Mobility care moves upstream for aging pets: full analysis

dvm360 has put mobility care for aging pets back in the spotlight with a May 7, 2026 podcast and companion article featuring rehabilitation specialist Kara Amstutz, DVM, DACVSMR (Canine), CVA, CVPP, CCRT. The core message is straightforward: veterinarians should stop waiting for obvious lameness and instead build earlier, multimodal mobility screening and intervention into routine care. In the discussion with Adam Christman, DVM, MBA, Amstutz argues that many pet parents don’t recognize subtle mobility decline, so teams need to ask more specific, function-based questions and intervene sooner. (dvm360.com)

That framing fits a broader shift already underway in companion animal medicine. AAHA’s pain management guidance emphasizes that chronic pain recognition has to move beyond obvious late-stage disease and toward rapid detection with early multimodal intervention. In parallel, WSAVA nutrition resources encourage routine muscle condition scoring, not just body condition scoring, and feline senior-care guidance has increasingly emphasized home-observed changes, including altered jumping, house-soiling, and other behavior shifts that may reflect pain or mobility impairment. (aaha.org)

In the dvm360 interview, Amstutz says the exam-room conversation needs to become more concrete. Rather than asking only whether a dog is limping, she suggests asking whether the pet is having trouble doing things it could do six months earlier, such as getting up from the floor, navigating stairs, or getting on and off furniture or into the car. She also highlights the importance of understanding the animal’s “job,” since physical demands vary widely among companion, working, farm, and sport animals. dvm360 summarizes the recommended approach as one that integrates pain management, targeted nutrition, physical exercise, and joint support into everyday practice. The episode was sponsored by Virbac, which has also been promoting continuing education around multimodal mobility care. (dvm360.com)

One notable thread in the surrounding discussion is sarcopenia, which Amstutz has identified elsewhere as an underrecognized contributor to mobility decline in older pets. That concern is supported by outside reporting and guideline-based resources urging clinicians to monitor muscle condition over time. Veterinary Practice News, for example, notes that sarcopenia is common in aged animals and that intervention is largely built on exercise and nutrition, while WSAVA provides muscle condition score tools intended for routine use in practice. (veterinarypracticenews.com)

The wider evidence base also supports the article’s emphasis on movement as therapy, not just symptom management. A 2025 review in the Journal of Veterinary Science describes declining activity in older dogs and cats as multifactorial, linked to sarcopenia, osteoarthritis, cardiopulmonary changes, and sensory loss. The review says physical activity helps preserve lean body mass and may attenuate sarcopenia, while inactivity can worsen stiffness, pain, and atrophy. It also cites Dog Aging Project data suggesting more active dogs were less likely to be diagnosed with canine cognitive dysfunction, though the authors note veterinary-specific exercise-prescription data are still limited. (vetsci.org)

For veterinary professionals, the practical implication is that mobility care is becoming a systems issue, not a single-product or single-diagnosis conversation. Earlier screening may mean changing intake questions, documenting function over time, adding muscle condition scoring to routine exams, and discussing environmental modifications and realistic exercise plans before pets show marked decline. It also means recognizing that mobility complaints may be the visible endpoint of overlapping problems, including osteoarthritis, pain sensitization, frailty, obesity, or age-related muscle loss. (aaha.org)

There’s also a communication angle. Amstutz’s comments suggest many pet parents won’t volunteer the right clues unless clinicians ask for specific examples, and AAHA’s guidance similarly stresses that caregivers are often unaware of pain signs. That makes mobility screening as much about better history-taking and client education as about therapeutics. In cats especially, subtle changes in jumping, activity, or litter box behavior may be easier for families to notice than overt lameness. (dvm360.com)

Why it matters: For general practice teams, this is another sign that senior-pet mobility is shifting upstream, toward earlier identification and broader care plans that include rehabilitation principles, nutritional assessment, pain control, and home-environment changes. Practices that treat mobility decline only when a pet parent reports limping may miss a long window for intervention. (dvm360.com)

What to watch: Watch for more sponsor-backed CE, updated screening workflows, and stronger incorporation of muscle condition scoring and functional history into routine wellness visits as the profession tries to standardize earlier mobility intervention. (vet-us.virbac.com)