Epidemiology of urolithiasis in dogs from Guadalajara City, Mexico

Israel Alejandro Quijano-Hernández,Marco Antonio Barbosa-Mireles,Claudia Iveth Mendoza-López,Maria Alejandra Aké-Chiñas,Javier Del-Angel-Caraza

doi:10.22201/fmvz.24486760e.2019.1.585

Israel Alejandro Quijano-Hernández, Marco Antonio Barbosa-Mireles

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.22201/fmvz.24486760e.2019.1.585

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Abstract

Urolithiasis is a frequent and recurrent problem in dogs around the world. Several epidemiological studies based on mineral composition of uroliths have been carried out in different geographical areas. The objective of this study was to analyze epidemiological data of 195 dogs with urolithiasis from the metropolitan area of Guadalajara Jalisco, Mexico. To determine the chemical composition of uroliths, quantitative and qualitative analyses were performed by means of stereoscopic microscopy and infrared spectroscopy. The dogs` median age was six years and a male-female ratio of 1.4:1 was observed. The most affected pure breed dogs were schnauzer, poodle, Labrador retriever, Yorkshire terrier, and German shepherd. The frequency of uroliths of struvite, calcium oxalate, urates, mixes, and compounds, is similar to the one found in other studies performed in other populations. However, a much higher frequency of silicate-containing uroliths (16.92%) was observed, both in a pure form as well as in mineral mixtures. These results led us to suggest the need to develop further investigations to determine the origin of this high frequency.Figure 1. Different types of uroliths. Note the differences in shape, size, color, and number; however, none of these characteristics is specific to a particular mineral composition.

Highlights

Urolithiasis is a frequent and recurrent problem in dogs around the world. It accounts for 18% to 20.61% of dogs with lower urinary tract diseases referred to veterinary hospitals in the USA and Mexico.[1,2]
Urolithiasis is a multifactorial disease with implied epidemiological aspects influenced by different risk factors
The state of Jalisco is located within this Trans-Mexican neovolcanic axis, so we suggest that there might be a relationship between the affected animals and their geographical location, since it is very likely that in Guadalajara city the groundwater contains high amounts of silica, similar to what is found in Mexico City, where its most important source of water comes from groundwater found in volcanic areas.[11]

Summary

Introduction

Urolithiasis is a frequent and recurrent problem in dogs around the world It accounts for 18% to 20.61% of dogs with lower urinary tract diseases referred to veterinary hospitals in the USA and Mexico.[1,2] The mortality rate is between 0.5% and 3% in veterinary hospitals in the US and Germany.[1] The prevalence has only been determined in Norway and Sweden, at 0.05% and 0.24% respectively.[3]. Urolithiasis is a multifactorial disease with implied epidemiological aspects influenced by different risk factors. These include breed, sex, age, diet, anatomical and functional urinary alterations, metabolic disorders, genetic predisposition, and bacterial urinary tract infection (BUTI),[4] as well as factors inherent to the geographic area.[2,5]

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