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Prevalence of canine cataract: preliminary results of a cross‐sectional study
Author(s) -
Williams D. L.,
Heath M. F.,
Wallis C.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
veterinary ophthalmology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.594
H-Index - 50
eISSN - 1463-5224
pISSN - 1463-5216
DOI - 10.1111/j.1463-5224.2004.00317.x
Subject(s) - medicine , breed , incidence (geometry) , epidemiology , veterinary medicine , prevalence , cross sectional study , zoology , biology , pathology , physics , optics
Objective In this study 2000 dogs were examined ophthalmoscopically to determine presence of cataract. Materials and methods The dogs examined were predominantly from veterinary hospital populations but also from the Waltham Center For Pet Nutrition, rehoming charities and breeding kennels. Prevalence of cataract was thus determined for different age groups (year cohorts). The age at which prevalence of cataract was 50% (C 50 ) was determined indirectly from a fitted prevalence curve. Results The mean ± standard deviation of C 50 for all dogs in the study was 9.4 ± 3.3 years. All dogs over 13.5 years were affected by some degree of lens opacity. C 50 was determined for animals of different genders and different breeds. For dogs of six breeds sufficient data were available for calculation of breed‐specific C 50 . In these dogs C 50 was positively correlated with longevity with a least squares correlation coefficient of 0.74. Conclusion The study yields novel findings regarding the prevalence and incidence of cataract in the dog and forms the basis for considerable further work on the epidemiology and pathophysiology of age‐related cataract in the dog.