Perceptions and priorities of owners of dogs with heart disease regarding quality versus quantity of life for their pets.
OBJECTIVE
To describe the relative importance of pets' quality versus quantity of life among owners of dogs with heart disease.


METHODS
Prospective questionnaire-based clinical study.


METHODS
Owners of 201 dogs with heart disease.


METHODS
Owners each completed a questionnaire that was designed to ascertain the relative importance of quality versus quantity of life for their pet and to assess the owners' willingness to trade survival time for quality of life, if that were possible. Analyses were performed to evaluate factors associated with owner willingness to trade time for quality of life.


RESULTS
Most owners (170/197 [86%]) were willing to trade survival time for quality of life for their heart disease-affected dogs; of those owners, 88 (52%) were willing to trade 6 months. Owners were highly concerned with detection of perceived pet suffering and their pet's ability to interact with them. Owners whose pets had respiratory difficulty or fainting episodes and were treated on an outpatient basis had a greater willingness to trade survival time than owners of dogs that were treated on an emergency basis. Among owners willing to trade time for quality of life, younger owners and those whose pets had fainting episodes were willing to trade the most amount of time.


CONCLUSIONS
Results indicated that quality of life is highly important to owners of dogs with heart disease. Owners' priorities partly depend on owner age and the pet's clinical circumstances; ongoing client-veterinarian communication is important to optimize treatment success as perceived by owners.
Oyama
Mark A
MA
Department of Clinical Studies-Philadelphia, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
Rush
John E
JE
O'Sullivan
M Lynne
ML
Williams
Regan M
RM
Rozanski
Elizabeth A
EA
Petrie
Jean-Paul
JP
Sleeper
Meg M
MM
Brown
Dorothy Cimino
DC
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000827:Animal Welfare; D000818:Animals; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000523:psychology*; D004285:Dogs; D005260:Female; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000523:psychology / Q000662:veterinary*; D006801:Humans; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010067:Ownership; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors