Vet World   Vol.13   March-2020  Article-25

Lower urinary tract lithiasis of cats in Algeria: Clinical and epidemiologic features

Background and Aim: This study aims to describe the clinical symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment of urolithiasis of the lower urinary tract and to determine the main risk factors involved in the occurrence of urinary lithiasis in cats in Algeria from 2016 to 2018.

Materials and Methods: During the study period, 465 cats were examined and 32 cases of urolithiases were selected and investigated by conducting physical examinations, blood analyses, urinalysis, X-ray radiography, and ultrasonography. Parameters such as breed, age, or sex were studied and reported in a farm return to analyze risk factors involved in the formation of lower urinary urolithiasis.

Results: The most clinically relevant symptoms of urolithiasis observed in cats were dysuria, pollakiuria, hematuria, and stranguria. Urinalysis and blood analysis revealed a significant presence of urinary crystals and acute kidney failure in nine cats. The ultrasonography and radiography confirmed the diagnosis of urolithiasis with the incidence of 43.75% and 31.25%, respectively. The lower urinary tract urolithiasis appeared to be more frequent in European and Siamese cats. In addition, cats aged between 4 and 8 years old were the most affected. Male cats (87.50%) were more affected than female cats. Finally, the lower urinary tract urolithiasis was more frequent in cats consuming the commercial pet food, previously castrated, and confined inside the house.

Conclusion: Complete clinical assessments, in addition to complementary examinations, are necessary and beneficial in treating the animal and preventing possible complications. Whether the choice of therapy is surgical or treatment with drugs, it is crucial to understand that the elimination of the stone is not an end, but the beginning of a series of investigations. Because of their impact on both the formation and elimination of metabolites, it has been found that factors, such as race, gender, age, diet, and lifestyle, should be considered as potential risk factors for urolithiasis. Keywords: cat, epidemiology, management, radiography, ultrasonography, urolithiasis.

Keywords: cat, epidemiology, management, radiography, ultrasonography, urolithiasis.

How to cite this article: Remichi H, Hani FA, Rebouh M, Benmohand C, Zenad W, Boudjellaba S (2020) Lower urinary tract lithiasis of cats in Algeria: Clinical and epidemiologic features, Veterinary World, 13(3): 563-569.

Received: 30-10-2019  Accepted: 31-01-2020     Published online: 26-03-2020

Corresponding author: Hayet Remichi   E-mail: h.remichi@ensv.dz

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2020.563-569

Copyright: Remichi, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.