Post date: Jan 05, 2014 9:54:52 AM
The Royal Veterinary College's VetCompass database collects data from veterinary practices around the UK. If your vet's practice is participating, every time you have a consultation, information on your dog is added (anonymously) to the VetCompass database. VetCompass is being used to investigate the health of UK dogs (pedigree and crossbreed). They have recently published a study into longevity which also identifies the causes of death. You can find a (pdf) summary of the research here.
The median age of death for crossbreeds was 13.1 years and for purebreds was 11.9 years. The top 5 longest-lived breeds were the Miniature Poodle (14.2 years), Bearded Collie (13.7 years), Border Collie (13.5 years), Miniature Dachshund (13.5 years) and West Highland White Terrier (13.5 years).
No substantial differences were noted between purebreds and crossbreeds in rankings or proportions for causes of death. The most frequent reasons recorded were cancers (16.5%), musculoskeletal disorders (11.3%) and neurological disorders (11.2%). Among dogs dying before 3 years of age, the most frequent reasons cited were behavioural abnormalities (14.7%), gastrointestinal disorders (14.5%) and road traffic accidents (12.7%).
The report doesn't give information about Standard Dachshunds or our six individual varieties of Dachshund. For the 25 Miniature Dachshunds in the report, the youngest died at 2 and the oldest at 19. Our Dachs-Life 2012 Survey had 27 deaths reported, with a Median age of death of 11.8.
The following data are from our on-line health reports of dogs who have died since Jan. 2010 (for conditions where there are 5 or more reports):
The mean age of death for “old age” reports was 15.5 (19 dogs, oldest = 19)
The mean age of death due to Cardiac conditions was 9.5 (30 dogs)
The mean age of death due to Hepatic system conditions was 7.8 (8 dogs)
The mean age of death due to Urologic system conditions was 14.4 (5 dogs)
The mean age of death due to IVDD conditions was 6.1 (36 dogs)
The mean age of death due to Neurological (non-IVDD, e.g. Epilepsy, Lafora) conditions was 9.6 (9 dogs)
The mean age of death due to Cancer conditions was 10.1 (28 dogs)
You can report a health condition or cause of death for your Dachshund here.