Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Upper urinary stones in cats with chronic kidney disease and calcium
By Hsu, Huai-Hsun et al.·Published in Journal of feline medicine and surgery·2022·School of Veterinary Medicine, Japan·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Upper urolithiasis in cats with chronic kidney disease: prevalence and investigation of serum and urinary calcium concentrations.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of 140 cats with chronic kidney disease (CKD) was studied, and it was found that 73% had upper urolithiasis, which are stones in the urinary tract. The research indicated that purebred cats and those fed only dry food were at a higher risk for developing these stones. Additionally, cats with upper urolithiasis had higher levels of calcium in their urine and blood. Understanding these risk factors can help owners make better dietary choices for their cats with CKD to potentially prevent urinary stones.
People also search for: cat kidney disease stones · purebred cat urinary problems · dry food and cat health
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to define the prevalence of upper urolithiasis in cats with chronic kidney disease (CKD) in a referral population, and to compare urinary calcium:creatinine ratio (UCa:Cr), and total and ionised calcium between cats with CKD with and without upper urolithiasis. METHODS: The medical records of cats diagnosed with CKD were reviewed for signalment, body weight, diet and prevalence of upper urolithiasis. Cats with preserved urine samples were further classified into two groups: urolithiasis group (upper urolithiasis identified by abdominal ultrasonography) and control group (CKD of unknown origin). Serum biochemical analysis, CKD stage, blood gas analysis, urine specific gravity and UCa:Cr were compared between groups using a two-sample-test or Mann-Whitney U-test for continuous variable and a χtest or Fisher's exact test for categorical variables. Multivariable binary logistic regression analysis was used to identify risk factors. RESULTS: Among the 140 cats with CKD, the prevalence of upper urolithiasis was 73%. Fifty cats (5, 29 and 16 cats with CKD stages 1, 2 and 3, respectively) with urine samples met the inclusion criteria and were included in the analysis. Among cats with CKD, being purebred (odds ratio [OR] = 81.56; = 0.03) and being fed dry food only (OR = 25.06; = 0.001) were identified as independent upper urolithiasis risk factors; those with upper urolithiasis were more likely to be exclusively fed with urine-acidifying food (<0.001) and have increased serum ionised calcium (iCa) ( = 0.044), fractional excretion of calcium ( = 0.45) and UCa:Cr ( = 0.005) than cats with CKD without upper urolithiasis. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Cats with CKD that were purebred, fed dry food and fed urine-acidifying food only often had upper urolithiasis. A higher UCa:Cr may be a result of increased serum iCa and may cause upper urolithiasis.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35471088/