As a rule of thumb, every year for a dog or cat is equivalent to 5-7 human years.
For instance, a large breed dog, such as an English Mastiff that lives to be an average of nine years old, we would call him "senior" when he reached the age of six. A small dog that normally lives to be 15 years old would be considered "senior" at 10 years old.
As your pet ages, his body organs will not function as efficiently as they used to and his immune system will lose some of its effectiveness. As a result, our older pets are prone to get ill more often, as well as suffer from many more aches and pains.
How you care for your pet determines how fast he ages. Feeding a nutritious diet, providing regular exercise, maintaining an ideal weight, having a veterinarian check-up every 6 months are a few things you can do to ensure that your pet is more likely to age gracefully.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON SENIOR CARE - VISIT THE PET HEALTH NETWORK