ABSTRACT
Introduction: Studies examining associations between pet ownership and cardiovascular disease have yielded inconsistent results. These discrepancies may be partially explained by variations in age and sex across study populations. Our study included 6,632 American Gut Project participants who are US residents ≥40 years. Methods: We first estimated the association of pet ownership with cardiovascular disease risk using multivariable-adjusted logistic regression, and further investigated effect modifications of age and sex. Results: Cat but not dog ownership was significantly associated with lower cardiovascular disease risk (OR: 0.56 [0.42, 0.73] and OR: 1.17 [0.88, 1.39], respectively). Cat and dog ownership significantly interacted with age but not sex, indicating that cardiovascular risk varies by the age-by-pet ownership combination. Compared to the reference group (40-64 years, no cat or dog), participants 40-64 years with only a cat had the lowest cardiovascular disease risk (OR: 0.40 [0.26, 0.61]). Those ≥65 years with no pets had the highest risk (OR: 3.85 [2.85, 5.24]). Discussion: This study supports the importance of pets in human cardiovascular health, suggesting optimal pet choice is age-dependent. Having both a cat and dog can be advantageous to people ≥65 years, while having only a cat may benefit those 40-64 years. Further studies are needed to assess causality.
Subject(s)
Anxiety/epidemiology , Cat Diseases/psychology , Coronavirus Infections/psychology , Coronavirus Infections/veterinary , Dog Diseases/psychology , Ownership , Pandemics/veterinary , Pets/virology , Pneumonia, Viral/psychology , Pneumonia, Viral/veterinary , Animals , Betacoronavirus/isolation & purification , COVID-19 , Cat Diseases/virology , Cats , Dog Diseases/virology , Dogs , Humans , SARS-CoV-2 , United States/epidemiologyABSTRACT
A recent opinion paper by Kipperman and German (2018) discussed the increasing prevalence of pet obesity, the risk factors contributing to this increase, and the role of veterinarians in helping manage pet obesity. They described the problem as a One Health problem as it has been previously characterized. Kipperman and German also reported a sample of medical records from their referring veterinarians wherein a surprisingly small number of veterinarians recorded information about pets' body weight or discussions with owners about pet obesity. From their sample, they concluded that general practice veterinarians are not meeting their professional and ethical obligations to recognize and address pet obesity. This letter discusses reasons why veterinarians may not be adequately addressing the pet obesity problem. A similar situation exists in human medicine. Numerous studies in the human field have revealed some of the reasons many physicians do not address obesity with their patients. As it is likely that veterinarians have similar reasons for avoiding the obesity issue, obstacles identified by physicians in encountering overweight obesity are reviewed in this letter.
