Feline Demographics and Disease Distribution in the Republic of Korea

초록

The population of pet cats has increased significantly, from 0.3% in 2002 to 5.6% in 2017. Large-scale feline demographic and disease data from Korea are lacking. The aim of this study was to investigate the demographic data (breed, sex, and age) and disease distribution of cats who visited private veterinary practices in Korea. Data including breed, sex, age, and disease, were compiled from 32,728 electronic medical records from 30 selected private vet- erinary practices, between January 1, 2016, and December 31, 2017. Diseases were classified based on the International Classification of Diseases 11 by the World Health Organization, and then compared and cross-analyzed according to breed, sex, and age. Korean shorthair was the most common breed. There was a high distribution of young cats, with 77.6% of the cats under 4 years of age, and an average age of 2.5 years. Diagnoses related to preventative medicine were the most frequent and diagnoses common to young cats had higher incidence. This demographic data and information about disease distribution can be used as a basis for future research and may be helpful for determining priorities in the diagnosis of diseases and establishing strategies for health management in cats.

키워드