A Multicentre Epidemiologic Study of Sudden and Unexpected Death in Adult Cats and Dogs in Australia

• Published in: Veterinary sciences Vol. 10; no. 9; p. 582
• Main Authors: Kelly-Bosma, Mirrim, Henning, Joerg, Haworth, Mark, Ploeg, Richard, Woolford, Lucy, Neef, Alison, Das, Shubhagata, Allavena, Rachel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01.09.2023; MDPI
• Subjects: Animals; Cardiomyopathy; Cardiovascular disease; Cardiovascular diseases; cat; companion animal; Congenital diseases; Data analysis; Death; Development and progression; Dogs; Domestic animals; Epidemiology; Gastrointestinal diseases; Iatrogenesis; Illnesses; Investigations; Laboratories; Medical research; Medicine, Experimental; Necropsy; Pathology; Pets; Pneumonia; Population studies; post-mortem; Respiratory diseases; Respiratory failure; Risk factors; sudden death; Trauma; Veterinarians; Veterinary medicine; Australia; Canada
• ISSN: 2306-7381; 2306-7381
• DOI: 10.3390/vetsci10090582

Sudden and unexpected death (SUD) is a common reason for animals to undergo post-mortem examination. There is limited literature examining the causes of SUD in cats and dogs, and no research specific to Australia. The purpose of this study was to investigate the epidemiology and pathology of SUD in cats and dogs in a multicentric study across Australia. Retrospective post-mortem reports of SUD in cats and dogs were obtained from four veterinary schools in Australia distributed across four states. The frequency of SUD between institutes ranged from 2.1% to 6.5%. Dogs composed the majority of the study population (76%), and males outnumbered females, particularly in the feline subpopulation. After necropsy, 37% of SUD remained cause unknown, the largest category in both cats and dogs. When cause was identified, cardiovascular disease was most common in both species, followed by gastrointestinal disease in dogs, and trauma in cats. In dogs, multinomial logistic regression identified age as a risk factor significantly associated with the four largest categories of SUD. This study identified causes of SUD in Australian cats and dogs, including novel causes not previously reported. Further, this study revealed a higher rate of unsolved SUD in Australia than can be found in the literature from other countries.