TY - JOUR
T1 - Commonly diagnosed disorders in domestic cats in the UK, and their associations with sex and age
AU - O'Neill, Dan G
AU - Gunn-Moore, Danielle
AU - Sorrell, Stephanie
AU - McAuslan, Harriet
AU - Church, David B
AU - Pegram, Camilla
AU - Brodbelt, Dave C
N1 - Funding Information:
Thanks to Noel Kennedy (RVC) for VetCompass software and programming development. We are grateful to the following researchers, who assisted with data collection during this project: Alyx Blenkarn, Annabelle Loustric, Annie Mura, Harriet McAuslan, Kirstin Sutherland and Rebecca Bostock. We acknowledge the Medivet Veterinary Partnership, Vets4Pets/Companion Care, Goddard Veterinary Group, CVS Group, IVC Evidensia, Linnaeus Group, Beaumont Sainsbury Animal Hospital, Blue Cross, PDSA, Dogs Trust, Vets Now and the other UK practices who collaborate in VetCompass. We are grateful to The Kennel Club Charitable Trust, Agria Pet Insurance and The Kennel Club for supporting VetCompass. The data set supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available in the RVC Research Online repository. This study was supported at the RVC by an award from the Kennel Club Charitable Trust and Agria Pet Insurance. Neither the Kennel Club Charitable Trust nor Agria Pet Insurance had any input in the design of the study, the collection, analysis and interpretation of data, or in writing the manuscript.
Funding Information:
This study was supported at the RVC by an award from the Kennel Club Charitable Trust and Agria Pet Insurance. Neither the Kennel Club Charitable Trust nor Agria Pet Insurance had any input in the design of the study, the collection, analysis and interpretation of data, or in writing the manuscript.
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2023.
PY - 2023/2
Y1 - 2023/2
N2 - OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were to generate a robust evidence base on the prevalence of common disorders in cats and develop a deeper understanding of disorder associations with sex and age that could offer important opportunities for targeted veterinary care to improve feline health and welfare. METHODS: A random sample of 18,249 cats was obtained from 1,255,130 cats under primary care during 2019 within VetCompass, an epidemiological research programme based on anonymised primary care veterinary clinical records. All disorders recorded during 2019 were extracted and reported, and associations with sex and age were examined. RESULTS: The most prevalent disorders were periodontal disease (n = 2780 [15.2%], 95% confidence interval [CI] 14.72-15.76), obesity (n = 2114 [11.6%], 95% CI 11.12-12.06) and dental disease (n = 1502 [8.2%], 95% CI 7.84-8.64). Compared with male cats, females had an increased prevalence of poor quality of life, postoperative complications and hyperthyroidism, among others. Male cats had a higher prevalence of periodontal disease, road traffic accident (RTA) and obesity. Younger cats (<8 years) had an increased prevalence of cat bite abscess, flea infestation and RTA, while older cats (⩾8 years) had increased prevalence of lameness, cystitis and dental disease, among others. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: These findings suggest that the veterinary profession needs to engage more effectively in informing owners on common preventable disorders (ie, obesity and dental disease). This new information can contribute to more targeted health surveillance and more effective veterinary interventions to promote improved health and welfare in pet cats. Large-scale collection and analysis of anonymised veterinary clinical records offer an important clinical resource for research.
AB - OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were to generate a robust evidence base on the prevalence of common disorders in cats and develop a deeper understanding of disorder associations with sex and age that could offer important opportunities for targeted veterinary care to improve feline health and welfare. METHODS: A random sample of 18,249 cats was obtained from 1,255,130 cats under primary care during 2019 within VetCompass, an epidemiological research programme based on anonymised primary care veterinary clinical records. All disorders recorded during 2019 were extracted and reported, and associations with sex and age were examined. RESULTS: The most prevalent disorders were periodontal disease (n = 2780 [15.2%], 95% confidence interval [CI] 14.72-15.76), obesity (n = 2114 [11.6%], 95% CI 11.12-12.06) and dental disease (n = 1502 [8.2%], 95% CI 7.84-8.64). Compared with male cats, females had an increased prevalence of poor quality of life, postoperative complications and hyperthyroidism, among others. Male cats had a higher prevalence of periodontal disease, road traffic accident (RTA) and obesity. Younger cats (<8 years) had an increased prevalence of cat bite abscess, flea infestation and RTA, while older cats (⩾8 years) had increased prevalence of lameness, cystitis and dental disease, among others. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: These findings suggest that the veterinary profession needs to engage more effectively in informing owners on common preventable disorders (ie, obesity and dental disease). This new information can contribute to more targeted health surveillance and more effective veterinary interventions to promote improved health and welfare in pet cats. Large-scale collection and analysis of anonymised veterinary clinical records offer an important clinical resource for research.
KW - breed
KW - cat
KW - electronic patient record
KW - EPR
KW - epidemiology
KW - pedigree
KW - purebred
KW - primary-care
KW - veterinary
KW - VetCompass
U2 - 10.1177/1098612X231155016
DO - 10.1177/1098612X231155016
M3 - Article
SN - 1098-612X
VL - 25
SP - 1
EP - 9
JO - Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery
JF - Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery
IS - 2
ER -