Safe and Effective Pain Management for Senior Dogs

This session will provide a practical, multimodal approach to managing chronic pain in aging dogs. Attendees will learn how to safely combine medications, dose adjustment, weight management, and therapeutic exercises, in addition to other non-pharmacologic pain management. These strategies will lead to improved comfort, mobility, and quality of life while minimizing adverse effects.

• 1. Recognize common contributors to chronic pain in senior dogs.
• 2. Adjust pain-management plans for age-related changes in renal/hepatic function and slower drug metabolism.
• 3. Build individualized multimodal plans that combine pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic therapies.
• 4. Incorporate weight loss and appropriate exercise as core pain-management strategies.