We are working with Agria Pet Insurance on behalf of their Age Amnesty initiative. 

This year our little Oscar turned eight and it felt like a real milestone for us. Tragically, our previous two dogs have died in their sixth year from differing medical issues, and so we have never actually had a senior pet as a family. It’s funny for me to think of Oscar as being a senior, given the fact he still looks just like that fluffy white cloud we collected all of those years ago, and yet it’s also lovely to reap the benefits of a senior dog, something we seem to have waited for such a long time to discover.

No more sleepless nights

I will never forget the first night Oscar came home to live with us and we were up countless times during the night settling him as he cried, yelped, and yapped. That seemed to last for a real age, weeks in fact, and even in the following months there would be far too many nights I would have to trail down the stairs to let him out in the middle of the night when his bladder just wouldn’t hold for a second longer. I don’t miss those days at all!

No more ten mile treks

In the early days Oscar was a bundle of energy, bouncing off the walls from morning until night, desperate to do nothing but run as fast and as far as his little legs could carry him. We used to be out with him three times a day, exhausting ourselves, and him, and although it was all part and parcel of having a dog, it was incredibly time consuming with four children leading busy lives.

The older Oscar gets the less exercise he craves, or needs, and he’s more than happy with two short walks a day and a run off the lead in our local woods. For older dog owners, or those like me with chronic illness, a senior pet is ideal for this reason. According to a survey commissioned by Agria, I’m not the only person who feels that a senior pet is better suited to my lifestyle. 1 in 10 pet owners say that younger pets need too much exercise.

He knows everything about us

Over the years Oscar has come to know each of us, better than we know ourselves some days. He knows our daily routine, the times we will be coming and going, the routes which we walk, the places we visit, and as a result he is far less anxious than he was in those earlier years. Plus he has grown up with each of the children and he knows that sometimes they get a little too rough, or a little too loud, or a lot too crazy, and he doesn’t bat an eyelid!

We know everything about him

After eight years we know Oscar inside out in a way we didn’t in those younger years. It’s funny but he has facial expressions in just the same way which we do, and we know what each of them means and what he wants. We know what he’s thinking when he tilts his head a certain way, when he stands at certain doors or cupboards, when he acts out of character or seems a little off colour. I love the reassurance that there are no surprises when it comes to Oscar and I just don’t think you get that in a younger pet.

Pet Insurance doesn’t have to cost the earth

When we think of pet insurance for senior pets its’s easy to assume that it will be difficult, if not impossible, to insure an older pet but thanks to Agria and their Age Amnesty Offering, from 1st October – 30th November the age limit on lifetime insurance is being lifted providing a great opportunity to insure older pets at a time when they are likely to need it most. We know all too well the importance of pet insurance after Oscar had a tumour removed last year, I dread to think what may have happened did we not have that in place.