Exercise for Senior Dogs and Cats: How Much and What’s Safe

A senior dog who used to pull toward the park now stops to sniff a few steps from the door. A cat who once jumped to the top of the bookcase now waits on the floor and looks up. Many pets slow down as they get older, and it changes what a good day of activity looks like.

Exercise for senior dogs and cats often looks gentler and shorter than it used to: a few short walks on soft ground with plenty of time to sniff, a swim for a dog who loves water, and a few minutes of play at a time for a cat. The aim is movement they enjoy, at a pace they set. Signs they’ve had enough, like hanging back on walks or losing interest in a game, tell you when to rest. Small dogs and cats are usually considered seniors from about 9 to 11 years old, and bigger dogs reach that stage sooner.

We think of exercise for an older pet as part of keeping them comfortable, not as a fitness goal. That means answers you can use on an ordinary day: how long a walk should be, which games are easy on old joints, what changes with arthritis, extra weight, heart disease, vision or hearing loss, or dementia, and how to help a pet who can barely get around. Our guides to caring for a senior pet cover diet, comfort, and the other changes that come with age.

Key Takeaways

• Most older dogs and cats do well with short, gentle sessions, with the distance and difficulty fitted to what they can do now. For a dog with arthritis, 10 minutes of walking three times a day is one starting point, and cats play in short bursts with longer rests in between.
• Good low-impact choices for dogs include leash walks on soft ground, slow sniffing walks, simple strength moves, and, for a dog who likes the water, swimming. For cats, wand toys and food puzzles keep them moving, and a step can make a favorite perch easier to reach.
• Ease off if a pet lags or loses interest. A cat who’s having trouble breathing, especially with open-mouth breathing or panting, or a dog who collapses or struggles to breathe on a hot day, needs a vet right away.
• Arthritis, extra weight, heart disease, trouble seeing or hearing, and dementia each change what’s safe. Most dogs with mild to moderate heart disease can manage short walks, and cats with arthritis tend to do best with low, slow games that don’t end in a jump.
• When getting around is hard, rugs on slick floors, ramps, a support harness, a stroller or carry sling for outings, and soft, thick bedding help some pets. For some families, mobility becomes part of a bigger quality-of-life conversation, and a vet can talk it through with you.

How Much Exercise Does a Senior Dog or Cat Need?

A healthy older dog can keep walking and playing. Adjust the distance and difficulty to your dog’s current capabilities, and start short and gentle. For a dog with arthritis starting a new routine, a good start is 10 minutes of walking, three times a day. For a cat, try short play sessions that end when they lose interest.

How your pet moves the next day is the best guide. If they’re stiffer or slower to get up, a shorter walk next time may suit them better. If they’re bright and moving normally, the amount was about right.

How Long to Walk a Senior Dog

The walk fits the dog. Short, frequent walks suit sore joints best, and for a dog with arthritis who started at 10 minutes, you can add a little over time as long as they’re comfortable. If several walks a day don’t fit your schedule, a few minutes of sniffing or play at home can fill the gaps.

A slow walk can be a good walk for an older dog. Cornell’s canine health center suggests treating walks as “sniffathons”: let your dog wander and sniff at their own speed, on easy ground at a cool time of day, with the distance fitted to what they can do now. Short loops that stay near home make it easy to turn back if they tire, and bringing water helps on longer outings.

How Much Play a Senior Cat Needs

Cats tend to play in short bursts followed by longer rests, and many keep their hunting drive as they age. Cats are sprinters rather than marathon runners, so a game can be as short as a minute. Let your cat decide how long each game lasts. When they walk away, the game is over.

The best time to play is when your cat appears to be naturally interested, and for many cats that’s around dawn and dusk. A game near where your cat already likes to rest saves them a trip. Older cats may have less energy and move less easily, so keep the toy within easy reach and let them catch it often.

Safe Low-Impact Exercise for Senior Dogs

For an older dog, the best exercise is steady, low-impact movement that keeps muscles working without jarring sore joints. For most senior dogs, that means walks, gentle strength work, sniffing games, and, for dogs who enjoy water, swimming. Avoid anything with sudden starts, hard stops, twisting, or jumping, or swap it for a gentler version.

Walking is the foundation for most senior dogs, and where you walk matters as much as how far. Low-impact exercises may be walking on softer surfaces such as grass or dirt, and it’s best to skip concrete or asphalt when you can. A flat park path or a quiet field is often easier than a hilly route.

Swimming and Water Exercise for Older Dogs

For a dog who loves the water, swimming is a great, low-impact exercise. Not every dog likes water or can swim, so introduce swimming gradually so you do not create a water phobia. Keep the water calm with no current, save swims for warm weather, keep them short, and clip on a long line so you can help your dog back to shore if needed.

Swimming isn’t a good fit for a dog with heart failure. For a dog with sore joints, some rehabilitation practices offer a water treadmill, where a dog walks on a moving belt in water for lower impact with some resistance.

Strength Exercise for Senior Dogs: Legs and Core

Muscle strengthening helps protect joints and reduce pain, and a few gentle moves at home can help. Warm your dog up first, and do these on a rug or grass where their feet won’t slide:

• Walking over low poles. Lay broomsticks or small poles on the ground about one body length apart and let your dog walk over them slowly. Stepping over them bends every joint a little more than a normal walk does, and it helps a dog keep track of where their feet are.
• Three-legged stands. With your dog standing, gently lift one foot so they shift their weight onto the other three. This builds balance, core strength, and leg strength. Choose which leg to lift based on what’s comfortable for your dog.
• Sit-to-stands. This strengthens the hind limbs and core: ask your dog to sit and then stand, slowly, a few times in a row.

A vet or rehabilitation practitioner can show you other moves that suit your dog’s joints.

Brain Games and Scent Work for Older Dogs

Sniffing is one of the gentlest ways to tire an older dog out. Hide a few treats around a room, scatter part of a meal in the grass, or use a food puzzle so your dog has to nose and paw for it. Scent work needs no running or jumping, so it suits many older dogs, and many dogs nap afterward.

Old dogs can learn new tricks, too, and our list of brain games for senior dogs has plenty to try. Short training sessions with treats, like touching a nose to your hand or finding a hidden toy, keep their minds busy without straining their bodies. Rolling a ball along the floor instead of throwing it lets a ball-loving dog keep playing.

Fetch, Frisbee, and Jumping: What to Change

Chasing a thrown ball or flying disc means a burst from a standstill, a sudden stop, and a twist to grab the toy, all in a second or two. VCA advises against it for dogs with arthritis, since it’s hard on sore joints. If your dog won’t give it up, warm them up first, keep the ball low to the ground, limit the number of throws, and play on footing that isn’t slippery or uneven. Hiding the ball for them to sniff out is a gentler version of the same game.

Fewer jumps help too. A ramp or step for the car and the couch saves a lot of small jumps over a day. If your dog starts going around low jumps they used to clear, take it as a hint that jumping isn’t comfortable anymore.

Stairs, Slippery Floors, and Car Rides

For a dog with painful arthritis, hip dysplasia, a heart condition, or a flat face, stair climbing is not recommended as exercise. At home, a baby gate keeps an unsteady dog from trying the stairs alone, and a support harness with a handle lets you help a bigger dog up and down.

Slick floors are hard on an older dog, too, since slipping makes it harder for them to walk, turn, and get up. Rugs or yoga mats with non-skid backing, interlocking foam tiles over larger areas, short nails, and traction boots for dogs who’ll wear them all add grip, and toe grips can help with foot stability. Our guide to home changes for senior pets covers floors, stairs, and resting spots room by room. For the car, a ramp makes getting in and out easier on the back and legs, and many dogs learn to use one quickly.

Other Dogs and a New Puppy: Keeping an Older Dog Comfortable

Time with a calm dog they know can be good for an older dog. Playtime with other dogs can keep a senior dog’s mind engaged when they’re comfortable and safe, and a slow walk side by side is another way to spend time together. Rough, fast play can mean the same sudden starts and stops as fetch, so one calm friend may suit an older dog better than a crowd of wrestling dogs.

An older dog and a puppy or young dog often need some help sharing space. Older pets often try to avoid the younger animal in quiet ways, like leaving a room the young dog is in, looking away, or going still. If the young dog keeps pushing, the older one may growl or snap.

To keep things easy on your senior, give the younger one their own outlets, like a walk, a chew, or a puzzle toy. If the older dog keeps trying to get away, separate spaces at times, especially overnight or when they’re home alone, can make things easier on both. Some pairs play together, and some do better just sharing a room or the yard, the young dog busy while the older one rests in the sun. If your older dog seems grumpier than usual, ask a vet to check for pain.

Gentle Exercise and Play for Senior Cats

Exercise for an older cat is mostly play: short games that let them stalk, chase, and pounce at their own speed. For a cat with stiff joints, regular gentle play helps keep them mobile and keeps their muscles toned. Most of it can happen a few minutes at a time, right where your cat likes to spend the day.

Wand Toys, Puzzles, and Other Games for Older Cats

These games let an older cat hunt at their own speed:

• Wand toys. A feather or small toy on a wand lets a cat stalk, chase, and pounce, and many cats love it. Put it away after play, since cats can get tangled in the string or swallow it.
• Laser pointers. Some cats love them. Keep the dot away from their eyes, and end the game with a wand toy so your cat gets to catch something.
• Food puzzles and scavenger hunts. A treat ball, or a meal split into a few spots around the room, gets a cat moving and sniffing for food.
• Small toys to bat around. Toy mice, crinkle balls, and ping pong balls give a cat something to swat and chase.
• Catnip and new toys. Catnip excites many cats but not all of them. Keeping a few toys out and swapping them for others now and then keeps things interesting.

In a home with other pets, it helps when an older cat can move around the house without being chased, and a few minutes of play on their own gives them a turn. An older cat may hiss, growl, swat, or chase to keep a younger cat at a distance.

Climbing, Steps, and Harness Walks for Senior Cats

A cat with sore joints may find it hard to jump up to the places they like. A pet step or lower cat tree can help them get back to a favorite perch or the bed. A litter box with lower sides, and one on each floor of a home with stairs, can make your cat’s daily trips easier too.

Time outside on a harness suits some cats. Many cats can learn to walk on a leash, and they tend to prefer leading rather than walking beside you. Cats do best with a snug-fitting harness on the torso rather than a leash on the collar. Let your cat set the route and the pace.

When a Senior Cat Doesn’t Want to Play

Some cats tire quickly and need a lot of coaxing to start a game. A few things often help:

• Try a different toy. Some cats ignore feathers but chase a crinkle ball or a toy mouse.
• Try a different time of day, especially early morning or evening.
• Bring the game to them, close to their bed or favorite chair.
• Reward a little effort with a treat.
• Stop while they’re still interested, so the next game starts on a good note.

A cat who plays for a minute and then wanders off may just be playing the way they do now.

Signs Your Senior Pet Has Done Enough

Older pets often show when they’ve had enough for one session: they lag, sit down, or lose interest, and a dog may pant hard. Most of these signs mean it’s a good moment to rest and keep the next session shorter. A few, mostly to do with breathing or heat, need a vet right away.

Signs to Ease Off for the Day

These usually mean your pet has done enough for now:

• Your pet hangs back on a walk, walks beside you instead of out in front, or loses interest in a game.
• Your dog sits down to rest partway through a walk.
• A dog pants heavily or is clearly trying to slow things down.
• A limp appears, or your pet shifts weight off one leg.
• Your pet is stiffer after exercise, or has more trouble getting up and down.

When you see these, head home, let your pet rest somewhere cool and comfortable, and make the next session shorter or gentler. Some dogs keep going past what’s comfortable, so watch your dog more than the clock. If the same signs keep showing up after shorter sessions, a vet can help.

Signs That Need a Vet Right Away

Call a vet or an emergency clinic for any of these:

• A cat has open-mouth breathing or panting, or any trouble breathing.
• A dog with a heart murmur or heart disease coughs while resting or sleeping, has trouble breathing, or breathes fast at rest.
• On a hot day, a dog collapses, seems weak or confused, vomits, has a seizure, or keeps panting and drooling heavily, which can mean heatstroke.

If a dog may be overheating, move them somewhere cool, with air conditioning if you have it, and give them water while you call.

When to Talk to a Vet About an Older Pet’s Exercise

Talking to a vet helps most when you’re starting something new, when your pet has a health condition, or when their movement has changed. In a dog, pain anywhere in the body changes how comfortable and safe exercise is, and heart disease can lower how much a pet can comfortably do.

Changes to mention:

• Your pet tires much sooner than before.
• A cat is reluctant to jump up or down, has trouble getting into or out of the litter box, or avoids the stairs.
• Your pet doesn’t want to be touched in certain places, or is grumpy when handled.
• A dog coughs or breathes faster than usual while resting.

Lower stamina isn’t always about age. It can come from joint pain, and sometimes from the heart. A short phone video of your pet walking, climbing, or jumping at home, where they’re relaxed, helps a vet see what you’re seeing. If you don’t have a regular vet, our directory’s senior pet care services can help you find someone who works with older animals.

How to Exercise a Senior Dog or Cat With Arthritis

Gentle, regular movement is part of managing arthritis: short, low-impact sessions can ease stiffness and help maintain muscle. In cats, studies found that 90% of cats 12 years of age and older had evidence of DJD on X-rays, which is another name for arthritis. In dogs, osteoarthritis is one of the most common long-term conditions.

Exercise for a Dog With Arthritis

For dogs, controlled, regular exercise is a core treatment for arthritis, along with weight control, physical rehabilitation, and pain relief. Exercise can ease stiffness, help with pain, and keep muscles strong. Start each session with a few minutes of easy walking, keep the footing even and non-slip, and end before your dog starts to lag.

Comfort at home also makes moving easier. Keep your dog warm and dry, and give them a soft orthopedic or memory foam bed. Pain medicine helps many dogs move more comfortably, and it should come from a vet. Our guide to senior dog arthritis covers the treatment options in depth.

Exercise for a Cat With Arthritis

Arthritis in cats is often subtle. Instead of limping, many cats stop jumping, have trouble with the litter box, or seem to sleep more. Keep play low to the ground, drag toys along the floor instead of dangling them high, play on a rug, and skip games that end in a jump. Steps up to favorite spots make the rest of the day easier.

Cats process drugs differently than dogs do, so give a cat only pain medicine a vet has prescribed for them. Vets have several options for arthritic cats, including anti-inflammatory drugs, gabapentin, and Solensia, an injection that blocks one of the pain signals between the joints and the brain.

Help From a Veterinary Rehabilitation Practitioner

Physical rehabilitation is physical therapy for animals, and the American College of Veterinary Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation describes it as more than post-surgery recovery: it also helps animals living with conditions like arthritis. Rehabilitation is an excellent option for assisting with pain management and increasing mobility and balance in older pets. A rehab practitioner can build exercises for your pet’s joints and use tools like laser therapy or a water treadmill.

If rehab isn’t an option for you, a vet can also show you gentle moves to do at home. For board-certified rehab vets, you can find a diplomate of the ACVSMR in your area through the college’s search, or ask a vet for a referral.

Exercise for an Overweight Senior Dog or Cat

Losing extra weight can ease arthritis pain and make moving easier, and it starts small. You don’t have to devote an hour to exercise or fitness training. Start where your pet is now, then add a minute or two of activity each day, with a vet’s input on a weight goal if you can get it.

For a dog, that might mean a slightly longer sniff walk, an extra short walk, or a few more gentle rolls of a ball. Cornell suggests lengthening the daily walk by about 10% a week. Always watch your dog’s reaction to the increased exercise and move up gradually, and stop if they pant hard or start lagging. Fetch, with its sudden starts and stops, may be a poor choice for a heavier dog.

Food is a good way to add movement for a cat. Food puzzles, treat balls, and part of a meal hidden around the room make a cat move and sniff for it, and cats that work for their food tend to eat more slowly.

Cats do best losing weight gradually and on the right food, so a vet’s advice on portions helps. Measuring matters, too: Using a kitchen gram scale is the preferred method for portions. If a vet visit isn’t possible right now, food puzzles and measured meals are a gentle place to start, and our guide to weight management for dogs and cats covers food and portions in more detail.

Exercise for Senior Pets With Heart Disease

A dog with heart disease can often still enjoy gentle activity, with tighter limits. Short walks are tolerated by most dogs with mild to moderate heart disease, but too much can stress the heart.

Dogs with heart disease often struggle on hot, humid days, so keep walks to the coolest part of the day or skip them. A vet can help set the limits that fit your dog.

If a dog who usually walks out in front slows down partway and drops back beside you, that may already be enough, or more than enough. If they fall behind or sit down to rest, that’s more than is comfortable for them right now, so head home and keep the next walk shorter. Once a dog has heart failure, it’s best to drop repetitive or tiring activities you start, like ball chasing, swimming, and running after other animals.

Breathing at Rest

Breathing while a pet sleeps or rests quietly is one of the most useful things to watch with heart disease. A vet may ask you to count those breaths. By doing this several times over a week, you will learn your pet’s average RRR, or resting respiratory rate.

In a dog, a significant rise, even one that stays within the normal range for dogs, is something to report to a vet. If you’ve been keeping numbers, bring them along.

If you have a cat with heart failure, tell a vet if the sleeping rate keeps rising over time or stays consistently above 30 breaths per minute. A cat with heart failure may play less, hide more, or seem tired, and breathing is the main thing to watch. Our guide to congestive heart failure in dogs and cats covers what to watch for and when to call.

Walks and Play for Senior Pets With Vision Loss, Hearing Loss, or Dementia

For a pet with vision loss, hearing loss, or dementia, walks and play often come with some changes: a leash or a fenced space outdoors, a route they know, and cues they can pick up without seeing or hearing you. Some adjust more easily than others.

Walking and Playing With a Blind Dog or Cat

With a blind dog, sticking to the same walking route helps them learn where the obstacles are, and the smells along it still change from day to day. Outdoors, a leash or a fenced space helps a blind dog stay close, especially while they’re adjusting. A harness gives you a gentle way to steer, and one labeled for a blind pet tells other people not to startle them.

Talk to your pet as you come near, so your voice arrives before your hand does. Blind animals can learn to follow sounds like clicks and whistles, and a ball that glows and makes noise lets a dog who can’t see well keep playing. Stairs are safer for a blind dog with you beside them, so a baby gate helps when you’re not right there, while many blind cats manage stairs on their own. For a blind cat, keeping the furniture where it is helps them find their way to favorite spots.

If your pet’s sight is still changing, our guide to senior pets going blind covers the signs, the causes, and how to make home and walks safer.

Walking and Playing With a Deaf Dog or Cat

Hearing loss in older dogs usually comes on slowly, and an older dog may simply sleep through you coming home. A deaf dog won’t hear a call to come back or a car coming, so a leash near streets and a fenced space for off-leash time help.

Many deaf dogs learn to pay close attention to their surroundings, and because dogs naturally look to their people, a few hand signals can take the place of spoken cues on a walk. Firmly tapping your foot nearby is often enough to wake a deaf dog or get their attention, and it’s gentler than coming up on them unseen. Hearing loss is common in older cats too, and deaf pets do best without unpleasant surprises.

Exercise for a Dog or Cat With Dementia

In dogs, dementia (called cognitive dysfunction) can show up as getting lost in familiar places, sleeping more during the day and pacing at night, wandering, or walking in circles. Cats may sleep more by day and pace or yowl at night, and many become less playful. Among the things vets suggest trying are regular exercise, interactive toys and playtime with other dogs, kept to what your dog can comfortably do.

A steady routine helps some pets. Walks and meals at about the same times, time together and daylight during the day, and a regular place and time to sleep can make nights easier for a confused dog. Short sniff walks, food puzzles, and old tricks give them something to do without much strain, and for a cat with dementia, a vet can help you find play that suits them.

If something changes suddenly, it’s worth a call to a vet, since other problems can look like dementia. Our guide to dementia in dogs and cats covers the signs, the stages, and day-to-day care.

Exercising Senior Pets in Hot and Cold Weather

Older dogs are at higher risk in the heat, and cold, damp weather can make stiff joints stiffer. In both cases, shorter walks at the right time of day help, and you can move more activity indoors when the weather is at its worst.

Hot Weather

Age, extra weight, and heart or breathing problems all raise a dog’s risk of overheating, and flat-faced breeds like pugs, bulldogs, Boston terriers, and boxers have a harder time keeping cool. Plan for walks in the early morning or evening hours to avoid the hottest times of the day, usually late afternoon (around 3 to 5 p.m.). Stick to shade, bring water, and save harder exercise for cooler days.

Check the pavement with your hand. If you can’t hold your palm on it for about 10 seconds, it’s likely too hot for your dog’s paws. Heavy panting, seeking shade, whining, reluctance to play, and drooling can be early signs of overheating, and that’s the time to head somewhere cool with water.

Cold and Wet Weather

Cold, damp weather can make stiff joints stiffer. Keep an arthritic dog warm and dry after a wet walk, and give them a warm, padded bed. On cold days, take shorter walks and add more indoor play to keep them moving without a long chill. Slow down on icy or slippery ground, and traction boots can help dogs who wear them get better footing.

For a cat, weather mostly matters if they go outside. An older cat who lives indoors can keep the same play routine all year.

Indoor Exercise for Older Dogs and Cats

On days when the weather, your schedule, or your pet’s joints rule out a walk, there’s still plenty to do inside. A few minutes of sniffing, a food puzzle, or a gentle game can stand in for an outing, and many of these work for dogs and cats alike. Ideas for dogs:

• Treat hunts. Hide treats or bits of a meal around a room and let your dog search. Sometimes called “sniffaris,” they give both mental and physical exercise.
• Food puzzles. Puzzle toys and slow feeders make a dog think and move to get their food.
• Gentle tug. Use a back-and-forth or side-to-side motion rather than up and down to avoid injuries. Keep it slow and low-key.
• A treadmill, with guidance. A slow treadmill can work for some dogs, though treadmill exercise does not perfectly mimic land walking, so a vet or sports medicine specialist can help you decide whether it suits your dog.

Indoor cats can get their exercise inside, too. The games above, from wand toys to a meal hidden around a room, work well in short sessions spread through the day.

When a Senior Pet Can’t Do Much: Mobility and Quality of Life

Some senior dogs, especially laid-back ones or those living with health problems, would rather rest in a sunny spot near you. Doing less can be part of a comfortable life, or a sign that moving hurts, and a vet can help you tell which.

When getting around is hard, these can help:

• Pain relief. A vet can look at medication, acupuncture, or rehab, and adjust the plan as things change.
• Mobility support. A sling or support harness for a dog who needs help standing or walking, and carts or wagons for dogs who need more support. Some cats take to two- and four-wheeled carts too, if pain is well managed, and a vet can help you choose one.
• Staying part of things. A comfortable bed near where you spend time helps a pet who can’t follow you around stay part of the day.
• Gentle touch. On days when walking is too much, a slow massage can be a way to spend time together. Our guide to senior pet massage at home shows simple techniques.

Caring for a pet who can barely get around is a lot of work, and not every pet or home can manage it all.

Strollers and Wagons for Outings

For a dog who tires after a block or two, a stroller or wagon can be a way to keep going out together, sniffing and seeing the neighborhood. A bigger dog can ride in a wagon you pull, and a small dog can ride in a pet stroller. Packs and modified infant slings can be used to carry cats and small dogs, so a cat who enjoys time out with you can come along too.

Pad the bottom with something that won’t slide, like a yoga mat cut to fit, so your dog isn’t jostled on corners and hills. Tall wagon sides or a stroller with mesh windows keep them from tumbling or hopping out. Bring water and take shade breaks on warm days, and a blanket on cold ones, since riding doesn’t keep them warm the way walking does. Keep the first trips short while your dog gets used to riding.

Caring for a Pet Who Can’t Walk on Their Own

A pet who can’t stand or walk without help needs a different kind of daily movement, and much of the care vets suggest for paralyzed pets applies. Soft, thick bedding, like a memory foam bed under washable blankets, can help with pressure sores. Combining a soft mattress with regular position changes and passive range of motion exercises can reduce their occurrence, and a vet or rehab practitioner can show you how to gently move each leg through its normal bend and stretch.

Moving your pet to another room or outside now and then during the day, if you can, gives them something new to see and smell, and it helps with stiffness. For a pet who drags their back legs, a sling, harness, or wheelchair can protect their skin. Checking them regularly keeps their skin clean and dry, and keeping water within their reach while they’re lying down makes drinking easier.

How Mobility Fits Into Quality of Life

Mobility is one part of the picture, not the whole of it. Vets look at whether pain is controlled, whether a pet eats, drinks, and can be kept clean and comfortable, and how many good days they’re having. One quality-of-life scale vets use, developed by veterinary oncologist Dr. Alice Villalobos, is known as HHHHHMM: Hurt, Hunger, Hydration, Hygiene, Happiness, Mobility, and More good days than bad, and each part is looked at alongside the others.

Our guide to the HHHHHMM quality of life scale explains each part and how a pet’s movement is weighed together with pain, eating, drinking, staying clean, and how they’re feeling day to day.

For some families, a cart, a sling, or care at home fits. For others, looking at the whole pet is part of thinking about euthanasia. A vet can talk through either option with you, and a quality-of-life consultation from our directory can help you look at it all together, at whatever pace you need.

Keeping Your Senior Dog or Cat Comfortable and Moving

Exercise for senior dogs and cats is mostly made of small things: the slow walk where they get to sniff every post, the two-minute game with a feather at dusk, the step that gets them back onto the bed. None of it needs to be long or hard.

Bodies keep changing in later life, and the right amount of activity changes with them. If your pet seems more tired or less interested than usual, a vet can help you work out what’s changed and adjust the plan. Whatever your pet’s pace is now, we hope there’s room in the day for a few slow minutes with their nose in the grass or a paw on a feather.

On this topic

Keep reading

• Dog Dementia and Cat Dementia: Signs, Stages, and Care →
• Senior Dog Arthritis: A Complete Guide to Symptoms and Care →
• How to Keep Blind and Deaf Pets Safe: Complete Guide →
• Senior Dog or Cat Going Blind? Signs, Causes, and Care →