The animal growing older deserves a routine adjusted to its present comfort.

An animal’s routine is usually built around the version of it you first knew, and it can outlast that version by years. The long walk, the jump onto the bed, the food it has always eaten: what was once a pleasure becomes an effort so gradually that nobody marks the change. Animals rarely opt out, because the routine is what they know. Noticing is the part that belongs to you.

Watch for small hesitations: the pause before the stairs, the slower return, the stiffness later. Shorten the walk before it is refused, and rearrange the house around what is easy now.