Dog Size and Patterns of Disease History Across the Canine Age Spectrum: Results from the Dog Aging Project

Abstract

Age in dogs is associated with the risk of many diseases, and canine size is a major factor in that risk. However, the size effect is not as simple as the age effect. While small size dogs tend to live longer, some diseases are more prevalent among small dogs. Utilizing owner-reported data on disease history from a substantial number of companion dogs, we investigate how body size, as measured by weight, associates with the prevalence of a reported condition and its pattern across age for various disease categories. We found significant positive associations between weight and prevalence of skin, bone/orthopedic, gastrointestinal, ear/nose/throat, cancer/tumor, brain/neurologic, endocrine, and infectious diseases. Similarly, weight was negatively associated with the prevalence of eye, cardiac, liver/pancreas, and respiratory disease categories. Kidney/urinary disease prevalence did not vary by weight. We also found that the association between age and disease prevalence varied by dog size for many conditions including eye, cardiac, orthopedic, ear/nose/throat, and cancer. Controlling for sex, purebred/mixed breed, and geographic region made little difference in all disease categories we studied. Our results align with the reduced lifespan in larger dogs for most of the disease categories but suggest potential avenues for further examination.

Whole Genome 3D Blood Biopsy Profiling of Canine Cancers: Development and Validation of EpiSwitch Multi-Choice Array-Based Diagnostic Test

“…In the United States alone, it is estimated that 4.2 to 6 million new cases of cancer are diagnosed each year 2,3 . The lifetime risk of cancer and associated mortality rates in dogs have been estimated to be approximately 30% and have been noted to vary by breed 4 , although recent data suggest that size and biological aging account for most of the observed variation in cancer susceptibility 5,6 . For greater context, non-neoplastic conditions, including those arising from traumatic, infectious, metabolic, inflammatory, degenerative, toxic, congenital, and vascular processes, individually account for £10% of adult dog deaths 7 .…”