Around 19.5 million cats and 10.5 million dogs live in Germany. This makes them among the most popular pets. For many people, they are a constant presence in everyday life and are often regarded as a full member of the family. As their importance grows, so does interest in questions of animal health and animal welfare. Although surveys already exist on the prevalence of specific diseases, the burden affecting particular breeds, or certain specialist topics, there remains a lack of comprehensive and robust data on the actual health status of dogs and cats in Germany.

The Institute of Veterinary Epidemiology and Biometry is therefore addressing this question as part of a doctoral research project through a systematic investigation. Data collection is based on a nationwide, representative online survey that allows owners of dogs and cats to participate. It records general information, such as breed and sex, as well as details on preventive healthcare and illnesses that have occurred within the past twelve months. To strengthen the validity of the results, these data are supplemented with anonymized information from cooperating pet insurance providers, veterinary hospitals, and small animal practices, and then compared with one another.

The aim of the project is to gain a comprehensive understanding of the general health situation and to identify key risk factors. The data obtained serve as a basis for further developing veterinary clinical guidelines and help to detect health trends at an early stage. In addition, the results support the planning of preventive measures and help tailor information services and advisory structures more effectively to the needs of pet owners. They also enable veterinary education and research to align more closely with the real challenges of everyday practice.

All dog and cat owners in Germany are warmly invited to participate in the online survey and contribute to improving animal health. Veterinary practices, small animal clinics, and pet health insurance providers that are willing to make anonymized data available for scientific purposes also make a significant contribution to the study.

For inquiries, please contact Prof. Dr. Roswitha Merle at roswitha.merle@fu-berlin.de or 030 838 75096.