National health and population report for Norwegian pets

The Pet Report 2023

National health and population report for Norwegian pets

DyreID® operates the national ID register for dogs and cats in Norway.

Paw info

DyreID is the first database in the world to collect all health data for the entire animal population of pets. We have focused on some of the most important matters in this Pet Report, where you get updated insights into the lives of our four-legged friends and companions across the country.

Nevertheless, I would like to start with some other figures, from a survey carried out by the Pew Research Center in 2023. Here it emerged that 85 percent of pet owners see their pet as a full family member on an equal footing with people.

This gives us information about how important pets are to us, both in terms of physical and mental health. We at DyreID are proud to be able to be an important part in that relationship.

Our values are to work for better animal health, safety and welfare. In that regard, 2023 was an exciting year, where a new collaboration with The Veterinary Institute and the Danish Veterinary Association was one of a number of the highlights.

We are becoming a significant player in Europe, but it is still Norway that first benefit from our solutions.

One thing to keep in mind when reading this year’s report is human health. Because animals do not have the same need for legal privacy, we have a greater scope for possibilities and for the solutions we can develop and what we can explore.

In the future, we believe some of the models we use will be able to provide insights that are also useful for human medicine, as long as we all live in the same environment and experience some of the same challenges.

Whether you just want to scroll straight to last year’s most popular names or delve into the possibilities of our health platform provides, I wish you a good reading.

Gudbrand Lie Vatn CEO DyreID AS

Contents

Page 6-17

Population

How many dogs and cats are there in Norwayand what do we know about them?

Page 30-39

DyreID today and tomorrow

What can we do for you today, and what can you expect from us in the future?

Page 4-5

Highlights of 2023

New partners for DyreID, both in Norway and Europe.

Page 18-29

Pyramidion

Millions of collected diagnoses gives us a better overview than ever of the health of Norwegian pets.

Reunited

In 2023, there were 173,353 searches for chip IDs in the ID register. This is an increase of 60 percent from 2021, and has contributed to many reunifications between owners and pets. You will find one of these happy stories later in the report.

DyreID 2023 – Highlights

DyreID is becoming an increasingly important part of pets’ health and welfare, both in Norway and abroad across Europe. Here are some of the goals we achieved in the past year - and a couple of pointers about where we are working towards.

New collaboration

DyreID will deliver data to the Veterinary Institute through a new collaboration. This will, among other things, make it easier to predict, monitor and take action against threats of illness against dogs and cats.

DyreID operates with one leading register - a combination of the health platform Pyramidion and the ID register – which gives a distinctive advantage, because it provides a quick and good overview. This is particularly important for customs, the police, The Norwegian Food Safety Authority and rescue companies such as Viking and Falken.

Outside the country’s borders

In agreement with DyreID, the Danish Veterinary Association has introduced the health platform Pyramidion. The Danes are now collecting health data for animals in the same area like Norway, which will be important in a Nordic context.

In general, there is great international interest in the service DyreID has developed. DyreID was recently invited to the French Senate to tell about the Pyramidion, while the company is also in dialogue with Finland, and a letter of intent was signed in February 2024.

EU - Mandatory

In the EU, it was proposed in 2023 that identification and registration of dogs and cats will become mandatory, at the same time as different countries ID databases must be able to communicate across national borders. These proposed changes are now out for consultation. The change can ensure safer purchases for Norwegians who wants to buy a dog or cat from abroad.

Europetnet, the European ID database which is operated of DyreID, seems to be able to become a central part of the solution. You can read more about the database later in the report.

This is DyreID

DyreID AS was founded in 1994 and is owned by the Norwegian Veterinary Association. DyreID operates the national database for pets and has over 920,000 dogs and cats with their owners registered. Apart from the ID database, DyreID also operates the health platform Pyramidion, which provides real-time data linked to diagnoses that are made in clinics.

Operation of these separate databases gives us insight into population data, name statistics and anonymised diagnosis data for pets.

Our work is reflected in our main values which are:

• Better health

• Increased safety

• Improved animal welfare

Population

DyreID has experienced a steady increase in the scope of the database and has since 2006 increased the database from approx 270,000 animals to an estimated approx 920,000 living animals at the end of 2023.

920

000 dogs and cats in DyreID’s database

In the years 2020 and 2021 it has been registered a higher number of dogs and cats as a result of increased procurement during the corona pandemic.

9/10 of all the country’s dogs are microchipped and registered in DyreID

Over 95% of all puppies are microchipped and registered in DyreID

Over 80% of all kittens are microchipped and registered in DyreID

18% of the country’s households have one dog

How many dogs and cats do we have ?

Fewer people get pets now than in the pandemic years, but there are still lots of new four-legged companions in the country.

DyreID has experienced a steady increase in the database scope and has since 2006 increased the database from approx. 270,000 animals to an estimated approx. 920,000 live animals. TNS Gallup estimates the current population for dogs and cats as follows:

Cats - 620 000

Dogs - 585 000

Where the number for cats is stabile from previous years there has been a slight increase for dogs. A total of 805,852 households have a cat or dog.

End of the corona trend

In the years 2020, 2021 and 2022, a higher number of dogs and cats were registrated as a result of an increase in acquisition, believed to be related to corona time. Based on insights into data from the joint European database Europetnet that DyreID operates, this is one trend also outside Norway.

The size of the litters of cats and dogs is now back to normal, after a growth in the corona years. Based in DyreID’s national measurements, births are usually 46,000 puppies during a year, while the corresponding figures for kittens are 47,200.

Annual

statistics – distributon of dogs and cats

Dogs Cats

Total number of annual ID-registrations

Chipping of puppies and kittens by percentage

Share of microchipping

Method - TNS Kantar

“Because there are relatively few households who have more than 1 dog or cat, the proportion could vary widely from sample to sample selection. We have therefore chosen to calculate where many animals those who have more than one animal have in average based on the last 3 measurements. We use this estimate further to calculate the number of dogs and cats in the population of these the measurements. To gain additional stability, we choose also to focus on long-term trends on expense of short-term changes.”

Andreas Wiesener Statistician, TNS Kantar

Based on data from the population and calculation of annual litter of puppies, DyreID estimates that around 95 percent of all puppies are registered in DyreID’s database. Number of registrations decreased since the corona peiod, when the ID registrations reached a peak in 2021.

While DyreID received 43,711 microchipped dogs in 2023, there were 36,098 new cats that were microchipped. Thus, it is estimated that approximately 82 percent of all cats was microchipped and registered with DyreID in 2023.

LIFE EXPECTANCY

11 years 14 years

Source: Journal of Small Animal Practice (2010), Canine Journal mfl.

Life expectancy of pets

If a pet is euthanized at a veterinarian, this becomes automatically registered in DyreID’s register. If it dies outside the clinic, pet owners themselves have the opportunity to register this when they are logged in to My page or in the DyreID-app.

However, this is not always recorded. Therefore we have calculated the number of living animals as a starting point in life expectancy and species. According to the largest survey in this field, carried out by the Journal of Small Animal Practice, dogs live 11.3 years on average. DyreID has fallen slightly below this figure, and our statistics therefore operate with a life expectancy of 11 years for a dog.

For cat, most sources are clear on the expected life expectancy between 12 and 15 years. DyreID uses a life expectancy for cats of 14 years.

Popular dog breeds in 2023

2023

Mixed breed

Border collie

Golden retriever

Norwegian Elkhound Grey has climbed 2 steps on the list in 2023

Labrador retriever

Staffordshire Bull terrier

Cocker Spaniel

Norwegian Elkhound Grey

Pomeranian

English Setter

Jack Russel Terrier

Popular cat breeds in 2023

2023

Domestic cat

Mixed breed

Maine Coon

Siberian

Ragdoll

British Shorthair

Bengal cat

Norwegian Forest cat

Burma

Neva Masquerade

Maine coon is still the most populare cat breed in 2023

Ift. 2022

Populare dog names in 2023

From DyreID's national ID-register we can retrieve the most popular dog names in Norway.

Milo Luna

Lykke is climbing 4 steps on the list according to 2022

Female

2023

Luna

Bella Molly Lykke

Nala

Kira

Mira

Wilma

Frøya

Saga

Key:

Source: DyreID's ID-database provides statistics of names for dogs and cats. Annual statistics of names for dogs and cats is produced by DyreID.

Male

2023

Milo

Max

Leo

Teddy

Charlie Simba

Balder

Kompis

Balto

Mio

Milo is still the most popular name for male dogs in 2023

Populare cat names in 2023

From DyreID's national ID-register we can retrieve the most popular cat names in Norway.

Luna Simba

Pus is climbing 4 steps on the list according to 2022

Female

2023

Luna Nala Lucy Molly Bella Pus

Zelda Mia Lilly Frøya

2022

Simba keeps the top position for popular names for male cats

Male

2023

Simba Milo Leo Mio Felix Linus

Mons Pus Findus Sofus

2022

Key:  Unchanged from 2022  Moved up from 2022  Moved down from 2022 Numbers indicate movement in position.

Source: DyreID's ID-database provides statistics of names for dogs and cats. Annual statistics of names for dogs and cats is produced by DyreID.

A national database developed and operated by DyreID. The health platform Pyramidion, collects diagnoses for both cats and dogs, from clinics in one national database. As the first country in the world we have a real-time overview of the health status of pets in Norway.

7,8 million diagnoses collected

110 000

diagnoses in average per month

Pyramidion supplies data to The Veterinary Institute (Veterinærinstituttet). The collaboration allows the authorities to monitor national animal health and quickly deploy preventive measures.

80 percent of the diagnoses are received on the same day, 94 percent within five days. In 2023 we increased the number of received diagnoses by 8.45 percent from 2022.

The Health platform Pyramidion – great opportunities

The health platform Pyramidion, operated by DyreID, collects anonymised diagnoses from Norwegian veterinarians in one database. This opens up a number of possibilities for monitoring animal health in Norway which will benefit both animal owners and society in general.

A daily updated overview of animal health which can be broken down by geography, species and breed is one of the basic functions. For everyone who works with animal health on a daily basis, it can provide a quick overview of the occurrence of various conditions, from ear infections to diabetes. For pet owners, this means that you can more easily protect the pet from infectious diseases.

- If we see an increase in dogs coughing in Akershus area, can this indicate an infectious respiratory disease – for example, kennel cough is underway, says specialist veterinarian Kamilla Tragethon in DyreID.

- Then we can send out a notification about this in the DyreID-app to dog owners in Eastern Norway, together with tips and advice on how to avoid infection.

”Data from Pyramidion will be important for our further work with monitoring, research and skills development.”

Cecilia Wolff Senior researcher in epidemiology, Veterinary institute (Veterinærinstituttet).

A unique collaboration

When many Norwegian dogs in 2019 were affected by bloody diarrhea, the Veterinary Institute suspected that it was an infectious disease in progress.

At this time, there was no overall overview about disease in dogs in Norway. The Veterinary Institute saw the potential in diagnostic data from animal clinics. In collaboration with DyreID, this is now carried out. We have had a cooperation agreement since 2023 from which the Veterinary Institute gets access to diagnostic data for dogs and cats.

The focus of the collaboration is infectious and notifiable diseases, antibiotic-resistant bacteria and zoonoses – a type of disease that spreads between animals and people. For example, the coronavirus is assumed to have had its starting point as a zoonosis.

Number of recieved diagnoses by month 2023

Data from Pyramidion can therefore also become important for us people in line with the One Health principles where animal health and human health are seen in context. At the same time, there are great op-

What is One Health?

One Health is an approach to health challenges where different disciplines collaborate for better public health. Fighting off new health threats such as zoonoses, antibiotic resistance and foodborne diseases are central work areas in One Health. Climate and environment are also included in this important collaboration. The approach is supported by WHO, among other health organization, US CDC and others.

portunities for research and development. Recently, NMBU received funding for a doctorate, in connection with data from Pyramidion.

Veterinary visit

Figures from Pyramidion shows that 66.1 percent of microchipped cats did not visit a veterinarian in 2023, while correspondingly numbers for dogs were only 33.2 percent. The recommendation from specialist veterinarian Kamilla Tragethon In DyreID is for both dogs and cats – even for those who are healthy – should visit the veterinarian once a year for a health check and vaccination.

- Among other things, it’s about detecting diseases early, carry out vaccinations and other preventive treatments, as well as checking that the animal is healthy. She says this year’s figures confirm feedback from the clinics.

- Dog owners go to the veterinarian more often than cat owners, but it is just as important for cats to go to veterinarian for regular checks as it is for dogs.

2 out of 3 dogs visited a veterinarian in 2023

Source: Pyramidion

Digital supervision

When data from clinics is collected centrally, it’s easier to get an overview and history, than when these are located locally at the individual veterinarian. It can provide a better basis for supervision when the authorities work with animal welfare.

- Instead of carrying out random checks based on notifications, the system can notify based on the insights in the data, says Gudbrand Lie Vatn, CEO in DyreID.

- For example, restrictions can be placed on how often one bitch should be able to have puppies.

Data provides better breeding

Three Norwegian purebred dog clubs have taken data from Pyramidion to use as a tool for targeted breeding. The data sets contain the most frequently made diagnoses for a breed and information about specific diseases. According to specialist veterinarian in DyreID Kamilla Tragethon, the knowledge will contribute to better animal welfare.

- For example, we can discover that a specific dog breed often goes to the veterinarian with cruciate ligament problems, and consider whether the club should do something about this in their breeding strategy.

Another example Tragethon gives is that one variant of dachs, maybe get prolapse more often than the others.

- Then you can start asking why, and look at whether there are some measurable efforts that can be put in place.

”In our breeding strategy, we need more and better health data. Therefore a common register for both microchipping and health data is unique in the world context. Pyramidion can give us valuable insight both about the individual breed and about purebred cats seen against domestic cats. That’s why it is important that all purebred cats are registered with DyreID.”

Trine Hegna Leader, Maine coon in Norway

”For Norwegians Dachs dog Clubs Association (NDF), Pyramidion is a useful tool to monitor health in Norwegian the dachs breed population.”

Anne-Mette Kirkemo Member of NDFs, mainboard and health committee.

Top 5 diagnoses dog and cats between 0-1 years

Dogs aged 0-1 years most often went to the veterinarian with ear infections, teething problems and diarrhea in 2023. Cats in the same age group went to the vet with wounds and stomach problems.

Cats – aged 0-1 years

5 diagnoses 2023

Top 5 diagnoses dog 2023

Our data shows that ear infections were a common disease resulting in dogs going to the veterinarian in 2023. For the Border collie breed, calcification (arthrosis) is at the top of the list.

Dogs – aged 0-1 years top 5 diagnoses 2023 Dog

Top 5 diagnoses cat 2023

Bite wounds and dental problems are common diagnoses for cats. The Maine coon breed requires a lot of grooming, and grooming is therefore a frequent reason for visits to the vet.

Cat – top 5 diagnoses 2023

Maine Coon – top 5 diagnoses 2023

Dental calculi

Fur tangles

Dental calculi

Gingivitis

Age distribution vaccines

Data shows the distribution of vaccines by different age groups in 2023. Over 30% of vaccines are given during the animal’s first year of life. This is connected to the fact that the basic vaccine requires two or three separate vaccines. We nevertheless see a decreasing trend with increasing age in both dogs and cats.

Dogs - vaccines, distribution by age 2023

Cats - vaccines, distribution by age 2023

Autumn - high season for cats

October is the fix cat month. This is the period that most cats receive vaccines (by the way, also high season for castration).

Summer - high season for dogs

June is the month when most vaccines are given to dogs, but many are also given in May. This is often connected with holidays abroad or stay at the kennel.

Vaccines for dogs and cats - geographic distribution

Geography of vaccination

According to figures from Pyramidion, 203,000 vaccines were administered in Norway in 2023. While cats received 63,000 of the vaccines - 31 per cent - the same figure for dogs was 140,000 – i.e. 69 per cent. On a county basis, it was Viken county who had most vaccines were given in 2023. 34 percent of cat vaccines are given between zero and one year of age. Although there are good routines for vaccinating cats in Norway, we see that the frequency is decreasing the older the cats get.

- This is an important preventive treatment to avoid infectious diseases, says specialist veterinarian Kamilla Tragethon in DyreID. She says this is one of the fields where the animals have an easier everyday life than humans.

- Where we humans do not receive automatic reminder of vaccines that needs to be taken or refilled, we have the possibility to send notifications to pet owners through our app.

Human health can learn from DyreID

Because pets don’t have the complex of requirements for privacy (GDPR) as humans, specialist veterinarian Kamilla Tragethon points out that DyreID can quick and effectively test out to find more effective solutions for health infrastructure.

- There are many similarities in how you work with two-legged and four-legged health, she says.

- In the long term, what we experience here can be useful also for actors who work with human health and care.

DyreID today and tomorrow

Knowing that a lost pet can be found, gives a sense of security which all pet owners are well aware of. This is the core of DyreID, and we have developed several services to ensure that the four-legged friends find their way back home.

Savnet & Funnet

The notice board for lost pets. Through this service was over 3000 pets reunited with their owners in 2023

Read more

DyreIDs QR-tag

This tag is placed on the pet’s collar. If someone finds the pet, the unique QR code can be scanned to find the owner's contact information, at the same time as owner is notified.

Read more

Thousands of dog owners have adopted the GPS-tracking from DyreID and Telenor for increased safety on trips and in daily life.

Read more

"Like

having Helsenorge for the dog"

DyreID-appen

110,000 pet owners have downloaded the DyreID-app since launch. One of them is Jeanette Obrenovic.

- We have never had a puppy before, so we had many questions around it.

It has been two years since Jeanette Obrenovic and her family got their dog. After many evaluations around which dog breed they should choose, the choice fell on the little ‘Havapoo’ Billy.

Who is currently lying down and sleeping, while Jeanette is cleaning the kitchen.

- It is a sofa dog, and it fits perfectly for us. Although Billy is a calm dog, the pet husbandry is not done by itself. As a dental health secretary, Jeanette became good at brushing the dog's teeth, but on other things, it was nice to have some assistance.

She found that in the DyreID-app.

- Everything we wonder about we do find there. He is still a young dog, and we experience that very well during the day. Then it's nice to not have to google.

Customized tips and advice

With everything from health articles to an overview of diagnoses and veterinary visits, the app has been used a lot as a knowledge bank.

- It is a very nice tool, and very personally oriented for Billy, says Jeanette.

- For example, "do you have problems with Billy jumping on people?", or "how to celebrate the New Year safely for Billy”. If we wonder about anything, the app is a bit in advance and comes up with suggestions. It's not entirely random. Because the DyreID-app is connected up against the ID register, and knows name, age and others details. Thats why, it can follow the pet's development and growth and give advice according to seasonal matters.

- So when it's winter and cold outside it reminds you that you have to think about clothing, and wear paw socks because of the salt on the ground.

Jeanette recalls a time when a claw was cut too long and there was blood. "Shit, now I've killed the dog!" Jeanette thought.

- Then it was straight into the app to see what we should do. Everything we wonder about is there, from puppy biting to peeing indoors. Billy had a bit of a cold this winter, and then it was nice to read that it was normal for dogs around this the season. At the same time, there are also things like diagnoses and vaccines collected in the app.

- It will be like having Helsenorge for a dog.

Easier dog training

However, there is no diagnoses registered yet - Billy has mostly been healthy and fine so far.

Nevertheless, puppies and young dogs also offer other challenges.

- Billy is both joy and frustration well wrapped in one capsule, says Jeanette.

- He is a lucky pill that beeps and jumps and doesn't know what to do when I get home. At the same time, it is frustrating when he has eaten one slipper and gnawing on a table leg. Billy is like the kids, will not listen to anyone and test the limits. But it has been much better.

Jeanette has got a good feeling for instructional videos to dog trainer Maren Teien Rørvik, known from the NRK series "Fra bølle til bestevenn".

- She is really good. Her videos are very simple to understand, with trainings you can do at home, so we use that a lot. In total life with Billy is primarily love. Also for the teenage kids in the house, who take Billy out on trips and help raise him.

- During the holiday we had to use dog sitters for three days, says Jeanette.

- When my daughter and I drove home we both cried in the car. It's amazing how much you love your dog.

This is DyreID-app

The DyreID-app gives all pet owners access to articles with tips and advice about the pet, alerts about disease outbreaks in the local area, insights into names and breeds, an overview of health data and the digital notice board Savnet & Funnet.

A plus subscription for NOK 189 per year provides even more advice and expert articles, videos with dog trainer Maren Teien Rørvik, all health statistics for your pet and discounts on everything from dog training to tracking technology for your pet.

Scan the QR-code and download the app

The app is free to download, and is easily connected to your ID registered pet. According to project manager Hilde Løvstad in DyreID, many petowners are constantly discovering how useful the DyreID- app is in everyday life with pets.

- We had a goal of 100,000 downloads in 2023. We ended up at 101,000 before the end of the year, and now we have reached 110,000.

Download the app for iOS or Android

DyreID

Europetnet

Europetnet is a European database with over 100 million pets registered. DyreID has been responsible for the operation of the database since 2018.

Europetnet collects data from national ID databases from 23 countries across Europe. The database is the one and only. The European Commission has recently advocated for mandatory microchipping of dogs, with ID databases that communicates together, which Europetnet facilitates for.

SECUR

In March 2022, DyreID developed a system SECUR (System for Ukrainian refugees) for the Norwegian Food Safety Authority (Mattilsynet) within three days.

The system provides simple, secure and quick registration of pets that arrive in Norway in connection with the refugee situation from Ukraine.

The commission also wants that buyer of pets across national borders, should have a confirmation that a pet is microchipped and registered. This will reduce illegal trade of pets and facilitate safer online shopping. The VeriPet service, developed by DyreID through Europetnet, facilitates this.

DyreID has also developed a digital passport for pets -a solution that was presented for the European Commission before the corona pandemic. Digital vaccination passports has become common, and we work together with partners in Europetnet to realize this service.

Read more

‘Kompis’ returned home

When an Italian vet scanned the chip of one stray dog outside Venice, a name appeared on the screen:

Kompis, registered in Norway.

In a small town by the Atlanterhavsveien rang the phone home of dogowner Marie Nerland Karlsen.

- Had he made it all the way down there? It was totally sick, really.

Through the international register Europetnet, operated by DyreID, the family dog came home again.

- Now I feel that daily life is normal again, says Marie. True crime? Read the whole story here.

DyreID strengthens animal welfare and has entered into a partnership with Tryg to increase the insurance rate of pets.

Read more

DyreID

DyreID in 2024

A new and simpler daily life is on the horizon, as e-prescriptions for pets in pharmacies are now pending introduction. It happens via a collaboration between DyreID, Animalia, The Veterinary Association and the Pharmacy Association which was announced in 2023.

- We are proud that we were chosen as the preferred one the solution, says Gudbrand Lie Vatn, CEO DyreID.

- This year we expect to be able to start the process of development of an important and much needed service. Otherwise in 2024 there are a number of flourishing collaborations both nationally and internationally that Vatn is looking forward to further develop.

- The result of hearings both in Norway and Europe will form exciting leads for us this year

AI, Animal ID and animal welfare

DyreID have overviews of the population of dogs and cats and has collected around 8 million diagnoses. We are now working on advanced AI solutions that will leverage all this data to generate important information that can be shared with pet owners, breeders and other stakeholders. These AI solutions have the potential to contribute to better pet health by providing automatic warning systems of disease outbreaks and suggesting preventative measures that any pet owner can take.

We are committed to using our technology to create a safer and healthier environment for our four-legged friends by utilizing the extensive amount of data we have collected over the years.

DyreID today and tomorrow

Do you want to know more?

We have the ability to create in-depth diagnostic data reports or population reports upon request.

Feel free to contact us.

Contact CEO Gudbrand Lie Vatn at gv@dyreid.no

Copying material from the Pet Report for use elsewhere is not permitted without agreement with DyreID AS.

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