RVC researchers have launched an innovative new research project called the RVC ImmunoRegistry. This detailed investigation about autoimmune diseases in dogs involves collecting data in real time over one year after diagnosis to find out how affected dogs respond to treatment.

Research Participation

Challenge

Autoimmune diseases are encountered frequently in dogs, often causing severe illness that requires intensive hospital care and prolonged treatment with immunosuppressive medications.  Some treatments cause side effects that can have a negative effect on quality of life.

Canine autoimmune diseases include:

• IMHA - immune-mediated haemolytic anaemia
• ITP - immune thrombocytopenia
• IMPA - immune-mediated polyarthritis
• SRMA - steroid-responsive meningitis arteritis

Almost all research into autoimmune diseases in dogs has been conducted in large specialist veterinary hospitals as opposed to local veterinary practices. This suggests that current research information may not reflect real world trends.  Lack of comprehensive data makes it difficult for owners and vets to make informed decisions when these dogs are diagnosed. 

Solution

As many dogs affected by autoimmune diseases are diagnosed and treated in local veterinary practices – there is a pressing need to bridge this gap in clinical data. This will combine information from general vet practices and referral centres tackling the general shortage of information about issues such as:

- clinical histories

- responses to and outcomes of treatment

- defining the prognosis and risk of relapse

- establishing if some breeds or dog types develop more severe side effects than others

Owner Information/Research Criteria

All participating dogs must:

• Resident in the UK (are there any restrictions on age of dog or neutered status etc)
• Have received a diagnosis of one of the conditions below within the past 10 days:

- IMHA - immune-mediated haemolytic anaemia
- ITP - immune thrombocytopenia
- IMPA - immune-mediated polyarthritis
- SRMA and steroid-responsive meningitis arteritis

• give informed consent to participate in the study and to allow us to see your dog’s medical records ensure the vet looking after your dog agrees to provide information about their treatment

If you believe you have a recently diagnosed dog that would be eligible for this study, please visit the link above

When a dog is enrolled, owners and vets will be contacted at regular intervals using emailed questionnaires to ask for detailed updates about their dog’s progress

Information for Vets

We are recruiting dogs that have been diagnosed with IMHA, ITP, IMPA, or SRMA in the past 10 days.  The owner must give informed consent, including giving us permission to see your clinical records. We will also ask if you are happy to provide us with updates about the dog’s progress.  Once enrolled, we will ask you and the owner for regular updates about the progress of the dog in the form of simple questionnaires emailed directly.

Test results: If requested - you can upload these directly instead of having to write them out. 

If you believe you have diagnosed a dog that would be eligible for this study, please ask the owner to complete their details on the link above.

Once the owner has given consent for participating in the study, we will contact you to confirm the dog is eligible before we ask for any further information.

This is an observational study only so we will not give any advice or input about the care of dogs enrolled in the study. You are welcome to contact the RVC in the usual way if you would like clinical advice at any point : Vet Advice Requests

Data Use

All personal data, including contact details, will be handled securely and study data will be anonymised before analysis, so we will not know the identity of the owner or vet for any dog in the database.  The owner can choose to opt out of data collection at any time. 

Impact

The aspiration of this project is to provide data insights which can inform improvements to the treatment outcomes and quality of life for canine autoimmune patients.

Partners

Funded by Small Animal Medicine Society (SAMSoc)