engleski

Comparison of dogs and cats gunshot injuries in urban areas

Gunshot injuries in veterinary practice present a relatively uncommon cause of trauma. The incidence of projectile injured patients in a veterinary clinic depends whether a clinic is situated in an urban or a rural area. Treatment varies on the basis of radiographic evidence of the metal projectile, injury location and type of firearm. The aim of the present study was to compare gunshot injuries in dogs and cats recorded in urban areas, due to their different behaviour and living habits. The medical records were studied of dogs and cats with gunshot injuries treated at the University small animal hospital in a two year period. Signalment, time of trauma, number of projectiles and projectile type (air gun projectile, unknown projectile fragments, shotgun projectile), distribution of projectiles and bone fractures were investigated. In this time period 28 cases of gunshot trauma in cats (16 males and 12 females) and 35 cases in dogs (26 male and 9 female) were recorded. The incidence of gunshot injuries in cats was 1.03% and in dogs 0.27%. The mean age was 6.8 years in dogs and 6.6 years in cats. There was a significant difference in projectile number, in 15 dogs and 17 cats only one projectile was found, while 20 dogs and only 11 cats had more than one radiographically evident projectile. Most of the recorded projectiles were air gun pellets (82.1% in cats and 68.6% in dogs), followed by unknown projectile fragments (14.3% in cats and 20% in dogs) and shotgun (3.6% in cats and 8.6% in dogs). Fractures in dogs were mostly recorded on appendicular skeletal bones, while in cats most of the fractures were located in the thoracic rim skeleton. There was no congruence in the distribution of dogs and cats cases in terms of the months of the year. The results indicate that gunshot injuries are still a relevant cause of trauma in urban areas especially in cats and dogs. Therefore, this finding should be taken into account in all cases of unknown cause of trauma in dogs and cats.

gunshot, injury, dog, cat, urban areas

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