Clinical protocols

Anxiety and Fear-Related Behaviour in Dogs

Noise sensitivity 32% (highly fearful of at least one noise) - the most prevalent anxiety-related trait. Fearfulness 29%; fear of surfaces and heights 23.5%; inattention ~20% ('every fifth dog'); compulsive behaviour 16%; hyperactivity/impulsivity 15%; aggression 14%; separation-related behaviour 5%. Within noise sensitivity, fear of fireworks was the commonest subtrait at 26%. Within fearfulness: fear of other dogs 17%, strangers 15%, novel situations 11%. In total, 72.5% of dogs showed some kind of highly problematic behaviour.

Fear and anxiety are real medical problems in dogs, not disobedience. A frightened dog is not choosing to misbehave - his body is reacting the way yours would to something genuinel…

Canine Atopic Dermatitis and Allergic Skin Disease

Skin disease as a diagnostic group: 12.58% (95% CI 12.15–13.02) one-year period prevalence of diagnosis. A clean population prevalence for atopic dermatitis alone was NOT located in this research pass.

Atopic dermatitis is a lifelong allergy that shows up in a dog's skin instead of the nose. The immune system overreacts to everyday things like dust mites, pollens, or mould, and t…

Canine Cancer: Supportive and Adjunct Care

Estimated annual incidence of all diagnosed tumours: 282 cases per 100,000 dogs per year (2,509 canine neoplasia diagnoses over three years). For mammary tumours specifically in the same registry region, 250 cases per 100,000 dogs per year, accounting for 54% of all tumours in female dogs, of which 70% were malignant. Separately, in the largest UK primary-care mortality analysis, neoplastic disorders were the most frequently attributed cause of death among 5,095 confirmed canine deaths.

Cancer means a group of your dog's own cells has started growing when it should not. There are many different kinds and they behave very differently - some are cured by a single su…

Canine Chronic Enteropathy

10.43% (95% CI 10.04–10.84) one-year period prevalence for "enteropathy" as a grouped disorder; diarrhoea alone 3.81% (95% CI 3.57–4.07)

Chronic enteropathy means your dog's gut has been upset for three weeks or longer — loose stools, vomiting, or losing weight — and it keeps coming back. It is not usually caused by…

Canine Osteoarthritis

2.5% annual period prevalence of diagnosed appendicular osteoarthritis (95% CI 2.4-2.5%), equating to approximately 200,000 affected UK dogs per year. Osteoarthritis affects an estimated 11.4% of an affected dog's lifespan.

Osteoarthritis is joint wear. The smooth cartilage that cushions the ends of the bones gets thin, the lining of the joint becomes inflamed, and the joint gets sore and stiff. It is…

Canine otitis externa (outer ear infection and inflammation)

7.30% one-year period prevalence of diagnosis (95% CI 6.97-7.65)

Otitis externa means the outer ear canal is inflamed, and usually infected as well. It is one of the most common reasons dogs are seen by a vet: about 1 in 14 dogs is diagnosed wit…

Dog & catNo evidence located

Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) in Dogs

0.21% apparent 1-year period prevalence (95% CI 0.19-0.24%) of diagnosed CKD; 0.37% true prevalence by Bayesian analysis (95% posterior credibility interval 0.02-1.44%). Median survival time from diagnosis was 226 days (95% CI 112-326 days). Cocker Spaniel and Cavalier King Charles Spaniel had significantly increased risk; increasing age and being insured were also significant risk factors; cardiac disease was a significant comorbidity.

Chronic kidney disease means your dog's kidneys have been slowly losing the ability to clean waste out of the blood and to concentrate urine. It is not something that happened over…

Cognitive Dysfunction Syndrome (Dementia in Dogs and Cats)

Dogs: estimated prevalence 14.2% in dogs aged 8 years and older, against only 1.9% formally diagnosed by a veterinarian - roughly a 7.5-fold diagnosis gap. Cats: 13% of surveyed cats aged 8 years and older were classified FCD-positive (80 of 615 completed responses); the most common sign in those cats was inappropriate vocalisation (32/80, 40.0%).

Cognitive dysfunction syndrome is dementia in pets. As some dogs and cats get older, the brain changes in ways that look a great deal like Alzheimer's disease in people, so a pet m…

Cranial Cruciate Ligament Disease

0.56% prevalence of CCL disease diagnosis (95% CI 0.52-0.59%)

The cranial cruciate ligament is a band inside your dog's knee that stops the joint from sliding back and forth. In dogs it almost never snaps in one accident — it usually wears ou…

Dog & catEarly evidence

Diabetes Mellitus in Dogs and Cats

Cats: 0.58% period prevalence (95% CI 0.54-0.61) - roughly 1 in 200 cats. Dogs: 0.36% (95% CI 0.33-0.39) in Australia and 0.26% (95% CI 0.25-0.28) in UK dogs aged 3 years and over, with an annual incidence risk of 0.09% (95% CI 0.08-0.09).

Diabetes means the body can no longer keep blood sugar in a normal range, so sugar spills into the urine and pulls water with it. That is why a diabetic pet drinks a lot, urinates …

CatEarly evidence

Feline Chronic Enteropathy and Low-Grade Alimentary Lymphoma

Low-grade alimentary lymphoma comprises 60-75% of feline gastrointestinal lymphoma cases and is now the most frequent digestive neoplasia in cats, with incidence rising over the preceding decade. Within cats presenting with chronic GI signs, food sensitivity accounted for 16/55 (29%), with a further 11/55 (20%) resolving on an elimination diet without relapsing on challenge.

Chronic enteropathy means the lining of your cat's intestine has been irritated or inflamed for weeks or months. That causes vomiting, loose stools, weight loss, or changes in appe…

CatEarly evidence

Feline Chronic Gingivostomatitis

0.7% (34 cases in 4,858 cats; 95% CI 0.5-1.0%). Of those 34 cases, 44% (15 cats) were new presentations and 56% (19 cats) were ongoing cases already under management.

Feline chronic gingivostomatitis is long-lasting, severe inflammation of the soft tissue inside a cat's mouth. The worst of it is usually far back in the mouth, where the upper and…

Feline Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD)

50% period prevalence of CKD (IRIS stages 1-4) in cats randomly selected across four age groups spanning 6 months to 20 years, and 68.8% in cats recruited for degenerative joint disease studies. CKD was common in cats between 1 and 15 years of age, with a similar prevalence of IRIS stages 1 and 2 across age groups.

The kidneys are two filters that pull waste out of the blood and hold the right amount of water in the body. In chronic kidney disease, that filtering tissue is slowly replaced by …

Feline Hyperthyroidism

2.4% apparent period prevalence overall (95% CI 2.3-2.5), rising to 8.7% (95% CI 8.3-9.0) in cats aged 10 years and older

Hyperthyroidism means the thyroid gland in your cat's neck has grown a small benign (non-cancerous) lump and is making too much thyroid hormone. Thyroid hormone sets the speed of t…

Feline Infectious Peritonitis (FIP)

Approximately 1 in every 200 new feline accessions and 1 in every 300 total feline accessions at North American veterinary medical teaching hospitals carried a recorded diagnosis of FIP, and approximately 1 in every 100 accessions at veterinary diagnostic laboratories.

FIP stands for feline infectious peritonitis. It starts with a very common gut virus called feline coronavirus, which most cats carry without ever getting sick. In a small number o…

CatLaboratory evidence only

Feline Osteoarthritis (Degenerative Joint Disease)

61% of cats aged 6 years and older had radiographic osteoarthritis in at least one joint, and 48% in more than one joint

Osteoarthritis means the smooth cartilage cushioning a joint wears down and the bone around it changes shape, which hurts. It is very common in cats, and it is easy to miss, becaus…

Feline asthma and lower airway disease

Approximately 1% to 5% of the pet cat population is the figure carried in the current review literature; feline asthma and feline chronic bronchitis together are described as the most common chronic lower respiratory diseases of cats

Feline asthma means the small breathing tubes deep in your cat's lungs become inflamed (swollen and irritated) and squeeze shut, so air cannot move easily. The most common sign is …

CatLaboratory evidence only

Feline lower urinary tract disease and idiopathic cystitis (FLUTD / FIC)

FLUTD was recorded in 2.2% of feline hospital visits, and feline idiopathic cystitis was the single most common diagnosis within that group at 57.7%; urethral obstruction was the most common clinical presentation at 55.1% of FLUTD cases and haematuria the second at 23.1%

Feline lower urinary tract disease is a group of signs, not one illness: straining to pee, peeing tiny amounts over and over, blood in the urine, crying in the litter box, or sudde…

Intervertebral Disc Disease (IVDD)

1.2% lifetime prevalence of owner-reported IVDD (520 of 43,517 dogs). Dachshunds had the highest breed lifetime prevalence at 15.3% (83 of 541). Among purebreds, French Bulldogs had the highest adjusted odds (OR 21.1, 95% CI 12.5-35.8).

Intervertebral disc disease, or IVDD, means one of the soft cushions between the bones of your dog's spine has pushed out of place and is pressing on the spinal cord. That pressure…