Japanese owners lavishing care on ageing pets

The average life span of Japanese pet dogs and cats is getting longer, prompting many owners to take out nursing care and medical insurance services for their animals. An internet report quoted Let’s, a care service provider for pets in Edogawa Ward, Tokyo, which has 10 staff who work at the facility and visit pet owners’ homes.

The company also offers counseling for animal lovers. Recently, it has been helping owners who feel fatigued due to taking care of elderly dogs.

Let’s manager, Yuko Miura said, “While dogs, cats and other pets are living longer than before, the number of people who can look after them has been decreasing due to the prevalence of nuclear families. Just like providing nursing care for humans, many owners have to deal with pet-related problems on their own,” she said.

“These people frequently are relieved when we help out”.
 
The Japan Pet Food Association refers to dogs aged 7 or older as “senior” dogs. A survey conducted by the association in 2008 showed that about 30% of about 13.1 million pet dogs in the nation were aged 10 or older, equivalent to 56 or older in human terms.
 
Hideki Hayashitani, an associate professor at Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, said his research showed that the average life span of dogs in the nation rose from 8.6 years old to 11.9 over a decade or so through 2003.

During the same period, the average life span of pet cats rose from 5.1 to 9.9 years, equivalent to about 55 years old in human years.

Mai Inoue, a veterinarian of Anicom Holdings Inc., a Tokyo-based pet insurance company, said pets are living longer because diseases are more easily detected at an early stage; more pets are being kept indoors; drugs that combat diseases caused by parasites have improved; and there has been a general rise in the quality of pet foods.
 
Though costs for animal care vary, the company’s pet insurance policy covers half the fees of veterinarian services if owners pay a monthly premium. The company’s contracts increased in number from 256,000 in 2006 to 315,000 in 2007.

An increasing number of pet owners want their pets to have access to advanced veterinarian treatments. Bayside Animal Clinic, which opened in Yokohama in 2004, offers advanced veterinarian treatments, such as CT scanning, ultrasonic examination and radiation therapy.

Though such treatments for pets are as costly as those for humans, Takeo Minami, director of the clinic said, “if I explain the need for such treatments, most pet owners choose to proceed with the treatment”.

The animal clinic has the capacity to deal with 50 animal inpatients, and it has often operated at full capacity, Minami said. The nation’s ageing dogs are increasingly being doted on.

Rika Kayama, a psychiatrist who also keeps dogs and cats, said this was due to people having fewer children and weaker relations among family members, leading some owners to perceive their pets as being more important than members of their family.

Ms Kayama pointed out, “it’s natural that animals age faster than humans, but some people likely can’t bear to see their pets get old and weak. Even though pets can’t speak, many people feel the need to take very good care of them”.