Too old to be so young: Vets say cats and small dogs are geriatric at 7


Age may creep up on man, but his best friend gets there at warp speed.
Going from pup to grandpup doesn’t leave much prime time under American Veterinary Medical Association labels that cats and small dogs are geriatric at 7 — and large dogs at 6.

But not everyone agrees, and rescuers say those definitions can be a death sentence to older animals in need of homes.
Dr. Emily Pointer, staff internist and medical coordinator at the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals’ Bergh Memorial Animal Hospital in New York, said she considers the last third of life the sunset years.
“That seems fairly crazy,” she said of the AMVA designations. “I would never consider a person in their 40s or 50s to be senior.”

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