Caring for a Senior Dog or Cat: Bed Sores, Eating, Breathing, and Night Care

Last updated: August 9, 2026

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• Bed sores
• Eating
• Toileting
• Water
• Breathing
• Legs & joints
• Night watch
• Dementia & night crying
• Mouth care
• Home setup
• Walks

Waking up over and over in the night to check on them. That's part of life with a senior dog or cat for some of us. What's hard about caregiving changes from day to day. Here we've broken it into seven areas — bed sores, eating, toileting, water, breathing, legs and joints, and night watch — with things you can try starting today. The goal of this page isn't "good care." It's arranging things so you can sleep at night and keep this up. If you're worried about your pet's condition, talk to a vet before trying anything written here.

① Bed sores

For dogs who are largely bedridden, turning them every 2–3 hours is often cited as a baseline. But you don't need to push through this overnight. It's fine not to keep going at the cost of your own sleep.

• Use a memory-foam mat ▶ Browse memory-foam pet mats on Rakuten
• Place a towel rolled into a donut shape under bony, pressure-bearing areas

※These are general suggestions. If the skin is already red or broken, don't treat it yourself — talk to a vet.

Every time someone helps them turn over, they may be a little more comfortable.

② Eating

The first thing to try is bowl height. Raising it onto a 10–15cm stand can sometimes reduce spilled food. That said, this may not apply for large dogs (there are reports looking at a possible link with stomach torsion). Read the large-dog page and check with your vet before applying this. Eating with the head lowered can be hard to swallow — often it's not that the food is unwanted, but that the posture itself is uncomfortable. Softening technique, switching foods, and narrowing down why a pet isn't eating are all covered on the when they stop eating page. Prescription diets after a diagnosis are also covered in the second half of that page.

③ Toileting

Steps for when accidents increase, how to choose between pee pads and diapers, and monthly cost are all covered on thetoileting care page. Rather than jumping straight to diapers, widening the area of pee pads around the sleeping spot often helps first. A diaper runs about ¥57.6 each, a thick pee pad about ¥12.4 — roughly a 4.6x difference.

④ Water

If your pet's water intake is dropping, try these in order.

1. Raise the bowl to around head height (for dogs who find lowering their head uncomfortable, this alone can increase how much they drink)
2. Try room temperature to lukewarm water
3. Add a few drops of the water used to boil chicken breast, for scent

※If their water intake doesn't recover after trying these, or days go by without drinking, don't wait and see — go to a vet.

⑤ Labored breathing

If your pet still seems to be struggling even after lowering the room temperature, look at the breathing itself rather than the room. Counting takes three steps.

1. Pick a moment when they're asleep or resting quietly
2. Watch their belly rise and fall — one rise-and-fall counts as one breath
3. Count for 15 seconds and multiply by 4

If their resting breathing rate goes over 40 breaths a minute, that's a sign to be cautious. Don't get too hung up on the counting method or the exact number — if something seems off, see a vet without hesitating.

If breathing looks labored, seeing a vet is the first priority. From there, under a vet's guidance, home oxygen (such as a pet oxygen room rental service) may be offered as an option. This is something to consider only under a vet's judgment and guidance, not something to rely on with equipment alone based on your own decision. Rental prices and terms are covered in the oxygen room rental price comparison.

⑥ Legs and joints

Taking longer to stand up, avoiding steps — changes in a senior pet's legs and joints tend to come on gradually. The basics are avoiding slippery surfaces (mats or cork flooring) and reducing steps.

Some households use supplements with joint-support ingredients such as glucosamine and chondroitin. But supplements aren't medication, and they don't guarantee an effect. If your dog's gait looks different or they seem to be in pain, see a vet before trying a supplement.▶ Browse joint-support supplements for dogs on Rakuten

Regular heart checkups also become more important in the senior years. If you notice more coughing or your dog tiring more easily, see a vet first. From there, on the nutrition side, some households add supplements containing things like coenzyme Q10 (supplements aren't medication).See Mainichi Kenshin, a heart-support supplement for dogs

⑦ Overnight monitoring and your own rest

Carrying overnight monitoring alone can wear you out before it wears out your pet. Create time when family or others nearby can take turns, and lean on convenience products like a monitoring camera to help you rest. Just being able to check in from another room or your phone makes a real difference to how tense the nights feel.See the Furbo dog camera

On the nights you feel like you're not doing enough, you've probably gone to check on them again and again. They likely hear those footsteps. Perfect care matters less than you not collapsing.

⑧ Dementia and night crying

What to do as day-night reversal or night crying increases, the DISHA(A) framework for checking on behavior changes, and what to watch for when choosing a "night-crying" product are covered on thedementia and night crying care page. The core response is increasing daytime exercise and reducing stimulation in the evening onward.

⑨ Mouth care

The truth behind the "80% of dogs over 3 have periodontal disease" figure, and how to keep up with tooth brushing, are covered on themouth care page. A measurement based on clinical records puts the figure at 12.52% (2021), and the number moves a lot depending on how it's measured.

⑩ Home setup

Why slippery floors are said to add stress on joints, how to reduce steps, and lighting adjustments for changes in eyesight are covered on thehome setup page. You don't need to redo every room — starting with just the paths your dog uses most is enough.

⑪ Walk support

Why you don't need to stop walks once your dog can't walk far, how to fit a mobility-support harness by actual measurement, and the differences between pet stroller options are covered on thewalk support page. Harnesses are chosen by measuring the waist and hind-leg circumference, not by weight.

Frequently asked questions