A mixed methods exploration of pet owners' concerns surrounding anesthesia risk

To characterize dog and cat owners' concerns and informational needs surrounding general anesthesia.

Cross-sectional, multi-institutional anonymous survey POPULATION: Owners of dogs or cats that underwent anesthesia (n = 3136 owners).

A questionnaire was distributed to clients of three veterinary teaching hospitals in the USA between 2019 and 2024 whose small animal pets underwent general anesthesia. The survey included Likert-scale and open-ended items addressing perceived risks, experience with veterinary anesthesia, desired information, and communication preferences. Descriptive statistics were used to identify common concerns and communication preferences. Inferential nonparametric statistics compared responses of pet owners who had experience with veterinary anesthetic complications versus those who did not have this experience. A large language model was used to conduct inductive thematic analysis to explore patterns in responses.

The survey response rate was 5.2%. Pet owners who had experience with veterinary anesthetic complications wanted more information regarding anesthetic premedications (p < 0.001), anesthetic drugs (p < 0.001), and intravenous fluid use (p = 0.006) than owners whose pets had never experienced an anesthetic complication. Owners who had experienced anesthetic complications indicated significantly greater concern about their pet experiencing stress in the hospital (p = 0.017), vomiting (p = 0.034), and the potential for death (p = 0.002), and also expressed a greater desire to meet the anesthesiologist (p = 0.003). Themes identified via qualitative analysis included overwhelming fear of mortality and disability, anxiety surrounding error, and knowledge as power. Owners viewed anesthesiologists as safety and analgesia experts, desired detailed information about veterinary anesthesia care, and were interested in how to balance cost and value of specialized care.

Owners, especially those who had experienced veterinary anesthetic complications, value transparency and tailored communication strategies. These findings support the development of structured communication tools and educational resources to enhance client experience.