Vet World   Vol.16   November-2023  Article-26

The epidemiology of canine ear diseases in Northwest China: Analysis of data on 221 dogs from 2012 to 2016

Background and Aim: Ear disease is relatively important in veterinary medicine as it significantly affects the quality of life of pets. Two hundred and twenty-one cases of canine ear diseases were collected and collated at the Xi'an Teaching Hospital of Northwest A&F University from 2012 to 2016. An epidemiological analysis was conducted to evaluate the prevalence and causes of various ear diseases in various breeds of dogs in Xi'an.

Materials and Methods: Data were collected and statistically analyzed by reviewing previous cases and obtaining medical history data and laboratory results. This study included the following experiments: systematic examination of the animals' skin, auricular skin scraping test, ear canal endoscopy, and examination of ear canal secretion.

Results: The top three dog breeds most commonly afflicted with ear diseases in Xi'an were Toy poodles , Cocker Spaniels, and Golden Retrievers, accounting for 18.5%, 10.4%, and 9.5% of the total cases, respectively. The prevalence was the highest in August and September, with male dogs having a higher prevalence rate than female dogs. Common ear diseases were categorized as otitis externa, otitis media, otitis interna, or ear hematoma.

Conclusion: This study determined the prevalence of external otitis, ear hematoma, otitis media, and inner otitis in dogs in the Xi'an area. These results can help expand the current understanding of the development and epidemiology of canine ear diseases and provide a reference for clinical diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. Keywords: dog, epidemiology, otitis externa, Northwest of China.

Keywords: dog, epidemiology, otitis externa, Northwest of China.

How to cite this article: Li JP, Li LY, T FL, and Lu DZ (2023) The epidemiology of canine ear diseases in Northwest China: Analysis of data on 221 dogs from 2012 to 2016, Veterinary World, 16(11): 2382-2388.

Received: 21-07-2023  Accepted: 18-10-2023     Published online: 27-11-2023

Corresponding author: D-Z Lu   E-mail: dezhanglu@hotmail.com

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2023.2382-2388

Copyright: Li, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.