Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Common health problems in UK dogs seen by vets in 2016
By O'Neill, Dan G et al.·Published in BMC veterinary research·2021·The Royal Veterinary College, United Kingdom·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Prevalence of commonly diagnosed disorders in UK dogs under primary veterinary care: results and applications.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A study of over 22,000 dogs in the UK found that common health issues include dental disease, ear infections, and obesity. Specifically, about 12.5% of dogs had periodontal disease, 7.3% had ear infections, and 7.1% were classified as obese. The research highlights how factors like age, sex, and whether a dog is neutered can influence the likelihood of these health problems. This information can help pet owners and veterinarians focus on preventive care and early diagnosis for their dogs.
People also search for: dog dental disease treatment · ear infection in dogs symptoms · obesity in dogs causes
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.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33593363/