Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Cat urinary blockage and cystitis cases during COVID-19 lockdowns
By Jackson, Kayla Ann et al.·Published in Journal of feline medicine and surgery·2023·Small Animal Specialist Hospital, Australia·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Incidence of feline idiopathic cystitis and urethral obstruction during COVID-19 human movement restrictions in Queensland, Australia.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A study looked at cats with urinary issues during the COVID-19 pandemic to see if lockdowns affected their health. Researchers found that the rates of feline idiopathic cystitis (FIC), which causes painful urination, and urethral obstruction (UO) did not significantly increase during the pandemic compared to before. In fact, the incidence of these conditions was similar, suggesting that the stress of human movement restrictions did not lead to more cases. This means that if your cat is experiencing urinary problems, it may not be related to the pandemic but could be due to other factors.
People also search for: cat urinary problems during COVID · feline idiopathic cystitis symptoms · urethral obstruction treatment for cats
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: Feline idiopathic cystitis (FIC) and urethral obstruction (UO) are commonly linked to increased stress. The influence of human movement restrictions on their incidence remains undetermined. FIC with or without UO is associated with environmental stress factors. The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (COVID-19) pandemic restricted human movement and working behaviours. It is unknown if these restrictions increased the risk of FIC or UO in cats. METHODS: Total cat emergency accessions and transfers between 8 February 2019 and 8 February 2021 at two private hospitals were retrospectively reviewed. Cats were included in the FIC group if they presented with lower urinary tract signs and supporting urinalysis, and were included in the UO group if they presented with UO. Cats with current urinary tract infection, or previous FIC or UO, were excluded. Groups were considered 'pre-COVID-19' between February 2019 and 2020 and 'COVID-19' between February 2020 and 2021. Cases of FIC and UO were compared between COVID-19 and pre-COVID-19 using Fisher's exact test and relative risk (RR) calculations. RESULTS: The pre-COVID-19 incidence of FIC was 4.3% (63/1477, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.0332-0.053), non-obstructive FIC was 1.4% (20/1477, 95% CI 0.008-0.020) and UO was 2.9% (43/1477, 95% CI 0.020-0.038). One cat was excluded as obstruction occurred during hospitalisation. The COVID-19 incidence of FIC was 5.4% (113/2081, 95% CI 0.044-0.64), non-obstructive FIC was 2.1% (70/2081, 95% CI 0.014-0.027) and UO was 3.4% (70/2081, 95% CI 0.026-0.042). The risk of non-obstructive FIC ( = 0.122; RR 0.652, 95% CI 0.387-1.096), UO ( = 0.382; RR 0.839, 95% CI 0.577-1.22) or either ( = 0.098; RR 0.773, 95% CI 0.572-1.044) was not significantly higher in the COVID-19 period than the pre-COVID-19 period. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: No clear association between COVID-19 movement restrictions and the incidence of UO or non-obstructive FIC was found within this retrospective population.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38095946/