A mean age of 13 years and euthanasia in 83% of 646 owner-reported canine deaths anchor a new research roundup from Vet Times, with pain or suffering cited as the reason in 49% of cases. The End of Life Survey, drawn from the Dog Aging Project, also found 15% of dogs died without any veterinary involvement. McNulty et al published the analysis in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 264(7): 892-901.

What did the End of Life Survey reveal about euthanasia decisions?

The authors invited 793 owners whose dogs had died; 646 completed responses. Owners named cancer as the cause in 30%, old age in 29%, and organ disease in 22% of cases. Veterinary clinics hosted 77% of euthanasias, with another 23% at the owner's home. Poor quality of life factored into 35% of decisions. The team concluded that owners' perceptions of suffering and quality of life, alongside pet age, shape euthanasia timing.

How heavy is caregiver burden in chronic canine enteropathy?

Stumpf et al surveyed owners of 223 dogs with chronic enteropathy and 447 owners of healthy dogs in a cross-sectional, owner-reported study, publishing in Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine 40(4): aalag128. The chronically ill cohort reported higher psychological burden and lower quality of life. More frequent severe signs increased the burden. Vet visits, finances, and time demands all contributed. The owner-dog relationship, including emotional closeness, held steady. The authors recommended that caregiver well-being enter every chronic-disease conversation.

How often does hypotension hit anaesthetised dogs?

Hypotension, defined as mean arterial pressure ≤60 mmHg across three consecutive five-minute measurements, appeared in 19% of 390 canine anaesthesia records, Mignini et al reported in a retrospective analysis in Frontiers in Veterinary Science 13: 1846419. Abdominal surgery raised the odds ratio to 5.56 versus other procedures. Dogs under 12 months also faced elevated risk. Regional anaesthesia and nerve blocks lowered the odds. Identifying these risk factors before induction should sharpen peri-anaesthetic planning.

How does balloon valvuloplasty perform in severe pulmonic stenosis?

Twenty-one dogs with severe pulmonic stenosis underwent balloon pulmonary valvuloplasty in a retrospective study, with French bulldogs representing 33% of cases, Higa et al wrote in Frontiers in Veterinary Science 13: 1757690. The median age was 18 months; syncope and fatigue were the most common presenting signs. Ninety percent achieved a meaningful drop in right ventricular pressure gradient. Hypotension complicated 67% of procedures, and ventricular and bradyarrhythmias also appeared. Etomidate/midazolam induction with isoflurane maintenance covered 95% of protocols. The authors stressed vigilant peri-anaesthetic monitoring.

How common is ionised hypocalcaemia in azotaemic patients?

Philp et al retrospectively reviewed 646 dogs and 302 cats with azotaemia, finding 76% of dogs and 85% of cats mildly hypocalcaemic, 13% of dogs and 23% of cats moderately hypocalcaemic, and 2% of dogs and 1% of cats severely hypocalcaemic (Frontiers in Veterinary Science 13: 1847148). Renal causes dominated canine azotaemia; renal and post-renal causes split the feline caseload. Inflammatory and ischaemic aetiologies drove most acute kidney injury in both species. Fifty-six percent of severely hypocalcaemic patients showed clinical signs. The team recommended routine ionised calcium monitoring in azotaemic patients.

How reliable is cytology for tympanokeratoma?

Middle-ear aspiration cytology via otoendoscopy-guided myringotomy identified tympanokeratoma with 74% sensitivity and 100% specificity across 31 affected dogs and 6 controls, Ferenczi et al reported in a retrospective study in Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association 62(4): 169-175. Tympanic bulla lysis appeared in 45% of confirmed cases on imaging. A horizontal ear canal mass showed on otoendoscopy in 23%. Cytology reliably confirms disease when positive but cannot reliably rule it out.

How fast does the oral kennel cough vaccine protect?

Eighty-five percent of placebo-treated 8-week-old beagles coughed on two consecutive days after aerosolised Bordetella bronchiseptica challenge, versus 20% of dogs given one oral dose of the live-attenuated Vanguard B Oral vaccine (Zoetis) seven days earlier. Wappel et al randomised 40 beagles in the blinded controlled trial, publishing in the American Journal of Veterinary Research. Vaccinated dogs also showed milder signs of shorter duration. The authors called the data evidence of rapid protective immunity by day seven.

Use of some agents described in these studies falls under the veterinary medicines cascade. As clinicians translate these seven studies into practice, surveillance for hypotension during abdominal surgery, vaccination timing for at-risk kennel dogs, and routine conversations about caregiver fatigue in chronic disease management will shape the next round of patient care.