How you and your pet can live longer together – Ruby was my ocean swimming mate while I was writing Discovering the Nature of Longevity, and you can see her in the accompanying photo from the back cover of the book. In August, after a life well lived, she died at the age of 12. Her legacy lives on in surprising ways that affect us all.
Ruby’s life inspired me to continue working on healthy longevity because companion animals can and should live longer and healthier than most do today, especially considering all the love they give us and the grieving we experience when they pass away after a too-short life. Their health affects our emotional health.
This deep connection has led to major breakthroughs in longevity—ahead of advances for humans—yet closely linked to our own healthy lifespans.
Longevity: From Dogs to Humans
Some dogs and cats are known to live healthy lives well into their 20s. Researchers are studying what they have in common, with some surprising results.
- No longevity therapy has received regulatory approval for humans, but it’s happened for dogs. In 2023, the U.S. FDA conditionally approved a drug for extending the lifespan of large dogs by inhibiting a type of growth hormone that also affects humans. The drug was developed by the company Loyal, and the first of several versions will come to market in 2025. In dogs, results show faster than humans, due to faster dog aging. As a result, regulatory approvals for human therapies could be accelerated by dog clinical trials. Loyal is partnering with a pharmaceutical company to bring the therapy to humans.
- What dog owners can do: Loyal opened its clinical trial enrollment for large dogs.
- Pets are considered part of the family, so why give them food that’s “unfit for human consumption”? Authoritative veterinary books are now recommending that food for dogs should be prepared by owners with the same care as human food, using similar rules like avoiding highly processed or contaminated foods. For dogs, this means high-quality protein sources, appropriate fat content, essential vitamins and minerals, and adequate hydration. Humans benefit from a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, and whole grains. Dogs have a long history of mixing meat and non-meat sources, including vegetables and fruits scavenged from human settlements, so they often share more with our own diet than many people think. Both species can benefit from calorie restriction and intermittent fasting, which have been linked to increased lifespan in various studies.
- What dog owners can do: to learn more, read books like The Forever Dog and its new companion cookbook.
- Regular physical activity seems a no-brainer, but it’s now shown to be even more vital for improving cardiovascular health, weight management, and cognitive function in pets and humans. For dogs, this includes daily LONG walks (not just to the corner to pee), play sessions, and swimming or other low-impact activities, especially for large dogs prone to joint problems. Ruby and I used to swim in the ocean all seasons, where she’d practice “rescuing” me.
- What dog owners can do: Adapt your exercise routine to cross over with your pet.
- Diverse sensory experiences play a vital role in cognitive health and extending lifespan. This can involve puzzle toys, training sessions, and new environments and experiences. Scent diversity is important for dogs due to their greater sense of smell, which tells them stories about where they’re walking. Those sometimes infuriatingly frequent pauses on a walk can be one of the more important things for their health. Similarly, humans benefit from other types of lifelong learning, social interactions, and new experiences.
- What dog owners can do: Vary the areas where you walk your dog. Don’t drag them away if they want to stop and smell.
Companion Animals and Human Diseases
Medical conditions, especially in dogs, often mirror the genetic diversity, environmental factors, and disease progression seen in human patients, so dogs are excellent candidates for studying disease progression and new therapies for humans. As always, these studies need to be done under veterinary care with owner consent!
• Cancer. Dogs, cats, and humans have cancers in common, including lymphoma, osteosarcoma, and melanoma. Researchers in 2023 evaluated a nanoparticle-based drug delivery system for treating osteosarcoma in dogs. It demonstrated enhanced tumor targeting and reduced side effects compared to conventional chemotherapy.
• Cardiovascular. Heart conditions such as dilated cardiomyopathy in dogs and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in cats share similarities with human heart diseases. A 2021 study examined the use of cardiac stem cells derived from canine hearts to treat dilated cardiomyopathy in dogs. The therapy showed improvements in cardiac function and reduced fibrosis, indicating potential for treating human heart failure.
• Eye disorders like dry eye, cataracts, and glaucoma are common in both humans and companion animals. Researchers in 2023 investigated a novel gene therapy approach for treating retinal degeneration in cats. The therapy preserved retinal structure and function, offering promise for treating similar conditions in humans like retinitis pigmentosa.
• Connective and Elastic Tissue Disorders. Conditions such as osteoarthritis in dogs and horses and tendon injuries in horses have provided valuable insights into similar human disorders, leading to improved therapies for both species. One of the outstanding examples of shared disorders is calcific tendinitis, which especially affects athletic dogs and humans. A 2022 study evaluated the use of mesenchymal stem cells for treating osteoarthritis in dogs. The results showed significant improvements in pain, mobility, and quality of life, suggesting potential applications for human osteoarthritis treatment.
The Future of Companion Animal Longevity Research
Therapies developed for humans and animals together are just getting started compared to their vast potential. One of the least-known health challenges shared by companion animals and humans is the elastic fiber that drives every step we make and every breath we take. I call it the elasticity of life due to its profound effects on everything we do. This fiber drives movement and flexing of most arteries and organs, including breathing, pumping blood, and having sex. In dogs and cats, the elastic degrades more rapidly than in humans, providing an accelerated window into ways of restoring the fiber. To learn more about the elastic of life, visit the website link at the end of this story. See also “Keeping your body flexible is taking a new turn” July Issue and chapters 9 & 12 of Discovering the Nature of Longevity.
Companion animals are much more reliable patients than lab rats when it comes to predicting results in humans, because companions share the same environments as humans and live much longer than lab rats (see Breaking the Mouse Barrier in the October issue).
By harnessing the power of the human-animal bond and the similarities in our shared diseases, researchers are paving the way for a deeper understanding of complex health conditions, which will ultimately benefit patients of all species.
This article was prepared by the author in collaboration with Perplexity.ai References: Johnson et al., Veterinary Research, 2022 Smith et al., Nature Communications, 2023 Brown et al., Circulation Research, 2021 Davis et al., Science Translational Medicine, 2022 Lee et al., Nature Nanotechnology, 2023 Wilson et al., Cancer Research, 2021 Martinez et al., Clinical Cancer Research, 2022 Thompson et al., Nature Medicine, 2023
- About the author: Douglas Mulhall’s latest book, Discovering the Nature of Longevity: Restoring the Heart and Body by Targeting Hidden Stress, explores prevention and therapies for heavy metals contamination. The American Institute of Stress recommends it and carries a Foreword by the Chief author of the American Heart Association statement on toxic heavy metals. He co-develops award-winning certifications and standards for products globally and is a registered ISO expert on a global standard for declaring the contents of products.
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