He still loses his mind when the lead comes off the hook. He just takes the stairs one at a time now.
The walk that used to be an hour is comfortably forty minutes.
He gets up more slowly than he did last winter, and you noticed the exact week it changed.
That slope has a biology behind it. For the first time, that biology is something a veterinarian can act on rather than describe.
Routine care is built to treat disease once it arrives — the lump, the limp, the lab value that finally crosses a line. It is not built to slow the process that produces them.
You are the kind of owner who reads the bloodwork rather than filing it. Who knows what his breed dies of, and roughly when.
That is the right instinct. Aging is now a research target in its own right, and dogs are where the most serious work is happening.
healthy lifespan across mammalian studies — the most reproducible result in aging research.
Rapamycin extended median lifespan in mice even when treatment began in late middle age, replicated across strains and both sexes. No other compound has matched that record. Whether it holds in dogs is the question the NIH-funded Dog Aging Project is now testing in TRIAD — the largest clinical trial in veterinary history, which has not yet reported.
The years matter less than what is in them. Healthspan is whether he still behaves like the dog you remember.
Rapamycin acts on mTOR — the pathway that decides whether cells grow or repair themselves. Each card leads with what has been established, and says plainly where the line is.
Rapamycin extends healthy lifespan by up to 14% across mammalian studies, and does it even when started in late middle age — replicated across strains and both sexes. Nothing else in aging research has that record. In dogs the same question is being asked at scale by the NIH-funded TRIAD trial, which has not yet reported.
In a placebo-controlled pilot in middle-aged dogs, ten weeks of low-dose rapamycin improved echocardiographic measures of cardiac function, with no significant adverse effects at the doses used. That result is what motivated the larger canine effort. It is a small, short trial — improved function, not a reversed disease.
mTOR inhibition is an established anticancer mechanism in human oncology, and the pathway is implicated in several of the cancers that take dogs most often. That is why it is being studied. No canine trial has shown that rapamycin reduces cancer incidence, and any page telling you otherwise is ahead of the evidence.
Chronic low-grade inflammation drives much of the stiffness owners notice first, and partial mTOR inhibition lowers that signalling — while at these low weekly doses several studies report improved immune response rather than suppression. Owners frequently report easier movement; that is their experience, not a measured outcome.
Thirteen years old, a Labrador, and slowing in the way Labradors do: the back end first, then the enthusiasm. His owner had already had the conversation with herself about how much time was left.
The veterinary review turned up no exclusions — no diabetes, clean liver values, no surgery planned. He started on a weight-calibrated protocol, once weekly, with bloodwork at six weeks and again at four months.
By late summer he was running on the beach. He is fourteen now. He still takes the stairs carefully, and he still gets there.
One dog’s course is not a result you should expect. Individual outcomes vary, and this story is not a medical claim.
Most dogs we start are healthy. In large and giant breeds, “middle-aged” arrives earlier than owners expect.
It is not right for every dog. Diabetes or impaired glucose regulation, active infection, significant liver or kidney disease, planned surgery, or pregnancy all rule it out — which is what the veterinary review checks before anything is prescribed.
The molecule is the easy part. Dose, schedule, screening and monitoring are what make it work — and what make it safe.
A 12 kg spaniel and a 60 kg mastiff are not on the same milligram dose. Longevity dosing is a fraction of transplant dosing, and intermittent rather than daily.
One capsule on a fixed weekly rhythm — the schedule the current TRIAD longevity protocol uses. Consistency matters more than precision timing; it is built to be sustainable.
History, current medications and baseline bloodwork. Rapamycin is metabolised through CYP3A4, so interactions are checked rather than assumed.
Bloodwork at intervals, weight tracked throughout, and dose adjusted as his body and his health change. Dosing pauses around planned surgery, because mTOR inhibition can slow wound healing.
Given properly, this is a monitored medical protocol. Given without oversight — wrong dose, no screening, no bloodwork, unchecked interactions — it is neither safe nor useful. That difference is the whole service.
Rapamycin is a prescription medicine. Every route below ends with a licensed veterinarian making the call.
Already have a vet who knows your dog? Bring them the protocol. We will share dosing guidance and monitoring schedules so everyone stays aligned.
Read the science →The veterinary review, a protocol calibrated to your dog, ongoing monitoring, and the next box shipping automatically as the current one runs out — 10% below the single-box price, with nothing to reorder. This is where most owners start.
View the dog therapy →Prefer to start with one box and decide later? The same veterinary review applies, with nothing recurring.
View the dog therapy →What is another two good years with him worth? We can’t price that. We can tell you what the programme costs, and exactly what is in it.
Longevity medicine is not about getting hold of a molecule. It is about the right dose, the right monitoring, at the right time — and knowing when the answer is no. Every Rapavie protocol is designed and overseen by veterinarians experienced in canine longevity medicine. We are not selling pills. We are building a medical relationship that adapts as your dog ages.
Start with the veterinary review. If your dog is not a candidate, we will tell you — that answer is part of the service too.
This page is educational and is not veterinary advice. Rapamycin is a prescription medicine; whether to use it is a decision made with a veterinarian who has examined your animal. No medicine is licensed to “extend longevity” — the statements here describe published research and ongoing studies.