How Old is Your Pet?
As pet owners, we, around our house in France have everything from hens to horses, We have a 10 year old Spanish “Levrier” – which should be a small greyhound, but ours is probably as big! – who was tortured and left to die in a forest when he could no longer make money for his owner from “coursing”. Luckily he was rescued and has since enjoyed a life of luxury. (Regrettably we cannot say the same for the many hundreds of other “Leviers” in Spanish refuges which need desperate care and attention. The plight of many of these animals is tragic for a so called “civilised” European country. The amount and ferocity of the maltreatment of these dogs puts bullfighting in the shade on scales of cruelty.
But how old is he in dog years? We have often asked that question – “how old is old in an animal or pet? But the age of “retirement” appears to vary greatly depending on the type and size of the animal. For instance, if we take 60 years old as a point of determination, then:
- cats are 11 in actual age
- small dogs are 9 in actual age
- big dogs – over 15 kgs (33 lbs or 2 stone 5 lbs) but less than 40 kgs (88 lbs or 6 stone 4 lbs) are 8 in actual age
- really big dogs – over 40 kgs – are 6 in actual age
Referring to this one table – and there does seem to be a large variation depending on who is selling what! – our Couru is probably around 70 to 75 years old. A really good age for a dog under most circumstances, let alone one that was tortured and left to die. So, how have we managed to keep Couru not only alive but in good form?
We treat him, as we do all our animals, exactly as we treat humans. Especially in dogs and horses, ailments such as arthritis, cancer, laminitis, besides the normal effects of just getting older, have to be managed. And for Couru, the “Levrier”, his treatment is as mine – because we are the same age!
His food requires to be a good quality balanced feed – we feed him James Wellbeloved “Senior” which we buy from UK – and, of course, the scraps that come from our table. He walks at least twice a day, sometimes more – and has good play fights with the spaniel – and when the mood takes him enjoys the garden sunshine. Which leads me to mention that he is kept in a warm place at night. Remember, while you are snuggled up in bed your dog is probably in an unheated place. But this opens up a whole new subject because our greyhound has a very thin coat, whilst the spaniel has a thick blanket of a coat. Couru needs warmth whilst Smithy shies away from it!!
For his health and well being Couru takes “Serra 4 Pet” Serrapeptase 80,000 iu for his creaky joints and Curcumin to keep him fit and well.
With these two natural products we have enjoyed seeing good results – even from a parrot! She had arthritis in her feet and could not hold on to her perch. After a course of “Serra 4 Pet” she now stands proud. Animals that suffer from nerves also respond well to Passiflora – even puppies. If it works for us humans it will almost certainly work on your pet. There is, though, one caveat. Take even greater care with essential oils or EO based product on animals than you do on humans. Lavender, for instance, could cause a bad reaction; Tea Tree, that “most essential of essential oils” is fine on dogs ad bigger animals but needs to be used only for short times on cats.
For any help in how to keep your pet fit and healthy, naturally, please get in touch with me though the web site. And remember, arthritis and cancer in both animals and humans need rarely happen. Clinical fact!!!
John Osborne is a self-trained Naturopath with over 35 years of experience. Of an engineering formation, he looks at the root causes of people’s problems to discover the “why” rather than the “visible”. Using all forms of a natural approach, John includes phototherapy, homeopathy and aromatherapy among the means of aiding people to find a solution to their problems. John is not a doctor, so cannot diagnose, but works with the leading authorities in the world on the natural ways to cure serious illness.. His advice is given free and he is readily contactable via his website Remede Naturel.
