AniCura, one of Europe’s leading providers of high-quality veterinary care, states that preventive laboratory testing, in apparent healthy senior dogs and cats, already reveals underlying health conditions in 25 percent of the dogs and 33 percent of the cats. Discovering these health conditions exist allows for the right care to be put in place sooner rather than waiting for the pet to show symptoms when the condition may have become more severe.
Today in Europe, 31 percent of dogs are classified as senior dogs versus only 9 percent as puppies and 33 percents are classified as senior cats versus 10 percent as kittens. In comparison, across the rest of the world senior pets are estimated to be 19 to 20 percent of the total population.
In addition, many age-related health issues are overlooked by pet owners or misinterpreted as simply the usual consequences of ageing. The most commonly seen issues are dental disease (90 percent of senior cats are affected for example), intestinal and skin problems, arthritis, cardiac disease, diabetes, neoplastic disease (benign or malignant tumors) and hypertension.
Care for your senior
As the population of senior pets grows, this will lead to more pressure on the veterinary care profession if we don´t embrace the responsibility as a profession to detect health conditions associated with senior pets and increase attention to geriatric medicine. That is why we believe senior pets would benefit from a much more extensive examination, additional diagnostic screening, and regular health check-ups.
As a result, AniCura will start a Senior Pets campaign to raise awareness among its 12 000 Associates and the millions of pet owners across Europe. This campaign includes comprehensive information for pet owners, delivered in an engaging format, while also highlighting the most commonly diagnosed diseases in senior pets and educating veterinary professionals on how to detect and manage these conditions effectively.
Together we want to ensure better outcomes and improved health and wellbeing for senior pets across Europe. With 4.5 million veterinary consultations annually in our hospitals and clinics, these actions can have a significant impact.
If you want to know more about the AniCura Senior Pets campaign, please visit our website [link to Senior Pets landing page].
Sources:
Information in this new release and campaign has been drawn from a wide variety of sources, for example various syndicated market reports from established providers like Mintel or Euromonitor, and published reports from Trade Associations like American Pet Products Association including sales audit data and reports from firms like Nielsen.
Bespoke research reports and studies commissioned by Mars Petcare and Royal Canin; Waltham Nutritional Research Group, Population data: Mars Petcare 2016, Mars Pet Ownership Surveys run in 2012-2015 in 44 markets and Royal Canin Petflections and Veterinary Insights 2021.
About AniCura
AniCura is a leading provider of veterinary care in Europe. AniCura was born out of the philosophy that sharing resources can create opportunities for better veterinary care and outcomes.
Our services include a wide range of high-quality medical services covering preventive and basic health care as well as specialized care, including advanced diagnostics, internal medicine, intensive care, surgery, and orthopaedics. We also provide rehabilitation, physiotherapy, and dietary advice and offers selected pet food and care products.
AniCura’s network includes 500 clinics across 15 countries in Europe providing over 4.5 million high-quality pet consultations each year. AniCura has been part of Mars Veterinary Health since 2018. Mars Veterinary Health comprises a network of more than 3,000 clinics worldwide taking care of more than 25 million pets every year. Together, we are able to provide the highest standards in pet care and achieve our collective purpose: A BETTER WORLD FOR PETS.
For information on how AniCura is working to shape the future of veterinary care, please visit our website www.anicuragroup.com