This infogram summarises demographic information on pet dogs in the United Kingdom, based on 865,977 individual dogs attending 368 VetCompass-participating veterinary clinics*. Characteristics of these animals are presented for the UK as a whole and also by broad geographical region.
Advisory Note: At present, the reported levels of neutering, identity microchipping and pet insurance must be interpreted with caution because the status of these variables change over the lifetime of animals. The results shown here describe neutering status at the final record for each animal and describe microchipping and pet insurance based upon whether the animal was reported as positive at any time. It should also be noted that many veterinary computer systems are configured with negative default settings for neutering, microchipping and pet insurance (i.e. negative default settings will be reported unless the practices update these values) which may over-represent the ‘negative’ status for these data fields. The VetCompass programme are working to update and develop these systems to give more reliable results in the future.
VetCompass publications and projects of particular relevance to the general pet dog population of the UK include:
O'Neill DG, Church DB, McGreevy PD, Thomson PC, Brodbelt DC. (2014) PLoS One, 9(3).
This study describes the most frequently recorded disorders in dogs seen by vets in England and provides a prevalence baseline against which to measure progress in canine health.
O'Neill DG, Church DB, McGreevy PD, Thomson PC, Brodbelt DC. (2013) The Veterinary Journal, 198, 638-643.
This study analysed data from 102,609 dogs attending first opinion veterinary practices to estimate median longevity and highlight major breed differences in longevity. It also describes the most frequently attributed causes of death in different age groups of dogs.
Jennifer Summers, Dan O'Neill, David Church, David Brodbelt
This study aims to create an evidence-based prioritisation list of inherited health disorders to underpin reforms of canine health and welfare.
This infogram summarises demographic information on pet cats in the United Kingdom, based on 588,186 individual cats attending 299 VetCompass-participating veterinary clinics. Characteristics of these animals are presented for the UK as a whole and also by broad geographical region.
Advisory Note: At present, the reported levels of neutering, identity microchipping and pet insurance must be interpreted with caution because the status of these variables change over the lifetime of animals. The results shown here describe neutering status at the final record for each animal and describe microchipping and pet insurance based upon whether the animal was reported as positive at any time. It should also be noted that many veterinary computer systems are configured with negative default settings for neutering, microchipping and pet insurance (i.e. negative default settings will be reported unless the practices update these values) which may over-represent the ‘negative’ status for these data fields. The VetCompass programme are working to update and develop these systems to give more reliable results in the future.
VetCompass publications and projects of particular relevance to the general pet cat population of the UK include:
O'Neill DG, Church DB, McGreevy PD, Thomson PC, Brodbelt DC (2014) Veterinary Journal.
This study describes the disorders most commonly diagnosed in a sample of 3584 cats attending 91 veterinary clinics in England. Differences between the disorders recorded in crossbred and purebred cats were explored.
Stephens MJ, O'Neill DG, Church DB, McGreevy PD, Thomson PC, Brodbelt DC (2014) The Veterinary Record.
This study highlights feline hyperthyroidism as a high prevalence disease in cats attending primary-care veterinary practices in England. Certain breeds and purebred cats overall had lower odds of hyperthyroidism than non-purebred cats.
O'Neill DG, Church DB, McGreevy PD, Thomson PC, Brodbelt DC (2014) Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery.
This paper explores longevity and common causes of death in 118,016 cats attending 90 veterinary practices in England. Typical life-expectancies of popular breeds of cat are also reported.