CLINICAL FOCUS MONTH:
LOVE LATER LIFE WITH PURINA
This October, eLearning.Vet will shine a partner spotlight on Purina® PRO PLAN®, with a focus on supporting senior pets to live better, longer lives.
Throughout October, we’ll be sharing expert-led educational content focused on senior pet health, nutrition and proactive care, including a live CPD webinar, bitesize learning, practical resources and tools designed to help veterinary professionals confidently support ageing pets and their owners.
This page is your opportunity to register for the upcoming webinar with Dr Hannah Capon, watch expert senior pet content and explore practical resources to support senior patients in your practice.
Build your confidence, explore the role of nutrition and lifestyle in healthy ageing, and discover practical ways to help senior pets live healthier, happier lives.
Upcoming Webinar
Managing osteoarthritis in dogs: A team-based approach to at-home care
Presented by Dr Hannah CaponÂ
MA Vet MB MRCVS
Tuesday 27th October 2026, 8pm GMT
Register Now!
TALK SUMMARY:
Osteoarthritis (OA) in dogs is both a disease and an illness - a complex, progressive condition that impacts the entire dog: physically, physiologically, cognitively, and emotionally. While often associated with aging, OA can begin early in life, with signs frequently going unrecognised until the disease is well advanced. Its management poses challenges for veterinary professionals and caregivers, who must navigate fluctuating clinical signs, complicated case management, and tremendous emotional strain.
Osteoarthritis affects far more than just a dog’s joints. Chronic pain from OA leads to behavioural changes, sleep disturbances, reduced mobility, and secondary health concerns such as loss of function and weight gain. Dogs may also experience increased anxiety and other negative emotional states. OA can interfere with a dog’s ability to perform normal daily activities, leading to frustration, reduced confidence, and a general decline in welfare.
Physiologically, the presence of chronic pain can influence systemic health and contribute towards frailty. Cognitively, the ongoing discomfort may alter how the dog interacts with its environment and human companions, leading to learned helplessness or changes in routine behaviour. Emotionally, long-term pain changes affective states, potentially predisposing dogs to anxiety or depression-like states.
These multifaceted effects demand an approach that extends beyond pain relief and joint-focused treatment. We must recognise OA as a whole-dog disease and reframe our management strategies - from a purely clinical one to a holistic, lifestyle-focused intervention cognizant of acute on chronic decompensations.
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Enter your details below to register for the upcoming webinar:
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LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
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Reconsider OA as a priority in practice – a welfare concern
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Introduce a framework to explain OA
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Encourage and empower a multimodal approachÂ
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Stress the importance of environmental management
Meet the Speaker
WATCH NOW:
 'How I Manage Senior Pets in My Clinic'
How I Manage Senior Patients in My Clinic
Cat Henstridge shares her approach to caring for senior pets. Watch the session to explore how proactive conversations with owners and simple changes both at home and in clinic can help support older pets.
Watch NowDownloadable Resources
Access practical resources from Purina® PRO PLAN® to support proactive senior pet care in practice. Explore tools and expert guidance designed to help veterinary teams assess changing needs, start conversations with owners and take a holistic approach to caring for older dogs and cats.
Body Condition Scoring
Body condition is an important part of assessing a pet’s overall health and nutritional needs. Purina’s Body Condition Score Chart provides a practical visual guide for assessing body condition in both dogs and cats, helping veterinary teams monitor changes over time and support appropriate weight management.
Supporting Senior Pets in Practice
Proactive senior care gives veterinary teams an opportunity to consider changes in nutrition, body condition, mobility, cognition and lifestyle, while helping owners recognise changes they may otherwise associate with simply “getting older”.
Purina’s Love Later Life campaign and Senior Pet Toolkit are designed to support a holistic approach to senior care. The Body Condition Score Chart is just one of the practical resources available within the toolkit, which also includes a guide to running a senior pet clinic, senior health questionnaires, cognitive assessment tools and more.
Learn morePurina is driven by an unwavering passion for pets, supported by more than 90 years of scientific expertise in pet nutrition, physiology and behaviour. Through Purina Vet Centre, it provides veterinary professionals with evidence-based education, practical resources and nutritional tools to support confident nutritional conversations and informed decision-making. This includes support for the care of senior pets, helping vets and veterinary nurses understand and address their changing nutritional needs to support healthy ageing and helping pets live better, longer lives.
Interested in our Senior Pet Toolkit?
Request a call from your Veterinary Nutrition Partner
