"Up to and including death": understanding anaesthesia-related anxiety among pet owners in a tertiary-care setting

Preparing clients for their pet to undergo general anaesthesia is an important and common task for veterinary professionals. The aims of this study were to better understand referral client anxiety relating to general anaesthesia and to determine their level of knowledge in this area.

Pet owners attending a UK referral centre whose dog or cat had undergone general anaesthesia between February 6, 2022 and February 6, 2025 were invited to take part in an online survey. The questionnaire comprised four sections: demographics, concerns regarding general anaesthesia, knowledge of this area and provision of consent.

In total, 432 responses were included in analysis. 69.2% of respondents reported feeling "anxious" towards general anaesthesia, with 60.9% indicating that they had concerns. Of the categories of concern reported, anaesthetic death and contextual factors were cited in 31% and 30% of responses, respectively. The mean average mortality rate estimated by respondents for healthy dogs and cats was 16.2% (95% confidence interval: dogs 14.20 to 18.25, cats 14.01 to 18.35) compared to 9.7% (95% confidence interval: 8.17 to 11.26) for humans. 89.4% of respondents were happy with the level of information they received ahead of the anaesthetic and 88.5% reported that they provided informed consent. When provided with published statistics for anaesthetic mortality in UK dogs and cats, 63% of participants found this reassuring.

Causes of owner anxiety regarding general anaesthesia are multifactorial and do not always relate to mortality. UK referral clients may perceive a higher rate of anaesthetic mortality in healthy dogs and cats than currently evidenced.