Strange Facts

I like those strange facts and figures that some people come out with. I decided to paste the latest ones, some are depressing. The figures are all UK based. My comments are in (brackets)

Some interesting statistics from insurers Petplan. It turns out that almost a third of 3000 UK pet owners surveyed by the company Petplan admitted accidentally injuring their pet, resulting in an average vet bill of £170.

Nearly 6 out of 10 owners admitted stepping on their pet, while 21% confessed to dropping them.

The survey found that dogs are most likely to be stepped on, whilst guinea pigs are most likely to be dropped by their overly affectionate owners.

The next biggest threat posed to pets by their owners was accidental poisoning.

The survey also found that 1/3rd of pets hurt themselves jumping off furniture, and one in five have been injured running in front of a car.
(A separate survey Petplan did earlier in the year also came up with the fact a cat is hit by a car on average every 2min. in the UK)

More than a third of pets injure themselves eating something they shouldn't, including the dog that swallowed a pair of knickers, which ended up costing £1,200 to retrieve. (This dog is a non starter, the experienced ones have swallowed everything from bread knives to multiples of golf balls)

Vets have been reporting a rise in diseases that are related to obesity in companion animals for some time and with the Petplan Pet Census panel of almost two hundred 198 UK veterinary practices reporting that more than one third 36% of all dogs and one quarter 29% of cats they treat are obese, the future for many pets looks bleak. More than half 53% of vets say that cases of cat and dog diabetes are on the increase. Obesity is actually bucking the trend of more historically significant diseases, including kennel cough and feline leukaemia, which are either remaining static or decreasing.

The number of pets with behavioural problems is also on the rise, with more than half of vets 55% reporting an increase and most 95% practices offering support for these animals. Effective treatment is not a quick-fix solution and requires changes to the owner's lifestyle and lengthy work with experts in the field.(For other than basic help get a APBC or COAPE behaviourist)

51% of vets have put down a pet cat or dog in the past five years because the owners couldn't afford to treat them (Only 51% l thought it was pretty much 100% so 51% is less depressing than l thought)

80% of vets have had an uninsured dog or cat owner decline a course of treatment because they couldn't afford it.

1.6 million people have had to put down at least one pet dog or cat over the past five years because they can't afford treatment. In total, the research shows that 927,000 dogs and 822,000 cats were put down for this reason between 2003 and 2008.