Frailty assessment tool for aging dogs

Like humans, dogs become frailer as they age. Loss of strength and weight, along with reduced activity, are signs of frailty. Dogs may slow down and tire more easily. There are ways to assess frailty in older people, but not in dogs – at least until now.

Researchers from North Carolina State University have developed a frailty assessment tool for aging dogs that can help animal parents and their veterinarians assess an elderly dog’s frailty. 

When vets perform simple assessments of body and muscle condition alongside this tool, they can predict the likelihood of short-term mortality. The tool can also provide important data to help with decisions around treatment and quality of life for an aging dog.

“This is an emerging field in dogs, and there is a need for easily-applied screening tools,” says Natasha Olby. She leads NC State’s canine neuro-aging program, which studies the mechanisms behind canine aging. 

The researchers created a frailty screening questionnaire covering five key areas: nutrition (including body condition and appetite), energy levels, mobility, muscle condition, and social activity. Human frailty assessments also use these five “domains.”

They then validated the frailty assessment tool for dogs against two canine populations: 39 were currently participating in Natasha’s neuro-aging study, and 198 (aged ten years and older) were not. 

The researchers classified dogs as frail if they were impaired in three of the five domains. Frail dogs had twice the risk of dying within six months compared to non-frail dogs.

“You never really know how long a dog will live,” Natasha says. “But the questionnaire, along with body and muscle condition scores, helps predict six-month mortality. It is still a work in progress, but this screen is a simple tool that owners and veterinarians can use as a starting place for discussing care options for elderly dogs.”

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