Demography, common disorders and mortality of Boxer dogs under primary veterinary care in the UK

BACKGROUND: The Boxer is a popular dog breed with a distinctive appearance. However, the breed has been linked with several health conditions, some of which have been associated with its moderately brachycephalic conformation and its white colouration. Anonymised primary-care veterinary clinical records were explored to extract data on the demography, common disorders and mortality of Boxers in the UK in 2016. RESULTS: The study population of 336,865 dogs included 3,219 (0.96%) Boxers, of which 10.71% were recorded as white. The mean adult bodyweight was 30.43 kg (SD 5.73 kg). Annual disorder counts did not differ statistically between the sexes or between white and non-white Boxers. The most prevalent fine-level precision disorders were otitis externa (n = 230, 7.15%), epulis (188, 5.84%), corneal ulceration (161, 5.00%) and periodontal disease (149, 4.63%). Of the 34 most common fine-level disorders, none differed in prevalence between white and non-white dogs. The most prevalent disorder groups were skin disorder (n = 571, 17.74%), neoplasia (457, 14.20%) and ear disorder (335, 10.41%). White Boxers had higher prevalence than non-white Boxers for two disorder groups: dental disorder and brain disorder. The median longevity of 346 Boxers that died during the study was 10.46 years (IQR 9.00–11.98, range 2.76–18.00). Median longevity did not differ statistically between the sexes or between white and non-white Boxers. The most common grouped causes of death were death – unrecorded cause (n = 73, 21.10%), neoplasia (43, 12.43%) and brain disorder (33, 9.54%). CONCLUSIONS: There was minimal evidence of substantial health differences between white and non-white Boxers. Among the four most common disorders recorded in Boxers, two were typically common across all types of dogs (otitis externa and periodontal disease) while two suggested strong predispositions for the Boxer breed (epulis and corneal ulceration), showing the value of eliciting breed-specific disorder patterns for insights for potential health reforms. The overall longevity of Boxer dogs was consistent with other breeds of similar body size.