01 Jun Banfield State of Pet Health Report

Earlier this week, Banfield Pet Hospital released its 2018 State of Pet Health Report, which explores the science behind allergic dermatitis in pets and sheds light on flea, atopic and food allergies. This is the largest report of its kind, capturing medical data from more than 2.5 million dogs and 505,000 cats cared for by Banfield in 2017.

With food allergies in humans being reported at an all-time high, veterinarians are seeing pet owners become increasingly concerned about food allergies in their pets. However, according to the report, food allergies are diagnosed in relatively few of our patients, just 0.2 percent of dogs and 0.1 percent of cats. More commonly, pets can have flea or atopic allergies, both of which are on an upward trend in dogs and cats.

As we all know, there is a great deal of misinformation available to pet owners, which makes it challenging to convince pet owners of the importance of diagnostic testing and compliance for treating itchy pets. We saw this knowledge gap as an opportunity to highlight this growing problem for our colleagues in the profession as well as educate pet owners on what they can do in partnership with their veterinarian.

Ultimately, the goal of the State of Pet Health Report is to raise awareness for the need for regular preventive care and emphasize the role of the veterinarian as a trusted advisor. This year’s focus on the allergic dermatitis conditions in pets drives that home. The report is housed entirely online here. We also created a downloadable infographic for the veterinary team to support client conversations, which can be found on the Banfield Exchange.

If you believe that the State of Pet Health Report is something that would be of interest to your membership, we encourage you to share it. Click here for a sample article that you can share with your members, and here for a client-education piece and a graphic that support the report. Additionally, if you are interested in state-specific information to share, please reach out to Julie Heade at Julie.Heade@Banfield.com or at 360-784-5234.

This information is shared as a benefit of Banfield’s
Platinum-level Strategic Initiative Partnership with VMAE.