Road traffic accidents leading cause of pet cat deaths in the UK, Bristol Cats study finds

Road traffic accidents (RTAs) are the leading cause of death among UK pet cats who are 8 years old or younger, new research has found. This is the first UK-wide study to assess mortality and survival rates in pet cats to include those that do not attend vets or have insurance.  The study, by the University of Bristol Veterinary School and Cats Protection, is published in the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery.

With around 11 million pet cats in the UK and 26% of households owning one or more cats¹, understanding the health of the cat population is important.  However, little is known about their likely cause of death, as previous studies have used vet records to establish their cause of death.

The aim of the study was:

• to provide a more complete picture of the cause of death among the pet cat population in the UK by using data from owner-completed questionnaires;
• to establish all mortality and probability of dying.

Data was collected from ‘Bristol Cats’ study questionnaires - a longitudinal study of cat health, welfare and behaviour - owner communications and medical records for the cat’s first 8 years of life. Cause of death was categorised by organ-specific issues; disease or event and analysed by age and life stage.

From 2,444 cats recruited into the ‘Bristol Cats’ study, at least 362 had died before reaching nine years old. The study found the most common cause of death in cats up to 8-years-old was road traffic accident (RTA) at 45.6%. For 29 kittens, under 1- year-old, the most common causes was RTA (61.2%), feline infectious peritonitis (11.9%), and other trauma (7.5%).

The most common causes of mortality in young adult cats (1 to 6-years-old) was RTA (49.6%), non-specified (14.4%), kidney disease (6.5%), and heart disease (6.5%).

Cats aged up to two years had an annual probability of dying between 2.8–3.1%, which decreased between 2 and 3 years of age to 1.7%.  The probability of dying gradually increased with age with the oldest age group (7 to 8 years) having a 3.6% probability of dying.

The research found RTAs is the leading cause of death in cats across all age groups studied.  While kittens were more likely to die due to age-related infectious diseases, trauma and accidents, organ-specific issues such as kidney and heart diseases were likely causes of death in cats up to 8 years old.

Aimee Taylor, corresponding author from Langford Vets at the Bristol Vet School, said: “Our study is the first to include deaths that weren't recorded in medical records or insurance in pet cats up to 8 years old.  We found age increases the chance of death, but there is a high mortality risk for cats up to 2-years-old, too.  However, as our research only looked into pet cats up to 8-years-old, disease related causes of death may well overtake RTAs in older cats.”

Dr Emily Blackwell, Senior Lecturer, Director of Companion Animal Population Health and Principal Investigator of Bristol Cats, added: “Our research suggests an increased awareness and earlier detection of kidney and heart disease in young adult cats could delay or reduce death.

“Findings from the study could be used to raise awareness amongst owners of young adult cats, as well as develop better vet care strategies to improve the length and quality of life for the UK’s pet cats.”