5 Quiet Signs Your Pet Is Getting Older

The changes rarely announce themselves. They arrive a little at a time, small enough that you don't register them, until someone who hasn't seen your dog in a year says "he's gone grey, hasn't he" and you realise you'd stopped noticing.

What follows is the list customers describe to us in hindsight, usually starting with "actually, now I think about it, it started way before that."

1. The muzzle starts going pale

The easiest one to spot, and the only one here that's nothing to worry about. Grey around the mouth and eyebrows is ordinary. Some dogs start at five.

What's worth watching alongside it is the coat itself. Thinning in patches, or fur that's got noticeably coarse despite the same care, isn't just age. That one's worth a vet's opinion.

2. She sleeps longer, but not as deeply

Older animals sleeping more is expected. What people miss is the quality of it.

Is she changing position more often? Getting up in the night to circle and resettle? Choosing a hard floor over the soft bed she's always used? Those usually point at joints or general discomfort rather than tiredness.

3. A pause before jumping

This is clearest in cats. A cat who used to land on the counter in one motion starts looking up first, or starts using a chair as a halfway step.

Dogs do the same thing — slower on the stairs, a beat of hesitation before the sofa, a moment standing still after getting out of the car.

The pause is the part to remember. It isn't that he can't. It's that he thinks about it first.

4. He smells sooner than he used to

We hear this one constantly, and the shampoo usually gets the blame.

What's actually happening is that an older animal grooms less of himself. A cat who can't reach her lower back and tail base develops a greasy patch exactly there. A dog with sore hips stops washing his own feet.

If the smell is coming back faster on the same bathing schedule, find out where it's coming from. If it's a spot he can't reach, that's your answer — and the fix isn't more baths, it's wiping that area with a dry shampoo foam between them.

If the smell is coming from his mouth or ears, or it's oddly sweet, that's a vet visit rather than a grooming problem.

5. He's slower to greet you

Not because he cares less. Hearing and eyesight both fade, and plenty of older pets simply don't register that you're home as quickly as they used to.

Watch whether she startles when you approach from behind. If she does, she isn't hearing you coming. From then on, approach from the front and touch her gently before doing anything else.

What to do once you're seeing these

First, don't panic. Most of this is ordinary ageing, not illness.

Second, write it down. The date, and what you saw. At the vet, "he seems slower" is worth much less than "since the middle of last month he's been hesitating before getting on the sofa."

Third, adjust small things at home. A non-slip mat on tiled floors. A bed that's easier to get out of. A second water bowl somewhere else in the house.

And last, give him a bit more of your time. This brand exists because of a pomeranian called Lava, and because of how her owner felt afterwards. Half an hour a week is a place to start.