Table_1_Demographic Change Across the Lifespan of Pet Dogs and Their Impact on Health Status.DOCX

Although dogs' life expectancies are six to twelve times shorter than that of humans, the demographics (e. g., living conditions) of dogs can still change considerably with aging, similarly to humans. Despite the fact that the dog is a particularly good model for human healthspan, and the number of aged dogs in the population is growing in parallel with aged humans, there has been few previous attempts to describe demographic changes statistically. We utilized an on-line questionnaire to examine the link between the age and health of the dog, and owner and dog demographics in a cross-sectional Hungarian sample. Results from univariate analyses revealed that 20 of the 27 demographic variables measured differed significantly between six dog age groups. Our results revealed that pure breed dogs suffered from health problems at a younger age, and may die at an earlier age than mixed breeds. The oldest dog group (>12 years) consisted of fewer pure breeds than mixed breeds and the mixed breeds sample was on average older than the pure breed sample. Old dogs were classified more frequently as unhealthy, less often had a “normal” body condition score, and more often received medication and supplements. They were also more often male, neutered, suffered health problems (such as sensory, joint, and/or tooth problems), received less activity/interaction/training with the owner, and were more likely to have experienced one or more traumatic events. Surprisingly, the youngest age group contained more pure breeds, were more often fed raw meat, and had owners aged under 29 years, reflecting new trends among younger owners. The high prevalence of dogs that had experienced one or more traumatic events in their lifetime (over 40% of the sample), indicates that welfare and health could be improved by informing owners of the greatest risk factors of trauma, and providing interventions to reduce their impact. Experiencing multiple life events such as spending time in a shelter, changing owners, traumatic injury/prolonged disease/surgery, getting lost, and changes in family structure increased the likelihood that owners reported that their dogs currently show behavioral signs that they attribute to the previous trauma.

尽管犬类的寿命相较于人类而言仅为后者的六至十二分之一，但犬类的种群结构（例如生活条件）在老化过程中仍可发生显著变化，与人类相似。尽管犬类是研究人类健康寿命的理想模型，且随着人类老龄化趋势的加剧，老年犬的数量也在同步增长，但先前对犬类种群结构变化的统计学描述尝试寥寥无几。本研究利用在线问卷，对匈牙利地区犬只年龄、健康状况、主人的犬类人口统计学特征之间关联进行了横断面研究。单变量分析结果显示，在测量的27个种群变量中，有20个在六个犬龄组之间存在显著差异。研究结果表明，纯种犬在较年轻时便可能出现健康问题，其寿命可能短于混血犬。最年长的犬只组（大于12岁）中纯种犬的数量少于混血犬，且混血犬样本的平均年龄高于纯种犬样本。老年犬更常被归类为不健康，较少具有“正常”的体况评分，更常接受药物治疗和补充剂。此外，老年犬也更常为雄性、绝育，遭受健康问题（如感官、关节和/或牙齿问题），与主人的互动、训练和活动较少，且更有可能经历过一次或多次创伤事件。令人惊讶的是，最年轻的犬只组中纯种犬的比例更高，更常以生肉为食，且主人的年龄普遍低于29岁，反映了年轻主人中的新趋势。在样本中，经历过一次或多次创伤事件的犬只比例高达40%以上，这表明通过向主人告知创伤的最大风险因素，并提供减轻其影响的干预措施，可以改善犬只的福利和健康。经历如暂住收容所、更换主人、创伤性伤害/长期疾病/手术、走失以及家庭结构变化等多重生活事件，增加了主人报告其犬只目前表现出归因于先前创伤的行为迹象的可能性。