The Signs, Symptoms & Treatment Options for Sarcopenia in Senior Pets

by Richard Lawrence SEO

Do you have pets at home? Like, do you have dogs (or even cats) at home? If you do then I guess you should start thinking more about your dog’s muscle health, because they could fall prey to a disease called sarcopenia.  According to veterinary health experts, sarcopenia is a reduction in lean muscle mass due to aging, which is of particular significance because it increases the risks for morbidity and mortality in dogs, and even cats. Here’s a look at the signs, symptoms and treatment options for sarcopenia in senior pets.

It Can Reduce Your Pet’s Quality of Life

Here’s one sad truth – Many pet owners often don’t think about their pet’s muscle health, perhaps because they don’t want to spend extra for their animals, or they simply don’t know that muscle loss makes their animals weaker.

 

But according to veterinarians, it’s important that you know the basic sarcopenia symptoms and signs, by having regular conversations with your veterinarian about your pet’s muscle condition.

 

Sarcopenia in dogs and cats can certainly reduce the pet’s quality of life, and it could even lead to more serious health problems. In apparently healthy cats, an estimated 1/3 of lean body mass (LBM) is lost from the age of 1 to 15 years.

 

Senior dogs lose around 10% of their LBM, as well as experience a 10% increase in their fat mass over the same period of time, which is something that could make sarcopenia very challenging to identify, especially if muscle loss or wastage is hidden under excess fat.

 

What You Can Do to Prevent or Treat Sarcopenia

To make sure that your pet cat or dog lives a healthy and happy existence, you should know the sarcopenia symptoms and signs, as well as learn the essential preventive measures to keep your pets healthy and strong.

 

Sarcopenia in dogs and cats naturally happens as the animal ages, but it’s definitely not something to be taken lightly. Senior animals require a lot of personalized care for their unique needs. Thus, it’s important to bring your senior dog or cat in for regular visits with the, and be sure to fully discuss the sarcopenia symptoms and signs to keep muscle loss at bay.

 

Now, just what can be done to prevent the onset of sarcopenia? Well, the good thing is that there are a number of things that you can do, with the aid and supervision of a veterinarian, to help stave off or prevent muscle loss in sick or aging cats and dogs, and these fall in the areas of physical activity and feeding.

 

For starters, there’s exercise. Well, I guess you’ve already heard it a thousand times or more that exercise helps build muscle mass in both humans and animals. But the thing is with an older dog or cat, you need to be careful about how much exercise you should add to your pet’s daily routine, and how vigorous it should be.

 

Just like humans, dogs and cats cannot safely go from being a couch potato to an athlete in a jiffy. Thus, check with your veterinarian first to determine the right amount of exercise for your senior cat or dog.

 

And, please don’t get discouraged if your dog or cat couldn’t handle that much exercise at the onset, because going from lying around all day to taking one-mile walks can have a positive effect on them, as long as your pet can safely take on additional physical activity.

 

Second, consider your pet’s nutrition. Depending on the situation, a veterinary nutritionist might be able to make meaningful changes in your pet’s diet to help prevent, or to stave off muscle loss or wasting.

 

Do not decide on your own, or try to do things your way, especially in terms of your pet’s nutrition. Why? Because while muscles are indeed made up of protein, it’s not as if the protein we consume goes directly to our muscles.

 

And, more protein is also not always better, because in some cases it can even compromise a dog or cat’s health even further. But then again, it is critical for your pet to have enough protein. And of course, it would be very helpful if you know the sarcopenia symptoms and signs this early, when your pet is still young and healthy.

 

The third aspect to keep in mind is to carefully consider kidney disease in pets, because this can definitely contribute to muscle loss and wasting. For this reason, dogs (or even cats) with kidney disease need to have their protein intake evaluated and adjusted carefully, as well as constantly monitored based on the type and severity of their illness.

 

And, of course before I forget your veterinarian should also constantly monitor your pet’s condition, so that he or she could carefully asses the dual problems of muscle loss and kidney failure.

 

Early on in the disease process, too much protein restriction contributes to muscle loss, and later too much protein can compromise the kidneys. This just goes to show that sarcopenia can be quite a tricky condition, and will likely require a long-term medical assessment.

 

Your veterinarian, who should preferably be board-certified in nutrition too, can also effectively tweak your pet’s diet over time. So, it would be best to provide your vet with  a complete list of everything they eat, whether it’s dog food, treats, table food, home-cooked supplements, dental products etc.

 

This allows the vet to carefully assess whether your dog or cat’s diet is nutritionally balanced, and they have the right number of calories, protein and other nutrients that are ripe for their age, activity level and current health.

 

So, just like taking care of our own health, a proactive and preventive approach is key to keeping your cat or dog healthy.  And, that of course also includes learning about the common sarcopenia symptoms and signs. 

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Created on Jun 19th 2022 04:35. Viewed 129 times.

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