How quickly does a dog's quality of life decline in old age?

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2024-09-05 04:00

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Dogs see a steady decline in quality of life once they hit their expected lifespan, according to international researchers who say understanding how dogs age is increasingly important as veterinary medicine improves. The team developed a system that allowed dog owners to measure their dog's quality of life giving them a score out of seven, and followed the scores of 34 dogs over time once they reached their expected lifespan. They say using their system, a dog is expected to have a score of 5.95, with dogs who score under 5.35 at a higher risk of death. During the study, the dogs' quality of life dropped by 0.05 points each month, which the researchers say gives us an understanding of what normal ageing looks like in a dog so we can better pick up when something is wrong.

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Journal/
conference: PLOS ONE

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: North Carolina State University, USA

Funder: Funds from the Dr Kady M Gjessing and Rhanna M. Davidson Distinguished Chair in Gerontology were used to support the work.

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