Education call about senior dog vet-owner disconnect

Owners are routinely ignoring serious health problems in their older dogs because they wrongly attribute them to normal ageing.

A team at the University of Liverpool highlighted disconnect between vets and owners on key areas of preventive health for senior pets – and a need for further education programmes.

Vets and owners disagreed on how many times an older dog should visit a practice and whether senior dogs still needed vaccinations.

Research

But the research also found senior long-term health and patient well-being plans were still uncommon in practices, while “only around 1 in 10” ran specific senior-pet wellness sessions and a similar proportion of owners had attended one.

Researchers surveyed through questionnaires more than 600 dog owners and more than 300 veterinary professionals throughout the UK.

The owners were asked if they had noticed any from a list of 48 different clinical signs in their older dogs and how urgent they felt it was to seek veterinary care.

Slowing down on walks was the most common clinical sign, noted by 57% of the owners, most often in dogs aged 9 to 13 years old. Calculus was the most cited issue with 52%, spotted most often in 6-year-olds  to 10-year-olds – with “being stiff on rising” noted by 50%.

Seeking advice

In the paper, published in Frontiers UK, most vets said it was “moderately to extremely important for owners of senior dogs to seek veterinary advice for all 15 of the most common clinical signs”.

However, it also stated: “In contrast, there were particular clinical signs that fewer than 70% of owners would seek veterinary care for their dog within a week”, which included bad breath and tartar, musculoskeletal issues and “sleeping for the majority of the time”.

On frequency of veterinary visits, the researchers said: “Our findings support that most owners believe that older dogs should only see a veterinary surgeon once a year in comparison to veterinary professionals’ recommendations of every six months.

“Many older dogs are not vaccinated, supporting other literature. Unless these dogs were receiving ongoing treatment for chronic conditions, they may not be seen by a veterinary surgeon for long periods.

“While most owners trust their veterinary surgeon to provide the care needed, if the owner does not perceive the dog to have a problem, they may elect not to take them to a veterinary practice.”

Differing opinions

In their conclusion, the paper authors said: “Owners and veterinary professionals differed in their opinions about the need for veterinary care.

“Owners regularly attributed clinical signs in senior and geriatric dogs to normal ageing, and thus may not mention them to their veterinary professional.”

Study co-author Carri Westgarth said: “Perceptions of dog owners and veterinary professionals can influence the preventive health care and treatment provided to dogs – especially at the senior life-stage, when chronic diseases become more common.

“The differences in opinion highlighted by our survey suggest that new educational initiatives and more effective communication are required.”

Canine toolkit

The study was funded by BSAVA PetSavers, and a canine toolkit developed for practices by the charity was cited in the paper as an example of a resource that can improve owner education.

Sarah Williams from BSAVA PetSavers said: “Screening tools and toolkits have the potential to increase owner understanding and engagement with veterinary care, and through repeated application over time and implementation of necessary interventions, improve patient welfare and health span.”

The full paper is available to read via the Frontiers UK website.