Dog owners may want to think about using pet medication to make the last few years of their pet's life more comfortable, an expert has said.
Christie Keith, an experienced journalist with a primary interest in animal health issues, wrote for the San Francisco Chronicle that controlling pain in old animals that suffer from conditions like arthritis can help them feel more comfortable.
She explained that when speaking to other dog owners, she often finds that many dogs are not on any sort of pet meds for arthritis and that their owner's hadn't even considered it as an option.
"I see a lot of dogs shuffling down the paths in the park with their owners, clearly uncomfortable … their owners just accept pain as a side effect of getting old," she wrote.
"Nothing can make a very old pet young again, but eliminating chronic pain comes pretty close."
According to research by US firm Kroger, ten per cent of owners would be willing to fork out more than £1,850 on vital medical procedures to save their animal's life.
