PREVICOX® Campaign Found ‘Missing Dogs’

This year Merial Animal Health has been running the ‘Missing Dog Campaign’ across the UK and now the results are flooding in. Over 130 practices took part in the campaign, which aimed to raise awareness of canine osteoarthritis and the treatment options available. Using leaflets, adverts, posters and postcards the practices alerted new and existing clients to the condition and invited them to bring their dogs in for a free check up. The outcome of the Missing Dog Campaign showed that many dog owners thought that stiffness and pain when moving were just part of growing old and were unaware that there were treatment options available. As such, far more dogs across the country have been diagnosed with osteoarthritis (OA) and many are now enjoying a better quality of life thanks to the campaign. PREVICOX Product Manager Claire Edmunds says: “By helping veterinary surgeries to run ‘OA Days’ offering free check ups, we have managed to raise awareness of this condition and have found a far larger percentage of dogs that can benefit from treatment than we had previously thought. We have found some of the dogs that were undiagnosed and missing out on treatment and their owners are now thrilled with the changes they have seen in their pets.” The campaign is still ongoing, but thanks to the ingenuity of many of the participating veterinary practices, awareness of canine OA has certainly grown. Heene Road Vets in Worthing has decided to run a radio advert to promote their next OA Day, following one very successful event earlier in the year attended by 15 dogs, with 11 of those diagnosed as suffering from OA and requiring treatment. Practice Director Jeremy French explains: “Most of those that required treatment were at fairly late stages of development of the condition and would have benefited from earlier treatment, the day went really well and the outcomes for a lot of the dogs we saw are improving.” Tysul Vets in Carmarthenshire has also run a successful Missing Dog Campaign, bringing in around 50 dogs and diagnosing OA in 21 that went on to treatment with PREVICOX. Head Vet Nurse Emma Hollingworth said the simplicity of the campaign was important: “I think people just picked the leaflets up in the waiting room which prompted them to ask about OA when they were being seen by the vet. “Owners were generally just thinking it was a condition linked to old age and just one of those things but treatment was discussed and generally they were always surprised at the ease of the treatment. “It’s a good campaign with good literature that wasn’t too intrusive – it was easy for them to sit and tick boxes in the waiting room.” Tysul Vets will continue to promote OA checks alongside their usual senior health checks and have now received samples of Merial’s new neutraceutical supplement Supleneo flex, which will form part of their all round approach to OA treatment which includes PREVICOX and prescription diets. Barn Vets in Copdock also ran a successful campaign, with a blanket approach to client surveying yielding good results. Head Vet Nurse Donna Hammond says: “It was a receptionist-led campaign. They asked people who were in for routine treatments like vaccinations and nail clipping to fill in the questionnaire as it was simpler than trying to target just the older dogs. Out of over 50 forms completed, 13 dogs were diagnosed with OA and prescribed PREVICOX.” The blanket approach did show an interesting result: “There was one younger dog that was only about six that was showing signs of OA and has been put onto a trial of PREVICOX.” Overall Donna believes that the campaign is a great idea to help dog owners be more aware of the condition, and she suggests a repeat of the campaign in autumn will help as animals show more signs of physical stiffness and discomfort in the cold weather.

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