The perspective of the owners on the 30-day lasting treatment with meglumine antimoniate injections and the quality of the dog’s life

Abstract

Canine leishmaniosis (CanL) is a global zoonotic disease, fatal for both humans and dogs. There are already endemics in over 70 countries in the world. The current first-choice therapy of CanL is chemotherapy with Pentavalent antimonials (SbV), used as monotherapy or in combination with other drugs (allopurinol® most of the time) to prevent relapses. The treatment is long, cumbersome, unpleasant for dogs and owners and renal disorders are frequently diagnosed. Besides that, the therapy is very costly. The perception of the owners on this therapy and the quality of life (QoL) of the dogs during the treatment is so far unknown. This work has investigated this by using a questionnaire. A questionnaire was composed, which was done by comparing different literature studies and books about questionnaires. The questions investigated the perception of the owners on the 30-day treatment with meglumine antimoniate injections and the quality of the dog’s life. 60 of the 87 owners filled in the questionnaire, which gives the questionnaire a 69 percent response rate. The majority of the owners did think applying the medication was easy, the dogs did not seem to be bothered that much and they reported that when they had problems or questions, they could always ask their veterinarians. Also, the owner’s QoL scored high. A small increase of dog QoL is seen during the treatment and an even bigger increase of dog QoL one month after the treatment. There is not one standard trajectory in which the treatment will occur. Every dog has got its own trajectory. When looking at the positive outcomes, it can be concluded that a great majority of 95 percent of the dogs improved their QoL due to the treatment. Therefore, it can be concluded, together with the owner’s conclusions, that the therapy is worthwhile.