References
Small animal review
Abstract
While much research in veterinary medicine is aimed at optimising diagnosis and treatment in domestic animals, it must be remembered that it is the owners of the animals that ultimately decide on which treatments they consent to be given, and it is the owners who must attempt to accurately administer medications at home. It is thus important to understand what barriers there are to client compliance with veterinary recommendations, such as education, price and competing (usually online) misinformation. The following four studies examine client attitudes to various veterinary advice and procedures. Note that not all medications mentioned in this article are licensed for the species and/or indication discussed.
Some of the hardest interventions to persuade certain clients – who have been influenced by internet misinformation – to take up are vaccinations. Bloodworth et al (2024) performed a retrospective study to assess the temporal trends in vaccination uptake in the UK, and any factors associated with these trends. Electronic health records of over a million dogs and cats from over 200 veterinary practices were interrogated, and socioeconomic and animal factors were associated with vaccine uptake were assessed. The percentage of animals receiving a vaccination within one year declined from 77% to 69% between 2016 and 2022 in dogs, and 70% to 66% in cats. However, the proportion of animals that had had a vaccination in a three-year window in that time period increased. Older animals and animals from socioeconomically deprived areas were less likely to be vaccinated. The authors concluded that the time between vaccinations appears to be increasing in recent years, and recommended that efforts are made to increase vaccine uptake in areas of socioeconomic deprivation.
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