Risk Factors Regarding Dog Euthanasia and Causes of Death at a Veterinary Teaching Hospital in Italy: Preliminary Results

Abstract

The decision to request and proceed with euthanasia in a dog is complex and predictors of such decisions are important. This study investigates the risk factors (demographic and clinical) associated with the main clinical causes and methods of death (euthanasia or unassisted death) in a population of dogs. By comparing euthanasia to unassisted deaths, the authors assess causes of death to evaluate their relative impacts on decision-making to choose euthanasia compared with an unassisted death. For this, goal data from electronic medical records of dogs who had died (unassisted death and euthanasia), obtained from an Italian referral veterinary teaching hospital from 2010 to 2020, were analyzed. The causes of death were categorized by pathophysiological process and the organ system. Univariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to identify the factors that significantly affect the probability of undergoing euthanasia and to individuate independent significant predictors of euthanasia and unassisted death, respectively. Death rate by euthanasia was 40.7% (125/307), by died unassisted 50.8% (156/307), whilst only 8.5% of dogs (26/307) died accidentally. The main causes of death for euthanasia were due to neoplastic (75.6%), degenerative (64.3%), and congenital (60%) diseases. Furthermore, the findings reveal that in deaths by euthanasia, the significant risk predictors were female gender, age, and neoplastic and degenerative processes; while in unassisted deaths, the significant risk predictors were male gender, age, and infection/inflammatory conditions. These preliminary outcomes highlight the information of this study which may be used to evaluate strategic interventions and health promotion strategies to be implemented, with consequent welfare gains for the canine population.