Vet. Sci. 2017, 4(2), 27; doi:10.3390/vetsci4020027
The Big Pet Diabetes Survey: Perceived Frequency and Triggers for Euthanasia
1
Diabetic Remission Clinic, Department of Clinical Science and Services, Royal Veterinary College, Hawkshead Lane, North Mymms, Hertfordshire AL9 7TA， UK
2
Institute of Cellular Medicine, Medical School Newcastle, Framlington Place, Newcastle-upon-Tyne NE2 4HH, Tyne and Wear, UK
3
E-Media Unit, Royal Veterinary College, Hawkshead Lane, North Mymms, Hertfordshire AL9 7TA, UK
4
Veterinary Epidemiology and Public Health Group, Royal Veterinary College, Hawkshead Lane, North Mymms, Hertfordshire AL9 7TA, UK
5
Twan Consultancy, Romerstraat 24, 5911 HV Venlo, The Netherlands
6
Veterinary Information Network, 777 West Covell Blvd, Davis, CA 9561, USA
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editor: Patrick Butaye
Received: 17 January 2017 / Revised: 14 March 2017 / Accepted: 10 May 2017 / Published: 14 May 2017
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Diabetes Mellitus in Companion Animals)
Abstract
Current pet diabetes mellitus (DM) treatment necessitates the active daily involvement of owners and can be costly. The current study aimed to investigate the owner population which opts for euthanasia instead of DM treatment. A survey was designed using multiple feedback steps and made available online to veterinarians world-wide. A total of 1192 veterinarians completed the survey and suggested a median one in 10 diabetic pets are euthanased at diagnosis; a further median one in 10 within one year because of lack of success or compliance. Perceived most important motivating factors included “presence concurrent disease” (45% respondents); “costs” (44%); “animal age” (37%); “problems obtaining adequate control” (35%); “pet welfare” (35%); and “impact owner’s lifestyle” (32%). Cats in Canadian (odds ratio (OR) 2.7), Australian (OR 2.3), rural (OR 1.6) and mixed (OR 1.7) practices were more likely to be euthanased because of DM diagnosis, while cats presented to referral/university were less likely to be euthanased (OR 0.6). Dogs were more likely to be euthanased because of DM in Canadian (OR 1.8), rural (OR 1.8) and mixed (OR 1.6) practices. The survey results suggest that benefit exists in improved DM education with emphasis on offering a choice of treatment styles ranging from intense and expensive to hands-off and cheap. View Full-TextKeywords:
diabetes mellitus; survey; euthanasia; quality of life; insulin injections
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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. (CC BY 4.0).
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Niessen, S.J.; Hazuchova, K.; Powney, S.L.; Guitian, J.; Niessen, A.P.; Pion, P.D.; Shaw, J.A.; Church, D.B. The Big Pet Diabetes Survey: Perceived Frequency and Triggers for Euthanasia. Vet. Sci. 2017, 4, 27.
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