Pet longevity,
simply.

If you've heard about Peter Attia, NAD+, mTOR, biological age — and wondered whether any of it actually applies to your dog, cat, or horse — this is the explainer we wished existed when we started PETVITY. No hype, no biohacker theatre. Just the science that has earned its way into the conversation.

What longevity actually means.

The word gets used loosely, so let's separate two ideas the field treats very carefully.

Lifespan is how long an animal lives, total. Healthspan is how many of those years are healthy — mobile, cognitively intact, free of chronic disease. The longevity movement, in humans and now in pets, is almost entirely focused on healthspan. Adding two extra years of suffering at the end is not the goal. Compressing the period of decline is.

The Dog Aging Project, launched at the University of Washington under Drs. Matt Kaeberlein and Daniel Promislow in 2018, was the first large-scale attempt to study healthspan in companion animals at the same rigor humans get. They follow tens of thousands of dogs across breeds, sizes and lifestyles — and the results have begun to confirm what longevity researchers had long suspected: most of the variance in healthy years comes from daily factors that owners control.

Why pets are shorter-lived than us.

The answer is partly evolutionary, partly metabolic. Smaller mammals burn through life faster — higher heart rates, faster cellular turnover, more oxidative damage per year. A Yorkshire Terrier's metabolism runs roughly seven times faster than a human's; a hamster, faster still.

But size alone doesn't explain it. Cats, despite being roughly dog-sized, often outlive dogs by several years — partly thanks to lower oxidative load and a more conserved sleep architecture. Horses, despite their size, live 25–35 years because their cardiovascular and skeletal systems were tuned by evolution to last under sustained motion.

What this means in practice: each species ages differently, and the levers that move healthspan are not the same. A dog needs joint architecture protected. A cat needs kidneys, hydration and dental health protected. A horse needs gut motility, hoof integrity and cortisol balance protected.

"You cannot copy-paste a human longevity protocol onto an animal. The biology rhymes — it does not repeat."

The four pillars the science keeps converging on.

Across thousands of papers in human and veterinary longevity, four levers dominate. They are unglamorous. They are also the only things with consistent, replicated evidence behind them.

What's actually proven (and what isn't).

Here's where we have to be honest, because the supplement industry rarely is.

Strongly evidenced

Caloric restriction (mild — not starvation) extends median lifespan in dogs. The 14-year Purina Lifespan Study showed leaner Labradors lived nearly 2 years longer than their overfed siblings. Omega-3 EPA/DHA reduces inflammation and slows cognitive decline. Joint support (glucosamine, chondroitin, undenatured type II collagen) has decades of orthopedic evidence in dogs. Hydration and renal monitoring extend healthspan in cats more than any single supplement.

Promising but emerging

NAD+ precursors (NMN, NR) — strong rodent and early human data, growing canine data, not yet definitive. Senolytics (drugs that clear "zombie" senescent cells) are in active veterinary trials. Rapamycin for dogs is in Phase 3 via the TRIAD trial. Molecular hydrogen as an antioxidant is supported by 2,000+ peer-reviewed studies but vet-specific data is still small.

Underwhelming or unproven

Most "stem cell" injectable products marketed to consumers. Most "detox" claims. Generic multivitamins with no targeted bioavailability. CBD for longevity (it has uses, but lifespan extension isn't one). Anything sold with the words "ancient secret."

What you can do today.

If you do nothing else, do these five things. Each is supported by replicated peer-reviewed evidence in the species it applies to.

One. Keep your animal lean. Run your hands along their ribs — you should feel them under a thin layer, not under a cushion. Excess weight is the single most studied healthspan-shortener across all companion species.

Two. Move them daily, gently, varied. Two 25-minute walks beat one 90-minute hike. Sniffing, exploring, sub-maximal effort. For cats, three 5-minute play sessions. For horses, daily turnout always wins over stalling.

Three. Protect their sleep. Quiet, dark, predictable. Not on a kitchen tile next to a dishwasher. Recovery is where mitochondrial repair happens.

Four. Track something. A baseline annual blood panel from age three onward. Weight monthly. Mobility quarterly. You cannot improve what you don't measure — and most chronic decline is invisible until it isn't.

Five. Reduce ultra-processed food share. You don't need to switch overnight to raw or home-cooked. Even moving 30% of daily calories to fresh, minimally processed food has measurable inflammation impact in published canine studies.

Where PETVITY fits.

This is the part of the playbook the longevity industry has skipped for animals. We're trying to close it with three things:

The Pet-Harmony Score™ turns the four pillars into a single number — not a marketing gimmick, but a tracker. Across body, bond, lifestyle and growth. The thing that lets you tell, six months from now, whether the changes you made actually moved anything.

The Digital Twin in the app holds the picture of your animal — photo, vitals, rhythm, recommendations — so the conversation with your vet, your sitter, your trainer is grounded in the same data.

The boxes and the shop are the operational layer — third-party tested supplements, fresh-food guidance, gentle protocols you can actually run at home. Members save up to CHF 100 per month on the products their animal already needs.

None of it is magic. All of it is the unglamorous, daily, intelligent work that has always been the only thing that worked. We just made it measurable.

— The PETVITY editorial board