Causes of death and euthanasia in domestic cats in the Santa Catarina plateau (1995-2015)

Abstract

Knowledge about the causes of death in felines constitutes important information to owners, veterinarians, and researchers, aiming at reducing the number of deaths in this species. In order to determine the main causes of death or euthanasia in cats in the Santa Catarina plateau, data from 1995 to 2015 available in necropsy files of the Laboratory of Animal Pathology (LAPA) of the State University of Santa Catarina (UDESC) were collected and evaluated. In that period, 1,728 cats were necropsied, mainly males (46.12%) and adults (50.11%). The mean ages at death for kittens, adults, and elderly were 5.07 months, 3.9 years, and 13.9 years, respectively. Of the 1,728 necropsy reports assessed, the cause of death was identified in 1,184 (68.52%) cases. The main cause of death was associated with infectious diseases (15.8%), with prevalence of feline infectious peritonitis (29.76%), followed by neoplasms (11.98%) with lymphoma (44.93%) and leukemia (16.91%) as the most common, and traumas (11.81%) mainly caused by motor vehicle accidents. These results show the need for owner awareness, as well as establishment of prophylaxis and vaccination programs, aimed at reducing the number of deaths and thus increasing life expectancy in the feline population.

Causes of death and reasons for euthanasia in necropsied dogs and their relationship with sex, age group and breed: a retrospective study

“…Neoplasms were the third most relevant cause of death, consistent with other studies where neoplasms had similar frequencies and were consistently among the top four causes of death (BENTUBO et al, 2007;FIGHERA et al, 2008;TRAPP et al, 2010;BATISTA et al, 2016;ROLIM, 2017;TOGNI et al, 2018;WITHOEFT et al, 2019;DE FREITAS et al, 2021). There was no significant association between neoplasms and the animal's sex, age group, or breed.…”

“…The latest National Health Survey in Brazil, conducted in 2013, found that the population of dogs and cats in the country was approximately 52 million and 22 million, respectively, with a tendency for population growth (INSTITUTO BRASILEIRO DE GEOGRAFIA E ESTATÍSTICA, 2015). However, there are few reports of studies focused on the causes of death in dogs and cats in Brazil and worldwide (BENTUBO et al, 2007;FIGHERA et al, 2008;TRAPP et al, 2010;BATISTA et al, 2016;ROLIM, 2017;TOGNI et al, 2018;WITHOEFT et al, 2019;DE FREITAS et al, 2021). In fact, among the extensive literature consulted, no studies were found in the state of Espírito Santo, where the present research was conducted.…”

Feline giant-cell pleomorphic sarcoma: cytologic, histologic and immunohistochemical characterization

“…The present study also demonstrated the absence of a breed predisposition; however, most cats were of no defined breed, which is consistent with the population of domestic cats in this geographic area. 11 The most common locations described in the literature are the interscapular region, flank and lateral thorax, consistent with sites of vaccination and drug application, which leads to the assumption that most diagnosed PSs are histologic variants of FISS. 2,7 Similar findings were reported in the present study.…”

“…The present study also demonstrated the absence of a breed predisposition; however, most cats were of no defined breed, which is consistent with the population of domestic cats in this geographic area. 11…”

Epidemiological and pathological aspects of cardiomyopathies in cats in southern Brazil

“…In the literature, heart disease in cats was found to have a frequency of 4.2 to 5.7% (O'neill et al 2014(O'neill et al , Rodrigues et al 2017. In studies of the causes of death and reasons for euthanasia, cardiomyopathies accounted for approximately 1% of total feline necropsies (Togni et al 2018, Withoeft et al 2019. In cats, cardiomyopathies are the most frequent cardiovascular diseases and are important causes of death in the species (Ferasin 2009a).…”