Marie Sallander¹, Åke Hedhammar², Margareta Rundgren¹ & Jan Eric Lindberg¹

¹Department of Animal Nutrition and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Uppsala, Sweden.

²Department of Clinical Sciences, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Uppsala, Sweden.

Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica, 2001, 42, 41-50.

http://www.actavetscand.com/content/42/1/71

Abstract

Dogs, in the age range 1-3 years old, were randomly selected from the largest animal insurance database in Sweden for inclusion in the study. The study was performed in 1997, and a total of 680 dog owners were selected for the study. A total of 461 dog owners completed the survey, at an overall response rate of 68%. Data was compared to a recent gallup performed on a sample of all dogs in Sweden.

The demographic statistics of the insured dog population were in many aspects similar to the total dog population of Sweden. Typical for both insured dogs and the total population of dogs were a low proportion of neutered dogs, that many dogs were bought at an early age, that many dogs were in contact with a ”breeder” when sold, and a similar profile of health status. However, ”dog breeders” seemed to have their dogs insured to a higher extent than the general dog owner. It was concluded that as the populations were alike in many respects, it is reasonable to use the insurance database for epidemiological studies.