New Screening Tool Can Predict Imminent Pet Mortality

I’ve always had pets. And as an adult, they have been primarily felines because you can leave them all day when you head off to work and I suspect they’re happy to see you go.

Now that I work from home, I’ve added dogs to the mix. Three to be exact, and all are rescues. When I adopted my first two – a bonded pair of Schnoodles – their ages were estimated to be six years. After a first visit to my vet, he suggested they were more likely six and eight, which means (gulp) they're now around 13 and 15 years old.

As mentioned, my former pet ownership has been of the feline variety and they tend to live well into their teens. So, dealing with aging dogs has been a learning curve for me. And I know they’re losing both vision and hearing. These days, they take their final piddle at night and we all go upstairs to bed - together. A gate is then put up and access to the stairs is eliminated following a late-night tumble in the dark a few months back.

While I think I can read my pets fairly well and safeguard them accordingly, the truth is I now worry about leaving them alone for any length of time and am rethinking travel plans that don’t include them.

So, I was intrigued when I read in ScienceDaily, about researchers from North Carolina State University developing a tool to assess the condition of senior dogs that could predict the likelihood of short-term mortality- meaning the dog was likely to pass away within six months of diagnosis.

Now, none of us want to hear that type of news, let alone think about it. But according to Professor Natasha Olby who holds the Dr. Kady M. Gjessing and Rahna M Davidson Distinguished Chair in Gerontology at North Carolina State University, as our pets age, it’s something many of us dwell on. "One of the most common questions veterinarians receive from owners trying to decide on treatments for elder dogs is, 'How long will my dog live?'"

This tool they’ve devised is actually a screening questionnaire similar to what doctors use when evaluating a senior human. It takes into account five specific areas including the dog’s nutrition (body condition and appetite), energy level, mobility, muscle condition and social activity. Recently, 237 dogs 10 years of age or older were evaluated under this ranking system with those that showed impairment in three of the five categories as being likely to pass away within the next six months.

Olby states "Of course, the reality is that you never really know how long a dog will live, but this questionnaire coupled with body and muscle condition scores is good at predicting six-month mortality.”

Researchers feel this isn’t a morbid query for pet lovers but one that helps guide how we move forward with caring for our furry companions.

Throwing it out there… would you want to know?