Veterinary Clinics of North America-Small Animal Practice最新文献

Veterinary hospice provides a compassionate, patient-centered approach to end-of-life care that emphasizes comfort, dignity, and quality of life over curative intent. This article outlines the principles of hospice care, including patient selection, multimodal pain and symptom management, environmental adaptations, and integration with geriatric care. It highlights the importance of proactive communication, quality-of-life assessment tools, and euthanasia planning to guide families through difficult decisions. By supporting both patients and caregivers, veterinary hospice strengthens the human-animal bond and ensures that a pet's final stage of life is managed with empathy, evidence-based strategies, and respect for individual values.

Sensory decline, particularly vision and hearing loss, is nearly universal in aging dogs and cats yet remains underrecognized in general practice. These changes are often mistaken for cognitive dysfunction or normal aging, but they significantly affect quality of life, behavior, and the human-animal bond. This review provides busy clinicians with practical, evidence-based strategies for identifying and managing sensory decline, including screening approaches, diagnostic tools, and real-world management tactics. Emphasis is placed on proactive care, client education, and the interplay between sensory loss and cognitive dysfunction to improve outcomes for senior patients.

Veterinary geriatrics is evolving from an age-based label to a dynamic, functional assessment of how pets experience aging. This article explores key concepts including frailty, caregiver perception, functional versus medical aging, quality of life, and prediction of decline. Drawing from emerging veterinary literature and adapted human geriatric models, it offers practical tools and frameworks to support proactive, compassionate care for aging pets.

Cognitive dysfunction syndrome (CDS) is a common, yet underdiagnosed, neurobehavioral disease of domestic animals. Much like its human counterpart, Alzheimer's disease, CDS is the result of neuronal loss and inflammatory changes in the central nervous system; however, the specific pathophysiology of the disease continues to be researched in efforts to advance diagnostics, prognosis, and treatment. Diagnosis is typically conducted by ruling out possibilities and using assessment tools, including the Canine Dementia Scale and the Canine Cognitive Dysfunction Rating Scale. Treatment is often most successful when a tailored, multimodal approach is initiated early in the disease progression.

Accumulating evidence suggests psychological distress occurs for many owners of aging and ill companion animals. Increased caregiving responsibilities may result in the experience of burden, which can come with an emotional price tag including stress and burnout. Key to providing support for the overwhelmed caregiver is understanding, identifying, and facilitating alleviation of this burden. The following work offers a brief review of this topic and provides guidance for recognition of burden in the companion animal owner and recommendations for facilitation of its alleviation.

This article explores species-specific approaches to end-of-life care, emphasizing the importance of understanding each animal's unique biology, behavior, and environment. The Five Domains model guides holistic welfare assessments, integrating physical, mental, and social health. Visual tools like Rainbow Mapping facilitate family involvement in quality of life evaluations and care planning. The article provides detailed protocols for sedation, euthanasia, and aftercare across various species, highlighting the importance of compassionate communication and tailored care strategies to ensure humane, dignified passings while supporting the emotional needs of families.

Dogs live longer lives than ever and the impact of aging affects their daily functions and quality of life. Understanding physiologic changes of aging and how this impacts mobility can help care givers provide effective interventions to improve functional movement. Implementation of customized exercise programs aimed at improving coordination/balance, strength, endurance, and functional tasks can improve daily quality of life and longevity. Exercise has wide ranging benefits from improving cardiovascular and musculoskeletal health to mental health and improving the human-animal bond. Diligent adherence to routine moderate level of exercise and rehabilitation revitalizes the lives of aging pets and their owners.

Adverse food reactions (AFRs) are a frequent cause of chronic pruritus and gastrointestinal disease in dogs and cats. They include immunologic (allergic) and nonimmunologic reactions, with diagnosis remaining challenging due to nonspecific clinical signs. Current diagnostic tests (serum immunoglobulin E/immunoglobulin G, saliva, and hair) lack reliability, and elimination diet trials with dietary provocation remain the gold standard. Hydrolyzed diets are practical first-line options, while elemental diets may further improve diagnostic accuracy in the future. Advances in understanding T-cell-mediated mechanisms highlight the potential of lymphocyte proliferation assays, although further validation is required before clinical implementation.