Read These Together

The following (seen via Arnold Kling) sounded quite alarming:

In 1998, about 28 percent of American men 80 and older had a functional limitation; by 2006, that figure was nearly 42 percent.

The above would have sounded even more alarming if I hadn't read the following first:

In 1976, 8.3% of students in U.S. public schools were officially disabled.  By 2010, the disabled share was up to 13%.

Maybe we're counting disability differently nowadays among both young and old. I'd like to know if the percentage of disabled pets is increasing.