Longevity and mortality of owned dogs in England

O’Neill, Dan G.; Church, David; McGreevy, Paul D.; Thomson, Peter; Brodbelt, David

doi:10.1016/j.tvjl.2013.09.020

Cited by 264 publications

(337 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…The companion dog's significantly shorter lifespan, median of 12 years (O'Neill, Church, McGreevy, Thomson & Brodbelt, 2013), than that of humans could allow us to understand the consequences of multiple chronic conditions in longitudinal studies lasting just a few years instead of the decades needed for human studies.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The companion dog as a model for human aging and mortality

et al. 2018

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SummaryAround the world, human populations have experienced large increases in average lifespan over the last 150 years, and while individuals are living longer, they are spending more years of life with multiple chronic morbidities. Researchers have used numerous laboratory animal models to understand the biological and environmental factors that influence aging, morbidity, and longevity. However, the most commonly studied animal species, laboratory mice and rats, do not experience environmental conditions similar to those to which humans are exposed, nor do we often diagnose them with many of the naturally occurring pathologies seen in humans. Recently, the companion dog has been proposed as a powerful model to better understand the genetic and environmental determinants of morbidity and mortality in humans. However, it is not known to what extent the age‐related dynamics of morbidity, comorbidity, and mortality are shared between humans and dogs. Here, we present the first large‐scale comparison of human and canine patterns of age‐specific morbidity and mortality. We find that many chronic conditions that commonly occur in human populations (obesity, arthritis, hypothyroidism, and diabetes), and which are associated with comorbidities, are also associated with similarly high levels of comorbidity in companion dogs. We also find significant similarities in the effect of age on disease risk in humans and dogs, with neoplastic, congenital, and metabolic causes of death showing similar age trajectories between the two species. Overall, our study suggests that the companion dog may be an ideal translational model to study the many complex facets of human morbidity and mortality.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the UK, 86.4% of dogs are recorded as dying by euthanasia (O'Neill et al., 2013). This can make it difficult to ascertain an actual cause of death as owners may elect to euthanize a dog who could conceivably have survived the current diagnosis and experienced a later, alternate cause of death.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The companion dog as a model for human aging and mortality

et al. 2018

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“…1). Longevity is similarly bimodal in dogs (14), indicating that mortality studies should be separated for each longevity group. Of deaths before 5 years of age, almost half (47.3%) resulted from trauma, with the majority resulting from RTA.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Cats aged less than five months tend to be entire whereas a consistent proportion of older cats tend to be neutered (58) The veterinary practices included in the study had progressive attitudes to data sharing and were situated mainly in central and south-east England, and thus may not be representative of all veterinary practices in England. The validity of the data relied heavily on owner-reported information and on the clinical acumen and note-making of attending practitioners (14).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Veterinary EPRs provide longitudinal collection of clinical data that are contemporaneously recorded by veterinary health professionals and cover all presented patients and disorders (18). The VetCompass (http://www.rvc.ac.uk/VetCompass/) database of merged primary-care practice EPRs holds an extensive resource of clinical health information on companion animals in the UK (19) and has been interrogated to report on longevity and mortality in dogs (14) .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Longevity and mortality of cats attending primary care veterinary practices in England

O’Neill

Church

McGreevy

et al. 2014

Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery

175

171

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Enhanced knowledge on longevity and mortality in cats should support improved breeding, husbandry, clinical care and disease prevention strategies. The VetCompass research database of primary-care veterinary practice data offers an extensive resource of clinical health information on companion animals in the UK. This study aimed to characterise longevity and mortality in cats and to identify important demographic risk factors for compromised longevity. Crossbred cats were hypothesised to live longer than purebred cats. 3Descriptive statistics were used to characterise the deceased cats. Multivariable linear regression methods investigated risk factor association with longevity in cats that died at or after 5 years of age.From 118,016 cats attending 90 practices in England, 4,009 cats with confirmed deaths were randomly selected for detailed study. Demographic characterisation showed that 3,660 (91.7%) were crossbred, 2,009 (50.7%) were female and 2,599 (64.8%) were neutered. The most frequently attributed causes of mortality in cats of all ages were trauma (12.2%), renal disorder (12.1%), non-specific illness (11.2%), neoplasia (10.8%) and mass lesion disorders (10.2%). Overall, the median longevity was 14.0 years (IQR 9.0-17.0; range 0.0-26.7). Crossbred cats had a higher median longevity than purebred cats (median (IQR) 14.0 years (9.1-17.0) versus 12.5 years (6.1-16.4), P < 0.001) but individual purebred cat breeds varied substantially in longevity. In cats dying at or after 5 years (n = 3,360), being crossbred, lower bodyweight, neutered and non-insured were associated with increased longevity. This study described longevity in cats and identified important causes of mortality and breed-related associations with compromised longevity.

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2018

Veterinary Epidemiology

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Longevity and mortality of owned dogs in England

Abstract: 18Improved understanding of longevity represents a significant welfare opportunity for 19 the domestic dog, given its unparalleled morphological diversity. Epidemiological research 20 using electronic patient records (

Cited by 264 publications

References 34 publications

The companion dog as a model for human aging and mortality

The companion dog as a model for human aging and mortality

Longevity and mortality of cats attending primary care veterinary practices in England

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