Risk Factors for Feline Lower Urinary Tract Diseases in Thailand

Feline lower urinary tract diseases (FLUTD) is a diagnostic term for cats with hematuria, dysuria, pollakiuria, and partial or complete urethral obstruction. The aim of the present study was to identify risk factors for cats with LUTD. Cats with LUTD were evaluated by history, physical examination, urinalysis, radiography, and contrast radiography. Clinically normal cats consisted of vaccinated cats without clinical signs of LUTD admitted to the same veterinary hospital. Cats with a history of urinary tract disease, and those received special treatment for LUTD were excluded. All cats' owners filled out standardized questionnaires about breed, gender, age, environmental factors, and diet of their cats to identify the risk and protective factors for LUTD. Chi-square analysis was used to assess significant association between urolith formation and categorical risk factors. In case of small expected frequencies, Fisher’s exact test was used. The Mantel-Haenszel test was used to calculate odds ratios (ORMH) and 95% confidence interval. This estimation of relative risk considered significant if 95% confidence intervals for odds ratios did not include 1.0. The proportional morbidity ratio of Feline LUTD in Thai cats was 2.22%. Cats eating canned food had lower risk of developing LUTD (ORMH = 0.12, 95% CI, 0.05 to 0.29) than cats eating dry food (ORMH = 0.29, 95% CI, 0.10 to 0.88). Multivariate Logistic Regression was performed using backward elimination. The results demonstrated that overweight cats were four times at higher risks of developing LUTD than cats with ideal body weight (OR = 4.68, 95% CI, 1.75 to 12.46).