A retrospective study of canine prostatic diseases from 2002 to 2009 at the Alfort Veterinary College in France

A retrospective study was used to investigate the incidence of prostatic diseases in a large population of dogs at Alfort Veterinary Hospital and to clarify epidemiologic features, which might be of a great help to veterinarians in managing and discriminating prostatic disorders. During the investigation period, a total of 72,300 male dogs (coming mainly from the Ile-de-France region) were registered in the Alfort Veterinary College database, and 481 of them (0.7%) were found to have prostatic disorder. The diagnosis was carried out on the basis of clinical signs and ultrasound findings. Among dogs experiencing a prostatic disorder, most frequently recorded diseases were benign prostatic hyperplasia (45.9%) and prostatitis (38.5%), followed by abscesses (7.7%), cysts (5.0%), neoplasia (2.6%), and squamous metaplasia (0.2%). Our study revealed an incidence of 0.3% of prostatic disorders observed in intact male dogs, except in the case of prostatic neoplasia. The mean age of the dogs experiencing prostatic disorders was 8.6 3.2 years. This was significantly different (P < 0.001). Large dogs were significantly more affected by prostatic disorders (P < 0.05), except for prostatic neoplasia. A breed predisposition was suspected in German Shepherd (odds ratio [OR] ¼ 2.1; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.5–2.9), Rottweiler (OR ¼ 1.8; 95% CI: 1.2–2.7), American Staffordshire Terrier (OR ¼ 3.8; 95% CI: 2.5–5.8), Berger de Beauce (OR ¼ 3.7; 95% CI: 2.2–6.1), and Bernese Mountain Dog (OR ¼ 2.5; 95% CI: 1.3–4.7).