Principais causas e perfil de cães e gatos eutanasiados no hospital veterinário da UFPB com prontuários abertos entre 2018 e 2020

Abstract

Once the need for euthanasia has been identified, an assessment of the animal’s well-being and quality of life should be carried out, avoiding delaying the procedure more than necessary, so as not to prolong its suffering. Knowledge of the main causes that lead to death and the differences between animal profiles, such as species, breed, sex, and age, is important in advising pet owners about measures that can minimize damage to their pet’s health, delaying the onset of certain diseases that can lead to euthanasia. Given this, the aim was to conduct a survey of the main causes of euthanasia and establish the profile, in terms of species, breed, sex, and age, of dogs and cats that were euthanized at the Veterinary Hospital (HV) of the Federal University of Paraíba, during the period from 2018 to 2020, as well as the protocol used. For this study, data were collected through a manual review of medical records of dogs and cats treated at the Small Animal Medical Clinic of HV in 2018, 2019 and 2020. The results showed that out of 4,551 animals treated, 62 resulted in euthanasia, representing 1.36% of cases, with 44 being canine species (71%) and 18 feline species (29%). Among the 44 dogs that were euthanized, 55% were males and 45% females and the age ranged between two months and 22 years, with most animals being between one and ten years old. Regarding breeds, 27 dogs without a defined breed (62%) prevailed over purebred animals, followed by Poodle breed (11%), Rottweiler and Pinscher, both with 9%. As for the 18 euthanized felines, 66.7% were females and 33.3% males. Ages ranged from 45 days to 15 years old, most animals were in the age range between six and ten years old, and were predominantly without a defined breed. As for the reasons that led to the choice for euthanasia, neoplasms stood out as they were the main cause in both species with an index of 32% for dogs and 55.5% for cats followed by traumatic injuries (20.5%) and infectious diseases (9%) for canine species animals and traumatic injuries (11.2%) and inconclusive diagnosis (11.2%) for felines. The most used protocol for performing euthanasia was the association of general anesthetic propofol with potassium chloride followed by the drug commercially known as T61.In both species neoplasms prevailed among all causes demonstrating the importance and need for an early diagnosis before it becomes a problem without clinical or surgical resolution culminating in the need for euthanasia.