Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-lnqnp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T19:03:25.889Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Assessing quality of life in companion and kennelled dogs: a critical review

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 January 2023

CJ Hewson ,
EF Hiby  and
JWS Bradshaw
CJ Hewson
Affiliation:
CJ Hewson Limited, 74 Houblon Road, Richmond, Surrey TW10 6DE, UK
EF Hiby
Affiliation:
Anthrozoology Institute, Department of Clinical Veterinary Science, University of Bristol, Langford, Bristol BS40 5DU, UK World Society for the Protection of Animals, 89 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7TP, UK
JWS Bradshaw*
Affiliation:
Anthrozoology Institute, Department of Clinical Veterinary Science, University of Bristol, Langford, Bristol BS40 5DU, UK
*
§ Correspondence: [email protected]
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Two distinct approaches have emerged for the assessment of quality of life (QoL) and welfare in domestic dogs. One approach, which has so far been applied only to companion dogs, is derived from proxy assessment of QoL in human beings, with the owner or veterinarian acting as the proxy. Because dogs are a different species to human beings, assessment by proxy is even more challenging than when the subject being assessed is human. Our evaluation of published studies indicates that existing canine QoL instruments are imperfect, in part because of avoidable deficiencies such as failure to define QoL and using measures of health status as sole indicators of QoL. The second approach to QoL assessment, which stems from animal welfare science, is based upon objective measurement of behaviour and stress physiology, and has been applied mainly to dogs in laboratory and rescue kennels. We review these and our own recent studies, and conclude that although interpretation of signs of acute stress may be relatively straightforward, signs of chronic stress such as stereotypic behaviour require further research before they can be incorporated into QoL measures. So far, there has been little attempt to integrate proxy assessment with objective measures. We recommend that this integration would be beneficial. Fundamentally, both approaches aim to describe and quantify aspects of some inner state of well-being, and it should eventually be possible to map each on to the other.

Keywords

animal welfareassessmentdefinitionsdogquality of lifestress
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Welfare , Volume 16 , Issue S1: Quality of Life: the heart of the matter: Proceedings of the UFAW/BVA Ethics Committee International Symposium, The Royal Society, London, 13-14 September 2006. , May 2007 , pp. 89 - 95
Copyright
© 2007 Universities Federation for Animal Welfare

References

Appleby, MC and Sandøe, P 2002 Philosophical debate on the nature of well-being: implications for animal welfare. Animal Welfare 11: 283–294CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barnard, CJ and Hurst, JL 1996 Welfare by design: the natural selection of welfare criteria. Animal Welfare 5: 405–433CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beerda, B, Schilder, MBH, Janssen, NSCRM and Mol, JA 1996 The use of saliva cortisol, urinary cortisol, and cate-cholamine measurements for a noninvasive assessment of stress responses in dogs. Hormones and Behaviour 30: 272–279Google Scholar
Beerda, B, Schilder, MBH, Van Hooff, JARAM and De Vries, HW 1997 Manifestations of chronic and acute stress in dogs. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 52: 307–319CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beerda, B, Schilder, MBH, Van Hooff, JARAM, De Vries, HW and Mol, JA 1998 Behavioural, saliva cortisol and heart rate responses to different types of stimuli in dogs. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 58: 365–381CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beerda, B, Schilder, MBH, Van Hooff, JARAM, De Vries, HW and Mol, JA 1999a Chronic stress in dogs subjected to social and spatial restriction. I: Behavioral responses. Physiology & Behavior 66: 233–242CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Beerda, B, Schilder, MBH, Bernadina, W, Van Hooff, JARAM, De Vries, HW and Mol, JA 1999b Chronic stress in dogs subjected to social and spatial restriction. II: Hormonal and immunological responses. Physiology & Behavior 66: 243–254CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Beerda, B, Schilder, MBH, Van Hooff, JARAM, De Vries, HW and Mol, JA 2000 Behavioural and hormonal indicators of enduring environmental stress in dogs. Animal Welfare 9: 49–62CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bergeron, R, Scott, SL, Émond, J-P, Mercier, F, Cook, NJ and Schaefer, AL 2002 Physiology and behavior of dogs during air transport. Canadian Journal of Veterinary Research 66: 211–216Google ScholarPubMed
Bergner, M, Bobbitt, RA, Carter, WB and Gibson, BS 1981 The Sickness Impact Profile: development and final revision of a health status measure. Medical Care 19: 787–805CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bodnariu, A 2005 The effects of stress on cognitive abilities in kennelled dogs. MSc thesis, Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh, UKGoogle Scholar
Coppinger, RP, Glendinning, J, Torop, E, Matthay, C, Sutherland, M and Smith, C 1987 Degree of behavioral neoteny differentiates canid polymorphs. Ethology 75: 89–108CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Craven, M, Simpson, JW, Ridyard, AE and Chandler, ML 2004 Canine inflammatory bowel disease: retrospective analysis of diagnosis and outcome in 80 cases (1995–2002). Journal of Small Animal Practice 45: 336–342CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dreschel, NA and Granger, DA 2005 Physiological and behavioural reactivity to stress in thunderstorm-phobic dogs and their caregivers. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 95: 153–168CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fraser, D, Weary, DM, Pajor, EA and Milligan, BN 1997 A scientific conception of animal welfare that reflects ethical concerns. Animal Welfare 6: 187–205CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Freeman, LM, Rush, JE and Farabaugh, AE 2005 Development and evaluation of a questionnaire for assessing health-related quality of life in dogs with cardiac disease. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 226: 1864–1868CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Garner, JP, Meehan, CL, Famula, TR and Mench, JA 2006 Genetic, environmental, and neighbor effects on the severity of stereotypies and feather picking in Orange-winged Amazon parrots (Amazona amazonica): an epidemiological study. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 96: 153–168CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gill, TM and Feinstein, AR 1994 A critical appraisal of the quality of quality of life measurements. Journal of the American Medical Association 272: 619–626CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Goodwin, D, Bradshaw, JWS and Wickens, SM 1997 Paedomorphosis affects agonistic visual signals of domestic dogs. Animal Behaviour 53: 297–304CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Graham, PA, Maskell, IE, Rawlings, JM, Nash, AS and Markwell, PJ 2002 Influence of a high fibre diet on glycaemic control and quality of life in dogs with diabetes mellitus. Journal of Small Animal Practice 43: 67–73CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hagerty, MR, Cummins, R, Ferriss, AL, Land, K, Michalos, AC, Peterson, M, Sharpe, A, Sirgy, J and Vogel, J 2001 Quality of life indexes for national policy: review and agenda for research. Social Indicators Research 55: 1–96CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hammel, SP, Hottinger, HA and Novo, RE 2006 Postoperative results of unilateral arytenoids laterilization for treatment of idiopathic laryngeal paralysis in dogs: 39 cases (1996–2002). Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 228: 1215–1220CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hennessy, MB, Davis, HN, Williams, MT, Mellott, C and Douglas, CW 1997 Plasma cortisol levels of dogs at a county animal shelter. Physiology & Behavior 62: 485–490CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hare, B and Tomasello, M 2005 Human-like social skills in dogs? Trends in Cognitive Sciences 9: 439–444CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hiby, EF 2005 The welfare of kennelled domestic dogs. PhD thesis, University of Bristol, UKGoogle Scholar
Hiby, EF, Rooney, NJ and Bradshaw, JWS 2007 Behavioural and physiological responses of dogs entering re-homing kennels. Physiology & Behavior 89: 385–391CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hubrecht, RC, Serpell, JA and Poole, TB 1992 Correlates of pen size and housing conditions on the behaviour of kennelled dogs. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 34: 365–383CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hydbring-Sandberg, E, von Walter, LW, Höglund, K, Svartberg, K, Swenson, L and Forkman, B 2004 Physiological reactions to fear provocation in dogs. Journal of Endocrinology 180: 439–448CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jones, CA, Refsal, KR, Lippert, AC, Nachreiner, RF and Schwacha, MM 1990 Changes in adrenal cortisol secretion as reflected in the urinary cortisol/creatinine ratio in dogs. Domestic Animal Endocrinology 7: 559–572CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kobelt, AJ, Hemsworth, PH, Barnett, JL and Butler, KL 2003 Sources of sampling variation in saliva cortisol in dogs. Research in Veterinary Science 75: 157–161CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lane, J 2006 Can non-invasive glucocorticoid measures be used as reliable indicators of stress in animals? Animal Welfare 15: 331–342CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mason, G 1991 Stereotypies: a critical review. Animal Behaviour 41: 1015–1037CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mason, GJ and Latham, NR 2004 Can't stop, won't stop: is stereotypy a reliable animal welfare indicator? Animal Welfare 13: S57–S69CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mellanby, RJ, Herrtage, ME and Dobson, JM 2003 Owners' assessments of their dog's quality of life during palliative chemotherapy for lymphoma. Journal of Small Animal Practice 44: 100–103CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Michalos, AC 2004 Social indicators research and health-related quality of life research. Social Indicators Research 65: 27–72CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Milner, HR 2006 The role of surgery in the management of canine anal furunculosis. A review of the literature and a retrospective evaluation of treatment by surgical resection in 51 dogs. New Zealand Veterinary Journal 554: 1–9CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Snelling, SR and Edwards, GA 2003 A retrospective study of unilateral arytenoids lateralisation in the treatment of laryngeal paralysis in 100 dogs (1992–2000). Australian Veterinary Journal 81: 464–468CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Streiner, DL and Norman, GR 1995 Health Measurement Scales: A Practical Guide to Their Development and Use pp 104–162. Oxford University Press: Oxford, UKGoogle Scholar
Sutherland, MA, Niekamp, SR, Rodriguez-Zas, SL and Salak-Johnson, JL 2006 Impacts of chronic stress and social status on various physiological and performance measures in pigs of different breeds. Journal of Animal Science 84: 588–596CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Svartberg, K 2006 Breed-typical behaviour in dogs — historical remnants or recent constructs? Applied Animal Behaviour Science 96: 293–313CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tyson, EJ 2005 Behavioural and physiological measures of stress in dogs (Canis familiaris) in a rescue shelter. MSc thesis, Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh, UKGoogle Scholar
Van Vonderen, IK, Kooistra, HS and Rijnberk, A 1998 Influence of veterinary care on the urinary corticoid:creatinine ratio in dogs. Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine 12: 431–435CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wayne, RK and Vilà, C 2001 Phylogeny and origin of the domestic dog. In: Ruvinsky, A and Sampson, J (eds) The Genetics of the Dog pp 1–13. CABI Publishing: Wallingford, UKGoogle Scholar
Wiseman-Orr, ML, Nolan, AM, Reid, J and Scott, EM 2004 Development of a questionnaire to measure the effects of chronic pain on health-related quality of life in dogs. American Journal of Veterinary Research 65: 1077–1084CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wojciechowska, JI, Hewson, CJ, Stryhn, H, Guy, NC, Timmons, V and Patronek, GJ 2005a Development of a discriminative questionnaire to assess nonphysical aspects of quality of life of dogs. American Journal of Veterinary Research 66: 1453–1460CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wojciechowska, JI, Hewson, CJ, Stryhn, H, Guy, NC, Timmons, V and Patronek, GJ 2005b Evaluation of a questionnaire regarding nonphysical aspects of quality of life in sick and healthy dogs. American Journal of Veterinary Research 66: 1461–1467CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wolf, OT 2003 HPA axis and memory. Best Practice & Research: Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism 17: 287–299CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Yazbek, KV and Fantoni, DT 2005 Validity of a health-related quality of life scale for dogs with signs of pain secondary to cancer. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 226: 1354–1358CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Yearley, JH, Hancock, DD and Mealey, KL 2004 Survival time, lifespan, and quality of life in dogs with idiopathic Fanconi syndrome. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 225: 377–383CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed