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The study library

The papers themselves. Read them yourself.

Every study that matters to companion-animal longevity, with what it actually found, in which species, at what sample size — and where the evidence runs out. Ongoing trials are marked as ongoing. We will not describe a result that does not exist yet.

Studies
18
Run in dogs or cats
6
Which is the point
Most longevity evidence is not in the species sleeping on your sofa. Knowing that is the beginning of reading it well.
Species
Topic

18 studies

Aging cohortsEarly evidenceOngoing — no result yet

LOY-002 — FDA reasonable expectation of effectiveness for extending senior dog lifespan

Loyal (Cellular Longevity, Inc.) · FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine, 2025

The FDA's veterinary center accepted that there is a reasonable expectation of effectiveness for a daily drug intended to extend the lifespan of senior dogs — a milestone on the conditional-approval path, not a full approval.

Species
Dogs
Design
Regulatory milestone
Sample
STAY study — approximately 1,000 senior dogs
Rapamycin & mTOREmerging evidenceOngoing — no result yet

TRIAD — Test of Rapamycin In Aging Dogs

Dog Aging Project (Kaeberlein M., Promislow D.E.L. et al.) · Dog Aging Project, 2024

A double-blind, placebo-controlled trial testing whether low-dose rapamycin extends lifespan and healthspan in older companion dogs. Results are not yet published — we will not characterize an outcome that does not exist.

Species
Dogs
Design
Randomized controlled trial
Sample
Several hundred older, large-breed companion dogs
Rapamycin & mTOREarly evidence

Safety and tolerability of delayed-release rapamycin in cats with subclinical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (RAPACAT)

Fries R.C. et al. · Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine, 2023

A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of once-weekly delayed-release rapamycin in cats. The drug was well tolerated at the doses studied; the trial was designed around safety and tolerability rather than a lifespan endpoint.

Species
Cats
Design
Randomized controlled trial
Sample
Client-owned cats with subclinical HCM
Aging cohortsEmerging evidence

An open science study of ageing in companion dogs

Creevy K.E., Akey J.M., Kaeberlein M., Promislow D.E.L. et al. · Nature, 2022

Establishes a large, open, longitudinal cohort of pet dogs — with owner surveys, veterinary records, and biospecimens — designed to identify the genetic, environmental, and lifestyle determinants of healthy canine aging.

Species
Dogs
Design
Cohort study
Sample
Tens of thousands of companion dogs across the United States
Mitochondrial healthStrong human evidence

Urolithin A improves muscle strength, exercise performance, and biomarkers of mitochondrial health

Singh A., D'Amico D., Andreux P.A. et al. · Cell Reports Medicine, 2022

Roughly a 12% improvement in muscle strength versus placebo, with better aerobic endurance and lower C-reactive protein. The trial's single primary endpoint — peak power — did not reach significance, and we report that too.

Species
Humans
Design
Randomized controlled trial
Sample
Middle-aged adults, four months
Mitochondrial healthStrong human evidence

The mitophagy activator urolithin A is safe and induces a molecular signature of improved mitochondrial and cellular health in humans

Andreux P.A., Blanco-Bose W., Ryu D. et al. · Nature Metabolism, 2019

Oral urolithin A was safe across single and four-week repeated doses, was bioavailable in plasma, and shifted skeletal-muscle mitochondrial gene expression toward a healthier signature.

Species
Humans
Design
Randomized controlled trial
Sample
Sedentary older adults, 250–1000 mg
Cellular renewalEmerging evidence

Spermidine supplementation and cognition in older adults (SmartAge and predecessors)

Wirth M., Schwarz C., Flöel A. et al. · Alzheimer's Research & Therapy / Cortex, 2019

A small three-month trial reported improved memory performance; the larger, longer, more rigorous SmartAge trial did not confirm a cognitive benefit over placebo.

Species
Humans
Design
Randomized controlled trial
Sample
Older adults with subjective cognitive decline
Immune functionStrong human evidence

TORC1 inhibition enhances immune function and reduces infections in the elderly

Mannick J.B., Morris M., Hockey H.-U.P. et al. · Science Translational Medicine, 2018

Low-dose TORC1 inhibition over 16 weeks reduced the rate of laboratory-confirmed respiratory tract infections in older adults and upregulated antiviral gene expression.

Species
Humans
Design
Randomized controlled trial
Sample
Over 600 older adults
SenolyticsEarly evidence

Fisetin is a senotherapeutic that extends health and lifespan

Yousefzadeh M.J., Zhu Y., McGowan S.J. et al. · EBioMedicine, 2018

Of ten flavonoids screened, fisetin was the most potent senolytic. Intermittent late-life dosing cleared senescent cells across tissues and extended both median and maximum lifespan.

Species
Mice
Design
Preclinical / animal model
Sample
Aged mice, intermittent late-life dosing
Rapamycin & mTOREmerging evidence

A randomized controlled trial to establish effects of short-term rapamycin treatment in 24 middle-aged companion dogs

Urfer S.R., Kaeberlein T.L., Mailheau S. et al. · GeroScience, 2017

Ten weeks of low-dose rapamycin in healthy middle-aged dogs was well tolerated, with no significant increase in adverse events over placebo. Echocardiography showed improvements in age-associated measures of heart function.

Species
Dogs
Design
Randomized controlled trial
Sample
24 middle-aged companion dogs
Rapamycin & mTORAnimal-model evidence

Transient rapamycin treatment can increase lifespan and healthspan in middle-aged mice

Bitto A., Ito T.K., Pineda V.V. et al. · eLife, 2016

A single three-month course of rapamycin in middle age produced a durable lifespan increase — substantially so in females — along with improved healthspan measures, without continuous lifelong dosing.

Species
Mice
Design
Preclinical / animal model
Sample
Middle-aged (20-month) mice
Aging cohortsEmerging evidence

The dog aging project: translational geroscience in companion animals

Kaeberlein M., Creevy K.E., Promislow D.E.L. · Mammalian Genome, 2016

Lays out the case for the companion dog as a translational model of aging, and for testing geroprotective interventions — rapamycin foremost among them — in animals that actually live alongside us.

Species
Dogs
Design
Review
Rapamycin & mTORAnimal-model evidence

Metabolic consequences of long-term rapamycin exposure on common marmoset monkeys

Ross C., Salmon A., Strong R. et al. · Aging, 2015

Chronic oral rapamycin in a non-human primate was tolerated without the severe metabolic disruption — notably insulin resistance — that had been feared based on high-dose rodent and transplant data.

Species
Primates
Design
Preclinical / animal model
Sample
Common marmosets, chronic daily dosing
Rapamycin & mTORStrong human evidence

mTOR inhibition improves immune function in the elderly

Mannick J.B., Del Giudice G., Lattanzi M. et al. · Science Translational Medicine, 2014

Six weeks of a low-dose mTOR inhibitor before influenza vaccination improved the antibody response in older adults and reduced the accumulation of exhausted immune cells.

Species
Humans
Design
Randomized controlled trial
Sample
Adults aged 65 and older
Rapamycin & mTORAnimal-model evidence

Rapamycin fed late in life extends lifespan in genetically heterogeneous mice

Harrison D.E., Strong R., Sharp Z.D. et al. · Nature, 2009

Rapamycin started at 600 days of age — the equivalent of a 60-year-old human — extended median and maximal lifespan, by roughly 9% in males and 14% in females.

Species
Mice
Design
Preclinical / animal model
Sample
Three independent sites, NIA Interventions Testing Program

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