Prevalence of commonly diagnosed disorders in UK dogs under primary veterinary care: results and applications

Abstract

Background Although dogs are a commonly owned companion animal in the UK, the species experiences many health problems that are predictable from demographic information. This study aimed to use anonymised veterinary clinical data from the VetCompass™ Programme to report the frequency of common disorders of dogs under primary veterinary care in the UK during 2016 and to explore effects associated with age, sex and neuter status. Results From an available population of 905,543 dogs under veterinary care at 886 veterinary clinics during 2016, the current study included a random sample of 22,333 (2.47 %) dogs from 784 clinics. Prevalence for each disorder was calculated at the most refined level of diagnostic certainty (precise-level precision) and after grouping to a more general level of diagnostic precision (grouped-level precision). The most prevalent precise-level precision disorders recorded were periodontal disease (prevalence 12.52 %, 95 % CI: 12.09–12.97), otitis externa (7.30 %, 95 % CI: 6.97–7.65) and obesity (7.07 %, 95 % CI: 6.74–7.42). The most prevalent grouped-level disorders were dental disorder (14.10 %, 95 % CI: 13.64–14.56), skin disorder (12.58 %, 95 % CI: 12.15–13.02) and enteropathy (10.43 %, 95 % CI: 10.04–10.84). Associations were identified for many common disorders with age, sex and neuter. Conclusions The overall findings can assist veterinarians and owners to prioritise preventive care and to understand demographic risk factors in order to facilitate earlier diagnosis of common disorders in dogs. The information on associations with age, sex and neuter status provides additional contextual background to the complexity of disorder occurrence and supports targeted health controls for demographic subsets of dogs.

Cystinuria in Dogs and Cats: What Do We Know after Almost 200 Years?

“…In Germany, 43.1% of canine population older than one year is neutered (39% of males and 48% of females) [ 74 ]. Similar numbers are reported from England, where 44.73% of male dogs are neutered [ 75 ]. Cystine urolithiasis typically occurs in young adult and middle-aged dogs, with reported means from 4 to 6 years [ 24 , 37 , 48 , 49 , 52 , 54 , 55 , 66 , 71 ].…”

Vegan versus meat-based pet foods: Owner-reported palatability behaviours and implications for canine and feline welfare

“…Obesity was also the third most prevalent specific health disorder (after periodontal disease-first, and otitis externa-second) among 22,333 dogs randomly sampled from a population of 905,543 dogs under veterinary care at 886 UK clinics in 2016. Obesity was present in 7.07% of these dogs (95% CI: 6.74-7.42) [86].…”

Frequency and predisposing factors for canine otitis externa in the UK – a primary veterinary care epidemiological view

“…There is little information available at a population level about the relative proportional contributions of other underlying conditions (e.g., atopic dermatitis, aural foreign body) to the overall disorder burden from otitis externa. Exploration of the comorbid presence of a range of potential clinical risk factors in each of the otitis externa cases in the current dataset could provide some information on the relative importance of each of these to the overall occurrence of otitis externa in dogs and therefore constitutes a useful concept for future study [ 74 ]. Extraction of detailed data on veterinary clinical management and therapy offers another research approach that could build on the current data to contribute to a deeper understanding of the pathophysiology of these otitis externa cases at a population level [ 77 ].…”