Background Skin disease in companion animals often requires long‐term management which may contribute to caregiver burden in the dermatology client. Hypotheses/Objectives We expected greater caregiver burden in dermatology clients relative to healthy control veterinary clients and that no difference would be present between healthy controls and dermatology clients reporting good skin disease control. Within the dermatology sample, we hypothesized that greater caregiver burden would correlate with client perception of the animal's severity of disease (ASD), animal skin disease quality of life (ASD‐QoL), and client general quality of life (CG‐QoL) and skin disease‐related quality of life (CSD‐QoL). Participants Participants were 358 dog owners, including veterinary dermatology clients (n = 152) and healthy general veterinary control clients (n = 206). Methods and materials Cross‐sectional online assessments were completed for client caregiver burden (both samples) and CG‐QoL, CSD‐QoL, ASD‐QoL and ASD (dermatology sample only). Results Caregiver burden was greater in dermatology clients overall relative to healthy controls (P < 0.001); it was comparable for those reporting good skin disease control (P > 0.05). Within the dermatology group, correlations between caregiver burden and CSD‐QoL were high (r = 0.58; P < 0.001). CG‐QoL was predicted by caregiver burden (P < 0.001) but not significantly by CSD‐QoL (P > 0.05). Conclusions and clinical importance In the presence of good skin disease control, caregiver burden in dermatology clients is as low as general veterinary clients with a healthy dog. Understanding client experiences of companion animal skin disease may be optimized by assessing caregiver burden.

A six-year-old male castrated domestic long hair feline presented for evaluation of a progressive cutaneous nodular dermatosis and an acute onset of dyspnoea. The patient had an initial skin biopsy performed with a tentative diagnosis of mycobacteriosis; however, acid-fast stains were negative. Thoracic radiographs revealed multifocal, large pulmonary nodules. Aerobic bacterial, fungal and mycobacterial cultures, as well as Histoplasma and Cryptococcus antigen tests, were all negative. Re-evaluation of the biopsy provided a diagnosis of feline progressive dendritic cell histiocytosis. The samples revealed a focally marked to diffuse coalescing superficial to deep perivascular and periadnexal infiltrates of numerous moderately large histiocytic cells. Unfortunately, there is no successful treatment for this disease and the patient was humanely euthanased.