Therapeutic Outcomes and Owner Assessment in Canine Sebaceous Adenitis Across Breeds: A Multicentre Retrospective Analysis and Owner Survey

BACKGROUND: Sebaceous adenitis (SA) is an idiopathic dermatological condition with numerous treatment modalities and variable clinical outcomes. No studies have compared breed response to therapies or evaluated owner perception of the disease. OBJECTIVES: Goals of this retrospective analysis were to evaluate response to therapy in dogs with SA, identify if breed or treatment modality impacted therapeutic outcome and assess owner perception of response to implemented therapies. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Medical records over a 10-year period from a multicentre veterinary dermatology group were evaluated and an owner survey was conducted. Response to therapy was based on percentage reduction in medication scores at the start of treatment compared to maintenance and the number of flares after attaining maintenance. Time to maintenance was calculated for each treatment modality category. Owner survey responses were compared to objective clinical response categories. RESULTS: One hundred and twenty-two dogs with SA were included; 35 respondents completed the survey. The number of cases in objective clinical response categories were as follows: excellent in 23 cases (18.9%), good in 36 (29.5%), fair in 26 (21.3%), no improvement in 13 (10.7%) and progressive in 23 (18.9%). Medication score differences by breed were not statistically significant (p-value 0.114). Dogs treated with multimodal therapy achieved maintenance the fastest. Thirty-nine percent of dogs experienced a flare after reaching maintenance. Owner perceptions did not align significantly with objective response categories. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: In SA, therapeutic outcomes cannot be predicted based on breed or treatment modality, confirming the need for tailored case management and medication adjustments based on individual treatment response.