Vétoquinol has released the results of a survey of 1000 dog owners, which looked into their attitudes towards long-term medication for their pet¹.

Owners were asked to rate how important various factors were to them when it came to giving medicine long term to their dog. They were also asked to consider what they felt was most important to their vet when it came to choosing a medicine.

• Effectiveness: 85% of dog owners felt that effectiveness was highly important.
• Side effects: 77% of dog owners said a limited range of side effects was either highly important (47%) or important (30%) in deciding their preference for a particular medication for their dog. Interestingly, owners thought that veterinary surgeons are slightly less concerned about side effects than they are: only 34% of owners think side effects are highly important to their vet). 
• Easy of administration: Only 24% of owners rated how easily a medication can be given as highly important. 28% said it was of medium importance.
• Established brand: 30% of dog owners felt this was of medium importance, and 24% felt this of least importance.
• Cost: surprisingly, the cost of medication was found to be one of the least important factors, with only 14% saying it was highly important to them.

Vétoquinol says the fact that dog owners rate the effectiveness of a medication much more highly than the cost means there is very little reason to compromise on treatment based on a presumption of what clients will want to pay. These findings are also largely very positive in that they suggest that dog owners believe that in many areas vets are making decisions based on criteria that are important to owners. The area where there is the greatest mismatch is over the risk of side effects of medication.

Pet owners think that vets may take the risk of side effects from long-term medications less seriously than the owners themselves might prefer. It suggests that the risk of potential harm, no matter how small the risk of actual harm is, may be more unacceptable to the dog owner than vets and nurses might otherwise presume. When prescribing long-term medication there is a need to talk about the risks associated with medication more openly and to take the client's attitudes to risk into consideration.

^1. A survey of 1048 dog owners, carried out by petbuzz, on behalf of Vétoquinol, March 2011

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