Corrigendum: Development of an Early Warning System for Owners Using a Validated Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQL) Instrument for Companion Animals and Its Use in a Large Cohort of Dogs.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fvets.2020.575795.].

Effect of Age, Breed, and Sex on the Health-Related Quality of Life of Owner Assessed Healthy Dogs.

Using an app, this exploratory study generated information on HRQL in a large cohort of dogs deemed healthy according to the owner. It forms the basis for further studies investigating the natural history of HRQL of dogs to inform the interpretation of interventional studies, but highlights the risks of relying on owner impression of health status. A previously published health-related quality of life (HRQL) instrument (VetMetrica™) that generates scores in four domains of quality of life in dogs - Energetic and Enthusiastic (E/E), Happy and Content (H/C), Active and Comfortable (A/C), and Calm and Relaxed (C/R), generated information on HRQL in 4,217 dogs (3 months-21 years). Dogs were categorized by age; young, 3-47 months, middle-aged, 48-95 months, and old, 96 months and older. Owners considered 2,959 dogs (3-95 months) to be "in perfect health" and these were used to explore the relationship between age, sex, breed and HRQL in apparently healthy dogs. Mean score was significantly greater (better) in young compared to middle-aged dogs in E/E, H/C and A/C and declined with advancing age. In H/C there was a small but significant difference in mean score between female and male dogs (mean greater in females), with a similar rate of decline in each gender with advancing age. In E/E there were very small but statistically significant differences in mean scores between certain breeds. In A/C there was a statistically significant interaction between breed and age and the rate of decline with advancing age differed with breed. Overall, age, breed, and sex predicted very little of the variation seen in HRQL scores. Data from a subset of 152 dogs, for whom clinical information was available, were used to examine the agreement between clinical evidence and owner opinion. According to the clinical records, 89 dogs were healthy and 63 had evidence of chronic disease. There was an approximately 40% disagreement between owner opinion on health status and clinical evidence of chronic disease (35% disagreement in all dogs and 43% in old dogs). HRQL scores were generally higher in dogs for whom there was no evidence of disease in the clinical record.

Development of an Early Warning System for Owners Using a Validated Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQL) Instrument for Companion Animals and Its Use in a Large Cohort of Dogs.

Preventive measures in human healthcare are recognized as a means of providing early detection of disease, however, the veterinary profession has not been as effective in communicating the benefits of preventive measures to pet owners. Readily available pet healthcare information on the internet, owners not understanding that regular health evaluations can ensure the well-being of their pets and owners confusing the signs of chronic disease with normal aging have contributed to declining numbers of veterinary visits. The use of web-based generic health-related quality of life (HRQL) measures to evaluate health status (wellness) remotely could facilitate veterinary preventive medicine. This publication describes the development and practical application of an integrated alert system for an online generic HRQL measurement instrument (VetMetrica™) which generates scores in four domains of HRQL-Energetic/Enthusiastic (E/E), Happy/Content (H/C), Active/Comfortable (A/C), and Calm/Relaxed (C/R)-for 2 age groups (young/middle-aged, ≤7 years and old, ≥8 years). The alert provides an early warning, via email to owners, that a potentially significant deterioration in health status has occurred. The model accurately predicted the health status of 93 and 83% of sick young/middle aged and old dogs respectively, with healthy dogs predicted with 83% accuracy. HRQL data, collected via a white-labeled veterinary clinic branded app designed to facilitate connected care between owner and veterinarian, were analyzed for 6,108 dogs, aged between 6 weeks and 16 years. Of these 5,002 were deemed to be in perfect health by their owners, yet the alert was triggered for 1,343 (27%) of these, 75% of which were young/middle-aged and 25% were old, indicating that acute injuries notwithstanding, many middle aged dogs may have been suffering from undetected chronic disease such as osteoarthritis. This work has demonstrated that the use of VetMetrica™ delivered via the PetDialog™ app, which supports 24/7 remote health monitoring is an efficient way for vets to provide all their owners with the opportunity to monitor their animal's wellness throughout their lifetime, providing the vet with a mechanism to identify health problems early while stimulating owners to be more proactive in seeking veterinary attention.

Side Effects to Systemic Glucocorticoid Therapy in Dogs Under Primary Veterinary Care in the UK.

Objectives: Systemic glucocorticoids are widely used in companion animals. This study aimed to estimate the frequency, describe the characteristics and to evaluate risk factors for common side effects to systemic glucocorticoid therapy in dogs under primary veterinary care in the UK. Methods: A cohort study using VetCompass™ data from 455,557 dogs under primary veterinary care during 2013 estimated the frequency of side effects to systemic glucocorticoid therapy occurring within 31 days of therapy. Risk factors for the most common side effects, polyuria and polydipsia (PUPD), were evaluated using multivariable logistic regression modeling (P < 0.05). Results: During 2013, 28,472 study dogs received systemic glucocorticoids (6.2%, 95% CI 6.2-6.3). Review of the records of 3,000 randomly selected treated dogs identified 148 (4.9%, 95% CI 4.2-5.7%) dogs with at least one side effect recorded within 31 days of therapy. The most frequent side effects were polydipsia (39.2% of total presenting signs), polyuria (28.4%), vomiting (16.2%) and diarrhea (14.9%), dogs receiving only oral systemic glucocorticoids (odds ratio, OR: 3.72) and dogs receiving both oral and injectable systemic glucocorticoid (OR: 10.71) had increased odds of PUPD compared with dogs receiving only injectable systemic glucocorticoid. Focusing on the active substance used, treatment with prednisolone tablets only (OR: 3.53) and treatment with both prednisolone tablets and injectable dexamethasone sodium phosphate (OR: 7.62) showed increased odds of PUPD compared to treatment with injectable dexamethasone sodium phosphate only. Brief: These results can assist veterinarians to optimize therapeutic selection for reduced side effect, to inform owners on common side effects, and help protect the welfare of pets and their owners.

Systemic glucocorticoid usage in dogs under primary veterinary care in the UK: prevalence and risk factors.

Glucocorticoids are widely used in primary care veterinary practices. The study aimed to quantify the usage of systemic glucocorticoids (SGC) in dogs in the UK using primary care treatment records recorded during 2013 in the VetCompass Programme. From a study population of 455 557 dogs, 28 472 dogs (6.2 per cent, 95 per cent CI 6.2 to 6.3) received a total of 50 971 SGC therapy events in 2013. Prednisolone represented the most frequently used oral preparation (27 362 events, 90.0 per cent of oral events). Dexamethasone sodium phosphate was the most commonly used injectable agent (12 796 events, 62.7 per cent of injectable events). The most common breed treated was Staffordshire Bull Terriers (2236/28 472 dogs, 7.9 per cent, 95 per cent CI 7.5 to 8.2) and within-breed prevalence of SGC usage was 2236/32 635, 6.9 per cent, 95 per cent CI 6.6 to 7.1. The most commonly treated age group was dogs older than eight years (8931/28472, 31.4 per cent) and the most commonly treated bodyweight group was 10.01-20.0 kg (7918/28 472, 27.8 per cent). Dexamethasone and prednisolone were the most commonly prescribed SGC. Short-acting and intermediate-acting injectable SGC were more commonly used compared with long-acting injectable SGC. Older and medium size dogs were most likely to receive SGC and certain breeds appeared predisposed. These data can provide a useful benchmark for glucocorticoid usage and highlight the benefits from 'Big Data' analyses.

Hotspots of canine leptospirosis in the United States of America.

Leptospirosis is a widespread zoonotic disease that causes hepatic and renal disease in dogs and human beings. The incidence of leptospirosis in dogs in the USA appears to be increasing. This study used 14 years of canine leptospirosis testing data across 3109 counties in the USA to analyze environmental and socio-economic correlates with rates of infection and to produce a map of locations of increased risk for canine leptospirosis. Boosted regression trees were used to identify the probability of a dog testing positive for leptospirosis based on microscopic agglutination test (MAT) results, and environmental and socio-economic data. The Midwest, East and Southwest were more likely to yield positive tests for leptospirosis, although specific counties in Appalachia had some of the highest predicted probabilities. Location (suburban areas or areas with deciduous forest) and climate (precipitation and temperature) were predictors for positive MAT results for leptospirosis, although the precise direction and strength of the effects was difficult to interpret. Wide geographic variation in predicted risk was identified. This risk mapping approach may provide opportunities for improved diagnosis, control and prevention of leptospirosis in dogs.