You should seek the advice of your veterinarian if your pet is ill as only he or she can correctly advise on the diagnosis and recommend the treatment that is most appropriate for your pet.

Pet Insurance companies are in a unique position to provide accurate actuarial evidence on veterinary diseases. In a report from Sweden the risks associated with advancing age in cats and dogs were identified.

Pet Insurance companies can quickly build up a searchable database of information regarding pet health and the risks associated with various disorders. In a report by Egenvall and colleagues (The Veterinary Record Vol 146, No19, p551- 557 May 6th 2000) increasing age was a clear risk factor for diseases of the the following systems :

• Auditory system
• Cardiovascular system
• Genital system
• Urinary system

Disease types that increased with age were :

• Endocrine disorders
• Inflammatory diseases 
• Neoplasia

These findings are not surprising because they simply confirm the clinical impressions that most veterinarians have, and results that clinical studies have reported. However, they are important findings because over 200,000 animal records were used in the analysis, and the population involved included normal healthy animals as well as ill animals. Most populations of animals reported in clinical studies are biased because they consist of animals attending veterinary first opinion practices...or, more frequently second opinion referral centres.

In the future we should be able to  look to actuarial evidence to confirm (or refute) reduced morbidity as a result of preventative strategies in earlier life such as vaccination, worming, disease screening and eradication (through controlled breeding programmes) or gene therapy.

Last updated : January 2016