Quote Originally Posted by Catlady711
I do have to dissagree a bit.

Reaching such an advanced age doesn't neccesarily mean either of those things are guaranteed.

I've seen dogs at work reach advanced age and were loved but rarely cared for over the years when they needed it (which makes me doubt the loved part). An uncle of mine had a lab that got up to 15yrs with poor quality food, lots of table scraps, not one single vet visit in his life, looked like crap towards the last few years, thin, could barely walk, hair falling out, but did manage to survive to 15. They loved the dog sure but relatives or not I think they did a crappy job caring for the dog and was glad they never got another dog again.

I've also known many, (too many) animals that were not only loved but cared for well above and beyond duty and yet the animals left this world way too young through no fault of the owners.

Based on those and quite a few other scenarios I've seen, age is not always a determining factor of the care of an animal.
You're exactly right, I have no idea, they could be treating their dog like crap for all I know, silly of me to assume.