Now that I have read the article properly...

Firstly, as soon as I see the words 'Daily Mail', I instantly take every word following them with a pinch of salt!

Telomeres do determine how many times a cell can replicate, and each time the cell does so, it loses a telomere. When they are used up, the DNA replication can no longer occur and the cell apoptoses, in essence, it dies. Thus, as animals reach old age, more cells are apoptosing than new ones being created, since most cells are short on telomeres. 'Dying of old age' is thus when so many cells have run out of telomeres that there are no longer enough functioning cells to support the life of the entire body. In this sense, they do contribute to ageing.

However, as with most things in biology, ageing is a very complex process and is controlled by many factors other than telomeres. Then, there are the complications associated with ageing. Take for instance, joint and bone conditions which are mostly the ailments of older dogs. These can be brought on simply by continued strain on the joint over the years, and are not always down to a problem with cell renewal. I think that simply renewing telomeres is not going to guarantee a forever youthful animal.

One thing that did sadden me in this article were the words 'For pets, the rules [on medical approval] are much less stringent - and the market is potentially huge'. True, medications designed for animals are not subject to such rigourous clinical trials as potential human treatments are, but in NO way does that mean the testing is slap-happy. It still has to be proven to live up to its claims, and not to cause anything detrimental to the animal, and statistical testing to do so takes many samples and lots of follow-up. Secondly, again with my vet-head on, the fact the market is being considered apparently before the welfare of animals worries me.

Finally, and I might be going out on a limb here; cells that naturally produce active telomerases in abundance are cancerous cells. Now I don't want to speculate and make wild assumptions as to what cells induced to produce telomerases would do. All I'm saying is, the research needs to be done, very thoroughly.

So, in answer to the question, no, I would not administer such a drug to any animal.