Population-level health trends in aging dogs reveal the leading welfare challenges affecting the growing senior dog population and inform preventive care priorities.
Understanding population-level trends in aging dog health enables prioritization of preventive interventions that have the greatest welfare impact across the largest number of individual animals. The identification of osteoarthritis, dental disease, and cognitive dysfunction as leading senior dog welfare challenges focuses preventive care priorities on weight management to reduce joint loading, proactive dental care to prevent periodontal disease progression, and cognitive enrichment to slow cognitive decline. The increasing senior dog population in veterinary practice creates both a welfare obligation and an opportunity: each senior dog whose quality of life is well maintained through evidence-based preventive care represents a welfare success story that is increasingly achievable with current veterinary knowledge.