Science Digest: What influences dog owners’ decisions to seek veterinary care?

10 March 2026

There are many barriers to accessing veterinary care for pet owners, which can lead to potential non-, under-, or delayed treatment. While owners’ knowledge and perceptions are known to affect decision-making behaviour, little research has explored how owners perceive the veterinary healthcare needs of their dogs.

A new study by the Royal Veterinary College, published in PLOS ONE, used a novel vignette-based approach to explore factors influencing UK dog owners’ decisions about when to seek veterinary care for common conditions in dogs.¹

Dog owner participants reviewed “vignette” scenarios online (short clinical text ‘stories’ of an illness based on VetCompass data, that included the dog’s demography, relevant clinical history, and contextual information), to describe 30 common canine conditions. Dog owners each assessed three vignettes and gave their opinion on what condition they believed was affecting the dog, how urgently they thought that veterinary care was needed, and what information sources they’d used to help their decision-making. The responses were then compared with a consensus from a panel of veterinary surgeons.

A total of 1,772 participants and 5,316 vignette responses were analysed. Owners were most accurate at identifying conditions with clear external clinical signs, with epilepsy, flea infestation, kennel cough, and osteoarthritis being the most accurately identified disorders. However, for conditions with variable or vague clinical signs, conditions were often misidentified, with mast cell tumour, glaucoma, and gastrointestinal foreign body being the least accurately identified by owners.

The most commonly used sources of information on dog health by owners were their own knowledge (74%), their local veterinary practice (61%), and internet searches (49%). Owners who used the internet to search for information to help their vignette answers scored 0.25 points higher on the vignette accuracy score compared to those who did not. Conversely, owners who used general online dog groups (e.g. dog sport groups) to help their answers scored 0.624 points lower on the vignette accuracy score compared to those who didn’t. Age was also a significant factor in accuracy, with dog owners aged 75–84 years scoring 1.08 points lower on the vignette accuracy score compared to 18–24 year olds, possibly due to the greater familiarity with online information sourcing among younger dog owners. First-time owners were more likely to use the internet for information than experienced dog owners and were less likely to use their own knowledge.

Over a quarter of owners (28%) perceived many of the conditions to require veterinary care less urgently than veterinary surgeons. This raises concerns over non-, under-, or delayed treatment, and for dog welfare in general. Owners who used online dog health groups to search for information and those who would usually contact their veterinary practice for information had decreased odds of considering vignette scenarios to be less urgent, compared with those who would not. This reinforces the evidence that regular engagement with veterinary teams leads to more welfare-appropriate decision-making.

Cataracts had the greatest level of agreement on the urgency for veterinary care needed between owners and veterinary surgeons. Of the conditions that had significantly different odds to cataracts for being considered less urgently in need of veterinary care, otitis externa, kennel cough, and congestive heart failure had the largest increased odds of being considered less urgent. There was no correlation between owners’ accuracy in identifying the condition and their assessments of urgency for veterinary care.

Owner educational initiatives should focus on raising awareness of key clinical signs that require urgent veterinary care. Making enhanced use of information prescriptions for conditions with low awareness and accuracy could support online information-sourcing by owners. Triage services and telemedicine could also offer owners easier access to reliable, bespoke advice from the veterinary team.

The study was limited as the sample may not be representative of all UK dog owners and may be biased towards those with a greater interest in dog health, and it relied on hypothetical scenarios and on owners to self-report their information sources. Future research should explore real-world decision-making by following owners from when their dog first presents with perceived signs of illness, monitoring their information-sourcing and decision to seek veterinary care over time. It would also be worthwhile to examine owners’ use of AI tools to help decision-making.

Take home message

Dog owners can often accurately identify common canine conditions with external clinical signs (such as epilepsy, flea infestation, kennel cough, and osteoarthritis), but they frequently underestimate how urgently to seek veterinary care. Owners who use the internet to search for health information tend to be more accurate in identifying conditions and urgency compared to those who don’t.

Reference

1Farrow M, O’Neill DG & Packer RMA (2026) To see or not to see the vet: A vignette-based study of decision-making by UK dog owners regarding seeking veterinary care for commonly presenting conditions. PLOS ONE. 21(1): e0339723. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0339723