About Us

SeniorPetProducts.com^TM is the largest source of products and information for aging dogs and cats.

Launched in 2004, SeniorPetProducts.com was founded on two fundamental ideas - dogs and cats require special care as they grow older and pet owners need a place to go to learn how to take better care of their aging pets. We are committed to being the expert, online resource for the growing number of pet owners with older cats and dogs. We exist to help senior pets live healthier lives as they age, by providing news, information and products for health, wellness, comfort and mobility.

100's of Products - for dogs and cats geared toward senior care, with more being added every day.

Pet Experts Corner – a gathering of pet care professionals dedicated to helping all animals enjoy better lives sharing their knowledge.

Articles - regarding senior specific, and general pet health and wellness topics that help insure a healthy transition to senior-hood.

Resources - helpful resources we've found and used with our own pets in mind. An ever-growing aggregation of resources for senior pet owners looking for more information.

We support the senior pet community by partnering with groups like The Grey Muzzle Organization.

The Grey Muzzle Organization improves the lives of at-risk senior dogs by providing funding and resources to animal shelters, rescue organizations, sanctuaries, and other non-profit groups nationwide.
Through grants, Grey Muzzle funds programs such as lifelong hospice care, medical assistance, educational programs and resources for those considering adopting a senior dog.

A portion of all purchases made on our website are donated directly to Grey Muzzle every month.

And we're all pet people...

Jeff Heister - President

I have been around pets and the pet business all my life. My parents had show dogs in the 60s. We had Basset Hounds (Andy and Lady) and a Rottweiler (long before any one knew what one was).  They never won a thing!

My first job was working my family’s pet/tropical fish store when I was in middle school. Even when I decided to leave the family business and get a ‘real job,’ I wound up working at a wholesaler for pet supplies. They carried about every type of pet item (besides dog food) you could think of. I worked there a few years before I went back to college.

After college, I went to work for a broker that represented pet supply manufacturers.  In 1985, I started my own firm for pet supply manufacturers.  We represented mostly dog and cat products, some aquatic. I was lucky enough to represent some of the largest companies in the pet business and did it for almost twenty years.   Being involved with some of the leading companies and seeing new products, (even having some input once in a while) was great fun. That, and being able to travel all over the country and meeting great people.

After that, I acquired KVP, a company that manufactures products for veterinary clinics. We make mostly post-surgical recovery type of products. You know the E collar (or ‘cone of shame’ in the movie UP)?  The original owners of this company pretty much invented and pioneered them. Soon after that, we acquired the Durango brand of pet treats.  So, you see, I really have never done anything that wasn’t related to pets.

During this process, my faithful Alaskan Malamute, Bubba (pictured at age 11 with my son Jake) was growing older and started having the kind of ailments most old dogs get --  problems with hips, joints and a stiff back. It never occurred to me that there were lots of other people going through the same experience. I didn’t know of any resources to answer questions or help locate special products an older dog might need.

When I was introduced to SeniorPetProducts.com, I realized that there are many pet owners out there with the same issues that I had with my dog. We acquired the company with the goal to help give owners of aging pets a resource and peace of mind in finding products and information to help their pets age more peacefully.

Bubba now resides in a coffee can in my den. He died less than 3 months after I took that picture. I now have a soon to be 10-year-old Labrador, King Kamehameha. He’s affectionately known as, ‘the King.’

Jan Keppler-Kudla - General Manager

I’ve always been a “cat person.”  Don’t get me wrong -- I love dogs, but growing up, our home was shared with multiple felines. I learned early on that pets are family members. We talked to them, and they talked to us. We showed them affection (a smooch on the top of the head), and they showed us affection (our cat, Tubby would actually press his closed mouth on your arm, which we recognized as a cat kiss).  We took care of them when they didn’t feel well, and they returned the favor by pinning us down in our sick beds until we recovered.  

I’ve been fortunate to be a part of the pet industry since the early 90s in a variety of roles that revolve around the care and well being of our furry extensions of family.  When the opportunity to help grow and manage the Senior Pet Product website came about I was honored and excited.  Senior life-stage pet care in particular was of great personal interest to me, as I was dealing at the time with the declining health of my beloved cat, Uma.  

I adopted Uma as a 7-year-old “senior” from a local pet shelter.  At that point in my life/career I knew it would be best to be matched with a mature,  laid-back kind of cat.  The moment I sat down in the shelter’s cattery room, Uma strolled up, purring, jumped in my lap, turned around twice, lay down, and immediately fell asleep. I’d met my feline soul mate!

Losing Uma only 6 years later at the age of 13 was heart-wrenching. But it did put into perspective for me, how little we folks in the pet industry focus on our furry friends’ golden years.  I’ve taken care of pets my entire life, but in my recent time of need I found that the majority of resources and products available to non-pet industry folks are geared toward raising new pets. 

My goal as General Manager for SeniorPetProducts.com is to be a resource to parents of older pets by providing information, products, services and community that enriches, supports and celebrates their lives.   I remain deeply committed, in memory of Uma.

Tom Bagamane - Co-Founder

Improving the quality of life has always been of great interest to me. Whether it is human or animal life, when I had a choice of professions, I always chose companies or ideas that enhanced the quality of life.

As part of the team at SPP, our vision is simple. Owners of senior dogs and cats did not have one resource to rely on when it came to finding answers about the serious, life-challenging issues that their precious pets faced as they aged. Often times these issues would shock them as they never saw them coming. We exist to give owners the best information and the highest quality products to give their pet’s comfort when dealing with their health issues. If only SPP existed when our family’s beloved old Cocker, Max, was facing his biggest challenge.

Max was a Christmas present from my little sister to my Dad. We had left Mom and Dad as empty-nesters and Max was presented to fill our void. Well, that was the intention. My disciplined Dad did not take to the fact that he now had a puppy to take care of when he finally had his house all to himself. Mom, who loved all living creatures, adored the sweet pup. Dad, let’s say, took awhile to warm up to the lad. But, when he did, he was all in. Max was truly his best buddy. As he did in his own life, he set up a very rigid schedule for his dog. You could set your clock by when Max was fed, walked, groomed and allowed to enter certain parts of the house. Cocker’s can be very “cocky” as you know, so it took Max a year or two to get his new Dad. As he grew older, he grew wiser and realized that if Dad cared enough to reorganize his life around his dog; he must be a good guy.

This friendship had already entered its eleventh year when I got ‘the call”. I had left Virginia where I was born and raised and moved to Los Angeles just two years earlier. I was in my office when my Mom called me and said that Max had gotten very sick and stopped eating. He literally was fine one day and sick the next.  After a few days of getting better then getting worse, my folks rushed him to his wonderful veterinarian, Dr. Steve Rogers, an old family friend who loved Max almost as much as we did. Mom put Steve on the phone with me. She wanted me to make the “decisions” about what to do with our beloved Max. According to Dr. Rogers, Max was clinging to life. He had a very large growth in his abdomen. An operation would only give him a 50/50 chance, but it was a chance.

Max was a fighter, I said, he wouldn’t want us to give up on him. We didn’t. And, by God, the old guy survived the surgery. He gave us such hope in the recovery room as he began to eat and respond. However 24 hours later, he took a turn for the worse. My folks were called to say goodbye. Max passed in front of their eyes. I will never forget the call and listening to the uncontrolled pained sobbing of my rock of a mother and the deeply emotional response from my father. It still sends chills down my spine and makes me very sad, eleven years later.

Turns out that Max had some symptoms of his eventual disease weeks before he passed. Not severe enough to get Steve involved, they thought, as Max still seemed as strong and spry as ever. Back then they didn’t have a convenient place to go to research an article, look at products that might’ve been able to make Max’s last few days less painful or read a story from another owner or a veterinarian who could help them deal with their sick friend. They were helpless. The hollow feeling that came with wanting to have done more for their “third child” and the sorrow that came with the “what “ifs” never left me. When given the chance to grow SPP.com to what it is today and beyond, the mission came full circle. 

Because of Max and many millions before him, we want this site to be their voice, as well as a comfort to owners like my parents in times of great need. I believe we are on our way. I have been a senior exec or owner of consumer-focused companies for most of my adult life. This is the most rewarding opportunity that I have been ever been associated with.

Senior Pet Products^TM

11929 Woodruff Ave.
Downey, CA 90241
United States of America

PH: 800-523-7979
FAX: 800-806-1005

Email:  Click here to send us an email.