New partnership aims to advance senior canine mobility

The Senior Dog Veterinary Society (SDVS) and veterinary product developer Virbac are collaborating to advance education and awareness of mobility in aging canines, and solutions backed by science for improving outcomes for these patients. The company has been named a “gold-level” sponsor for the society,¹ which recognizes Virbac as a key educational and content collaborate for SDVS, according to a spokesperson’s email to dvm360.

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“Mobility is at the heart of quality of life for senior dogs, especially as they are living longer,” Gio Abruzzini, president and CEO, said in a news release.¹ “At Virbac, we are committed to helping senior dogs stay active and maintaining the human-animal bond by providing veterinary professionals and pet owners with products that support joint and muscle strength and endurance.”

Joint conditions such as osteoarthritis (OA) and injuries affect a patient’s quality of life. “We know OA is a degenerative disease, which means that the initial symptoms are not evident to most owners until the dog is much older. So recognizing that when that dog tears their ACL, once they recover from their TPLO, they may not be limping,” Leilani Alvarez, DVM, DACVSMR, said in a recent episode of dvm360’s The Vet Blast Podcast.²

“Any time there is an injury to the joint,…that's the time that you want to intervene. Start your supplementation, make sure you do activity modification to avoid that high impact activity, but make sure they stay active and still moving and walking on a daily basis. Make sure that they're an ideal body weight,” Alvarez continued.²

Skeletal muscle atrophy also affects a dog’s quality of life by impairing activity, strength, endurance, and overall health. A highly prevalent canine condition, skeletal muscle atrophy can be caused by a variety of factors that include advanced age, malnutrition, chronic kidney disease, cancer, congestive heart failure, a sedentary lifestyle, obesity, osteoarthritis, critical illness, and joint injuries.³

According to Virbac, the company’s “clinical innovations” will be brought into the SDVS platform to provide veterinarians exposure to “timely, evidence-based insights about mobility care for senior dogs.” Virbac offers a portfolio of mobility products that includes the joint health supplement Movoflex Advanced Soft Chews and the muscle function support product Ursolyx Soft Chews. SDVS brings to the collaboration a network of veterinary professionals and advocates for senior dogs.¹

The partnership aims to create educational resources, social media content and sponsored events to encourage veterinarians to provide early intervention for mobility issues, help dogs stay active longer, and empower pet owners to make informed decisions regarding canine care, a Virbac spokesperson told dvm360 in an email.

“Every senior dog deserves a life of health, happiness and comfort,” said Monica Tarantino, DVM, MBA, a founder of SDVS, said in a news release.¹ “By joining forces with Virbac, we can elevate the conversation around muscle atrophy, a challenge that has been overlooked for too long, and equip veterinarians with innovative solutions that truly improve the day-to-day lives of aging pets and their families.”

RELATED: Canine craniodorsal hip luxation: management and treatment.

References

1. Virbac and Senior Dog Veterinary Society announce collaboration to advance canine mobility. News release. September 15, 2025.
2. Alvarez L, Christman A. Looking back at Pet Mobility Awareness Month. dvm360. Accessed September 16, 2025. https://www.dvm360.com/view/looking-back-at-pet-mobility-month
3. Ebert SM, Nicolas CS, Schreiber P, et al. Ursolic acid induces beneficial changes in skeletal muscle mRNA expression and increases exercise participation and performance in dogs with age-related muscle atrophy. Animals (Basel). 2024;14(2):186. doi:10.3390/ani14020186