How veterinarians can proactively address chronic pain in geriatric dogs

Monica Tarantino, DVM, MBA, cofounder of the Senior Dog Veterinary Society in Alexandra, Virginia, shares the key takeaway from her session on strategies for managing chronic pain in geriatric dogs, presented at the New York Vet Show in New York City. She emphasizes that veterinarians need to be more proactive in addressing chronic pain in elderly dogs.

The following is a transcript of the video, lightly edited for clarity and cohesion.

Tarantino: I'm Dr Monica Tarantino. I am a veterinarian and the cofounder of the Senior Dog Veterinary Society, and we're on a mission to advance the care of elderly canines in [veterinary medicine].

dvm360: What are some key takeaways you hope attendees gained from your session and go on to apply in practice?

Tarantino: I think the biggest takeaway that I wanted for [veterinarians]...from [the] session was really to be more proactive with our approach. We talked about a poll that I had done online asking pet parents how many of them had heard about chronic pain from their [veterinarians], and almost half of them had never actually heard about it from [them].

And so, to me, that says there's a really big gap and opportunity for us to really bring that up in conversation more frequently and start letting [clients] know about it earlier on. The next thing I always suggest [to other veterinarians] when it comes to things we can do differently, is screening for [chronic pain]—literally having screening forms that we use or looking for signs of chronic pain. We have a really great download available on our website at seniordogvets.com that you can download and use with your patients. I use those at all of my senior wellness exams, and they're really helpful in kind of getting that conversation going between me and my [clients].