The Five-Minute Weekly Check for an Older Pet

Weigh them

Weekly, same scale, same time of day. Weight loss in a senior pet who is eating normally is one of the single most useful early warnings there is — it points at kidney disease, hyperthyroidism, diabetes and cancer long before anything else shows. A small baby scale is enough for cats and small dogs.

Run your hands over them

Ears to tail, both sides, feeling for lumps, heat, thinning muscle over the hips and spine, and any flinching. You will find things earlier than a vet who sees them twice a year. Note where anything is so you can tell whether it has grown by next week.

Look at the mouth

Lift the lip. Red gums, heavy tartar, a broken tooth or a bad smell are all treatable and all painful when left. Dental disease is the most under-treated source of chronic pain in older pets in South Africa, largely because owners never look.

Watch them walk away from you

Stand behind them and watch them move down a passage. A back end that wobbles, drifts or crosses over is telling you something orthopaedic or neurological. It is far more visible from behind than from the side, and almost nobody thinks to look.