Although major vaccine-preventable diseases in cats and dogs are considered uncommon, pockets of infection and the presence of occasional outbreaks mean that the potential remains for disease to spread. Therefore, vaccination is an important part of preventative healthcare for pets. However, vaccination uptake in cats and dogs has varied over time, and there are concerns that adequate levels of herd immunity are not being reached.
A BSAVA PetSavers-funded PhD project carried out by student Shona Bloodworth at the University of Liverpool under the supervision of Professor Gina Pinchbeck explored the reasons behind vaccine hesitancy in UK cats and dogs. The percentage of animals vaccinated within 1 and 3 years of attending a veterinary consultation was determined from electronic health records of 712,266 dogs and 306,888 cats from 201 veterinary practices collected through the Small Animal Veterinary Surveillance Network (SAVSNET). Between 2016 and 2022, vaccinations within a year of the consultation fell from 76.58% to 69.04% in dogs and from 69.54% to 66.12% in cats. Conversely, vaccinations within 3 years of a consultation rose from 81.36% to 84.42% for dogs between 2016 and 2022, and from 73.90% to 77.85% in cats.
Understanding the reasons for vaccine hesitancy in pet owners is important to promote its acceptance and uptake, so socioeconomic and animal factors such as breed, age, sex and neuter status were assessed for association with vaccination uptake using multivariable mixed effects logistic regression models. In both dogs and cats, the odds of vaccination were reduced in animals aged over 2 years, falling to lowest odds in animals aged 10 years and over. Odds were also reduced in areas with increased levels of socioeconomic deprivation (based on Indices of Multiple Deprivation), while neutering was associated with significantly increased odds of vaccination (P≤0.01).
Take home message: Temporal trends suggest that time between vaccinations in cats and dogs has increased in recent years, with more vaccinations recorded within 3 years versus 1 year of a consultation. Vaccination uptake was lowest in older animals (>2 years), those that had been neutered, and those from a socioeconomically deprived area. Strategies to encourage owners to vaccinate their animals could therefore consider targeting areas of high deprivation.
This work was published open access in the August 2024 issue of Vaccine and can be freely accessed here.