A Retrospective Review of Morbidity and Mortality in ‘Good Samaritan’ Animals Admitted to a Tertiary Referral Veterinary Health Center From 2014 to 2022: Postmortem Examination

Yea Ji Jeong; Christopher Premanandan; Jiwoong Her

doi:10.56771/jsmcah.v3.83

Authors

Yea Ji Jeong Department of Veterinary Biosciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, the Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4665-5446
Christopher Premanandan Department of Veterinary Biosciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, the Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA https://orcid.org/0009-0008-8071-7410
Jiwoong Her Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, the Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3150-591X

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.56771/jsmcah.v3.83

Keywords:

Good Samaritan animals, trauma, infectious disease, stray animals

Abstract

Introduction: Good Samaritan animals are frequently encountered at veterinary teaching hospitals and provide a useful indirect surveillance tool for monitoring major morbidity and mortality in unattended animals.

Methods: Retrospective study. Good Samaritan animals’ medical and postmortem examination records were searched from the OSU VMC medical record database and the OSU CVM Anatomic pathology database and identified 100 cases from 2014 to 2022.

Results: One hundred Good Samaritan animals that underwent postmortem examination were identified. These included 59 cats, 36 dogs, 2 raccoons, 1 squirrel, 1 bat, and 1 opossum with mean and median ages of 2.61 years and 1 year, respectively. The most predominant cause of death or major morbidity requiring euthanasia was euthanasia for rabies test (n = 19) in cats and vehicular trauma (n = 16) in dogs. Other mortality and significant morbidities include trauma (n = 15) followed by infectious disease (n = 5) in cats and infectious disease (n = 12) and neoplasia (n = 2) in dogs. Brain tissue from 51 animals was submitted to the Ohio Department of Health for rabies tests, and all had negative results. In 17 canines and felines with infectious diseases, dogs had viral (n = 6), parasitic (n = 5), and bacterial (n = 1) etiologies, while cats had bacterial (n = 2) and viral (n = 1), fungal (n = 1), and mixed (n = 1) etiologies.

Conclusion: Epidemiological review of morbidity and mortality in Good Samaritan animals submitted for postmortem examination helps to characterize the types and severity of vehicular trauma and infectious diseases in stray animals. Young and intact animals were important demographic factors in Good Samaritan dogs and cats. The rabies test results tightly correlate with a trend of rabies test results in dogs and cats in Franklin County.

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