Have you ever had a 'senior' pet?  OK, so here's the thing - the 'industry standard' of a senior pet is 7 years old ... but the thing is, different species live different length of lives on average!  And with the improvements in food and health care, pets are living into their late teens and in some cases, early 20's!!!

OK, so we had a black lab named Buddy - awesome ridiculously sweet dog.  If you look at the standard for the breed, he shouldn't have lived past 12.  But he made it to almost 16 (when I say 'almost' I mean within 2 months of his 16th birthday).  So what would 'senior' be in his case?  I would say the standard of 7 is acceptable, as 12 was his 'max' life expectancy.

We recently adopted a 7-ish year old Pomeranian.  This poor girl was tossed over the 6 foot fence of a local animal shelter on a VERY cold night.  she was 2 pounds underweight (which meant she was about 45% less than she SHOULD have weighed, had a messed up uterus, all sorts of worms and six bladder stones.  Now that she is healthy and happy, her coat is grown in and she bounces everywhere...  This dog could live to 17 easily...  so what would be 'senior' for her?  Her adoption paperwork says she already is.  My vet says she's not as old as we think (he puts her at 5-7 years old).  Her eyes are clear, and her energy level is high.

Should 'senior' be an across the board classification?  Great Danes have a very short life expectancy while tiny little Pomeranians have a longer one...  so shouldn't 'senior' be on a breed basis?

Just a thought...

In our home, we have 7 animals...  of 4 different species.  We have 2 dogs, 2 cats, 2 rabbits and a cockatoo...  we board a horse off our property.  Every day different lessons come courtesy of these amazing creatures we have been blessed to share our lives with.  Here is where those lessons (and any pet tips) will be posted!

Enjoy! :)