Eukanuba is continuing to explore the contributing factors to achieving healthy ageing and exceptional longevity in dogs, and has found that the fundamentals are very similar for our canine counterparts as we would consider for ourselves.

Eukanuba’s ‘Longevity Council’ highlight the similarities between dogs and humans in promoting healthy ageing. From nutrition and exercise, to regular medical care and general well-being, almost all factors that affect our health, can also be considered for man’s best friend.

The Longevity Council (Professor Stuart Carmichael, Dr Penny Watson, Dr Vicki Adams, Professor Steve Dean and David Morgan) are a group of internationally renowned vet and industry experts, representing opinions from fields across veterinary medicine including orthopaedics, genetics and nutrition.

EXCEPTIONAL LONGEVITY IN DOGS & ‘ESCAPING’ DISEASE

We live in a society with an ageing population; with nearly one in five people3 in the UK will live to see their 100th birthday. Eukanuba has discovered that dogs are also achieving ‘exceptional longevity’ through a careful balance of nutrition, exercise, appropriate care and veterinary treatment.

Professor Steve Dean, Veterinary Surgeon and Former Chairman of the UK Kennel Club explains the similarities with the Eukanuba long life dogs and human centenarians: “The 11 dogs that reached exceptional longevity have demonstrated what we see in human centenarians - they have managed to compress into their last few years of life all those diseases that would typically have affected them as younger dogs. We can consider these dogs as “escapers” in that they have somehow escaped serious disease as a younger animal, or that they are able to cope with the disease in a better way.”

Professor Stuart Carmichael, Managing Director at Fitzpatrick Referrals in London and Professor of Veterinary Science at the University of Surrey, speaks of how certain diseases are often considered as being age related rather than considering the disease independently.

He said: “it’s important to separate ageing from disease because as you get older you have a higher risk of disease due to the ageing of your immune system and organ systems, but ageing and disease are not the same. If you use dementia as an example, in the past we thought that dementia was normal human ageing which impacted badly on research into how to deal with it.  It’s only when you get someone with early onset dementia you realise that this is a disease, it isn’t just people getting old. And yes it’s commoner in older people but it is not normal ageing.

“Essentially, it isn’t just about living long; it’s about the quality of life as well.  Dog owners want more than a dog that lives for 16 or 17 years, but a dog that lives for 16 or 17 years with a high quality of life.  It’s an important mind set to get into.  We’re not just talking about living longer; we’re talking about living healthy.”



BODY CONDITION AND OBESITY

The number of overweight and obese pets continues to rise in the UK, with almost 45% of pets treated by veterinarians consider overweight4. Excess weight increases the risk of conditions such as osteoarthritis, hypertension, diabetes and cancer, and can also significantly reducing life expectancy.

According to recent research by Wellcome Trust, the Medical Research Council and the Dogs Trust,  Labradors are more likely to become obese than other breeds partly because a gene, important in controlling how the brain recognises hunger and the feeling of being full after eating, is thought to be affected. Dr Giles Yeo, a human geneticist from the University of Cambridge said “What we have found is that some Labradors get fat because they have a deletion in a gene within their brain and this particular gene plays a role in sensing how much fat they have in their body - so some Labradors don't know how much fat they have and so keep eating to try to get fatter.”

Eukanuba’s Veterinary Training Manager, Kellie Ceccarelli exams the causes of obesity: “The parallels between canine and human obesity can also be considered as part of a healthy lifestyle. For example, we know it’s important to get regular exercise and eat a healthy diet; the same applies for dogs to allow them to maintain an ideal weight and body condition.

“There are some times in a dog’s life when weight gain becomes more common, such as later in life or after neutering.  Keep in mind that typically from the age of 7 years many dogs begin to show signs of middle age spread. For this reason we recommend changing to a lower energy diet such as Eukanuba Mature & Senior to help prevent weight gain during a dogs ‘more mature’ years.”

Kellie summarises: “Similar to people, the secret to having a healthy dog is maintaining a healthy weight and lifestyle.  Of course we mustn’t forget about genetics as they play an important role but I think it’s important to realise that we as pet owners really can make a huge difference with diet, exercise, appropriate care and good veterinary care.”



NUTRITION

It is the responsibility of pet owners to keep their dogs as close to an ideal body weight and condition as possible to maintain good health into old age. This requires more than high quality nutrition, as Dr Vicki Adams, Veterinary Epidemiology Consultant explains: “For dog owners, it’s down to them to give their pet good nutrition. This means the right kind of food in the right quantity, appropriate for their life stage and life style i.e. how active or inactive their dog is. What’s more, we need to provide regular exercise to keep that lean body mass as long as we can, as this is vital to giving a dog a long, healthy and happy lifestyle.”

Highlighting the role that nutrition plays in health and well-being, Kellie says: “Nutrition plays a key role in helping dogs alleviate symptoms related to conditions such as diabetes and intestinal issues or control weight gain from being less active. By assessing a dog’s wellbeing we are able to prescribe a diet rich in key ingredients and anti-oxidants to support strong natural defences enabling pet owners to enjoy more time with their dog.” 

Eukanuba’s longevity council collectively agreed that the secret to healthy ageing in canines is a careful balance of nutrition, good husbandry and effective veterinary care. David Morgan comments on the longevity observation: “The ultimate goal of the Eukanuba Long Life Observation is to give owners the best advice on how they can care for their dogs so that they achieve what we call healthy longevity. There are so many variables involved in ageing; we wanted to make sure that we gave the dogs a consistent and high level of exercise, husbandry and care, allowing us to really focus the results of the observation on learning about healthy ageing.”