
> 
> Senior Care Guidelines FAQs-
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> AAHA Senior Care Guidelines for Dogs and Cats FAQs
> 
> 
> The guidelines provide an educational tool to broaden the profession's understanding of optimal senior care. Likewise these guidelines provide a...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.aaha.org


Thank you, very helpful


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## blousesandhouses

Keep this PDF handy and review it before your senior dog's next veterinary exam, particularly if your dog's veterinary clinic isn't a AAHA member (most are not), so you can ask questions, ask the vet to perform certain tests and make sure your senior gets the best preventive exam possible.


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