American Regent, Inc. Animal Health is conducting a nationwide recall of two lots — 25011 and 3369 — of Adequan Canine Injection (for dogs), 100 mg/mL, according to the AVMA's recall and safety alerts tracker.
If you groom dogs for a living, that product name should register even if you've never seen the vial. Adequan is one of the most widely prescribed injectable treatments for canine osteoarthritis in the United States. It's given on a schedule, often for years, and it's a maintenance therapy — the benefit depends on staying on the protocol.
A lot-level recall isn't a supply crisis. But any disruption to an osteoarthritis maintenance drug means some percentage of senior dogs in your book will have doses delayed, rescheduled, or substituted over the next few weeks. Some of them will be stiffer on your table than they were last appointment.
Groomers see mobility decline before anyone else
This is the underrated truth of the grooming profession. A vet sees a dog twice a year in a ten-minute exam. An owner sees their dog every day, which means they adapt to gradual decline without noticing it. You see the same dog every four to eight weeks and ask it to stand on a slick surface for ninety minutes.
You are, functionally, the best mobility screening in that dog's life.
When a senior dog that used to hold a stand starts sitting repeatedly, shifts weight off a hind limb, can't hold a hind leg up for sanitary work, or trembles during the dry, that's clinical information. It's worth documenting and worth communicating.
Build a senior handling protocol before you need one
Most salons handle senior dogs by improvising. The salons that do it well have a written protocol, and they charge for it.
Grade mobility at intake, every visit. A simple three-tier note in the client record — independent / needs support / high-risk — takes five seconds and drives everything else. Track it over time and you have a visible trend line, which is far more useful than a single-day impression.
Shorten the table time, not the quality. Break the groom into segments with rest breaks off the table. Two thirty-minute blocks with a lie-down between them is far kinder than one continuous sixty-minute stand, and it produces a better finish because the dog isn't fighting you by minute forty.
Fix the floor and the table height. Non-slip matting on the table and in the bathing area is the highest-return equipment purchase for senior work. A hydraulic or electric table that drops low enough to walk on eliminates the lift that hurts the dog and your back. Ramps into the tub pay for themselves in staff injury prevention alone.
Use support, don't force position. Slings and belly bands let you work a hind end without asking an arthritic dog to bear weight on three legs. Reposition the dog rather than reaching around it.
Adjust the style, and say why. A senior dog that can't tolerate positioning for a hand-scissored finish should get a shorter, faster clip — and the owner should hear the reason framed as care, not as a downgrade. "I shortened the pattern so he only had to stand for twenty minutes instead of fifty" is a sentence that builds loyalty.
Price it honestly
Senior grooming takes longer, requires more staff attention, and carries more risk. Salons that absorb that cost silently are subsidizing their most demanding appointments with revenue from their easiest ones.
A senior handling surcharge is normal, defensible, and easy to explain when it's tied to specifics: additional time, two-person handling, rest breaks, and mobility support. Frame it on your price list as a care service, not a penalty. Most owners of senior dogs will pay it gratefully — they already know their dog is harder to handle and they're often anxious that a salon will simply refuse them.
Two paperwork items to sort out now
A senior/medical release. Not to escape responsibility, but to establish informed consent: the owner acknowledges the dog's condition, agrees to a shortened groom if needed, and authorizes you to stop and call.
A vet contact on file. For any dog over ten or flagged high-risk, having the practice name and number in the client record turns a scary moment into a two-minute phone call.
The real point
A two-lot recall of a joint injection is a small news item. But it's a useful reminder that your senior clients live inside a fragile system of prescriptions, refills, and schedules — and when that system hiccups, the effects show up on your table before they show up anywhere else.
The salons that handle senior dogs well don't do it through heroics on the day. They do it through equipment, documentation, and pricing decided in advance.
Sources: AVMA Recalls & Safety Alerts tracker.