A retrospective study of canine prostatic diseases from 2002 to 2009 at the Alfort Veterinary College in France

Abstract

A retrospective study was used to investigate the incidence of prostatic diseases in a large population of dogs at Alfort Veterinary Hospital and to clarify epidemiologic features, which might be of a great help to veterinarians in managing and discriminating prostatic disorders. During the investigation period, a total of 72,300 male dogs (coming mainly from the Ile-de-France region) were registered in the Alfort Veterinary College database, and 481 of them (0.7%) were found to have prostatic disorder. The diagnosis was carried out on the basis of clinical signs and ultrasound findings. Among dogs experiencing a prostatic disorder, most frequently recorded diseases were benign prostatic hyperplasia (45.9%) and prostatitis (38.5%), followed by abscesses (7.7%), cysts (5.0%), neoplasia (2.6%), and squamous metaplasia (0.2%). Our study revealed an incidence of 0.3% of prostatic disorders observed in intact male dogs, except in the case of prostatic neoplasia. The mean age of the dogs experiencing prostatic disorders was 8.6 ± 3.2 years. This was significantly different (P < 0.001). Large dogs were significantly more affected by prostatic disorders (P < 0.05), except for prostatic neoplasia. A breed predisposition was suspected in German Shepherd (odds ratio [OR] = 2.1; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.5–2.9), Rottweiler (OR = 1.8; 95% CI: 1.2–2.7), American Staffordshire Terrier (OR = 3.8; 95% CI: 2.5–5.8), Berger de Beauce (OR = 3.7; 95% CI: 2.2–6.1), and Bernese Mountain Dog (OR = 2.5; 95% CI: 1.3–4.7).