Golden oldies sought for PetSavers study

Vets are being urged to enlist owners of senior dogs to sign up for a “new citizen art project” funded by the BSAVA’s charity PetSavers.

Old Age Pets has been launched to help research into care of older dogs, and aid development of a canine ageing and well-being tool for use in veterinary practice.

Benefit

Carri Westgarth, a senior lecturer in human-animal interaction at the University of Liverpool, has been awarded a citizen science grant from PetSavers to run Old Age Pets.

Dr Westgarth said: “Dogs are living up to twice as long as they did 40 years ago, and there are implications for senior dogs’ health care and well-being.

“As life expectancy increases, so does the amount of time the dog may spend in poor health. It may be difficult for us to distinguish between the signs of serious age-related diseases and normal age-related changes in our dogs.”

Data usage

Dr Westgarth said data collected through the project would contribute to improving future discussions about senior pets between veterinary professionals and owners.

The study is open to any UK residents who currently – or have recently – lived with an aged dog, or dogs of any breed and health status. They should be encouraged to submit an image and a short video about their pet.

Full details are available at the survey website  or via PetSavers’ social media pages.