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https://www.vet.cam.ac.uk/boas/about-boas
0012
FLAT-FACED LIE OR TRUTH: BRACHYCEPHALICS
ARE LESS HEALTHY? THE BIG DATA ANSWER
D. O’Neill
Hatfield/United Kingdom
Qualifications:
Dan O’Neill
MVB BSc(hons) GPCert(SAP) GPCert(FelP) GPCert(Derm) GPCert(B&PS)
PGCertVetEd FHEA MSc(VetEpi) PhD FRCVS
doneill@rvc.ac.uk
Health and welfare concerns about brachycephalic dogs have become
an increasingly high profile and contentious topic in veterinary medicine
over recent years. Set against a backdrop of marked rises in popularity of
these cherished breeds, there is evidence that brachycephalic breeds are
strongly predisposed to a range of disorders intrinsically related to their
conformation, including respiratory disease, eye disease, dystocia, spinal
disease and heat stroke. Brachycephalic breeds are also reported with
significantly shorter lifespans (median longevity: 8.6 years) than moderate
and non-brachycephalic dogs (median 12.7 years) (1). Indeed, some veterinarians now consider many popular brachycephalic breeds as simply too
compromised to justify their continued existence. A recent book called
Health and welfare of brachycephalic (flat-faced) companion animals: a
complete guide for veterinary and animal professionals includes 20 chapters with many veterinary authors who present a wide range of ethical,
welfare, epidemiological, social and genetic perspectives that challenge
the notion that brachycephaly is conducive with good animal welfare. But,
as in evidence-based world of science, what is the evidence on differences in the overall health of brachycephalic compared with non-brachycephalic dogs in the wider dog population?
A recent study has gone a long way towards filling this information gap.
The VetCompass Programme collects anonymised data from primary-care
veterinary practices in the UK and Australia (2, 3). Using data on a random
selection of dogs from the UK VetCompass database, the study identified
common disorders with predispositions and protections in the brachycephalic dogs compared with non-brachycephalic dogs. These results
could assist veterinary practitioners with an evidence base on the health
of the wider general population of brachycephalic dogs to predict, prevent
and manage key health and welfare opportunities for brachycephalic dog
types.
The study used a cross-sectional analysis of cohort clinical data on all
available dogs in the UK VetCompass Programme during 2016. Breed
data were mapped to a VetCompass breed list and breeds were categorised based on typical skull-shape conformation into brachycephalic
and non-brachycephalic (mesocephalic, dolichocephalic and crossbred)
groups. The clinical records of a randomly selected subset of animals
were reviewed in detail to extract the most definitive diagnoses recorded for all disorders with clinical evidence of existence during 2016 (4).
Disorders were defined as conditions that show deviation from good
health. An overall list of common disorders across both groups of dogs
was generated by combining all unique disorders that were among the 20
most common disorders in either group of dogs. Multivariable risk factor
analyses evaluate associations between each disorder and the brachycephalic/non-brachycephalic factor of main interest along with a fixed set
of covariables included to account for confounding (adult bodyweight
category, bodyweight relative to breed/sex mean, age category, sex,
neuter and insurance).
The study included a random sample of 22,333 dogs attending 784 veterinary clinics from an overall population of 955,554 dogs under veterinary
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