Radiographical Assessment of the Urinary System Diseases in Cats

Abstract

Introduction: The urinary system is frequently diseased in cats. Although the radiographical technique is not the best choice for studying most of the urinary organs, it still remains a valuable tool particularly for ureteral, urinary bladder and urethral disorders. 1 Aims: This study aims to describe the aspects of urinary tract pathologies in cats with different urinary diseases, radiographicallydiagnosed. Materials and methods: Twenty-two cats were included in the study after a revision of the database of Interdepartmental Veterinary Radiology Centre of Naples and of Veterinary Radiological Laboratory of Iasi, in the period 2000-2012. Survey and contrast medium radiographs were taken in consideration. The diagnosis of the subjects included was also confirmed with other techniques (i.e. ultrasonography, surgery and/or necropsy). Results: Pathological findings that were diagnosed on survey radiographs included: changes in kidney size (2), renal and ureteral lithiasis (3), urinary bladder distension (4), and urinary bladder lithiasis (2).With contrast radiography (i.e. excretory urography and cystography), it was possible to diagnoserenal ectopia with fusion (1), cysts (1), and hydronephrosis (1), dilatation (2), and incompetence (1), urinary bladder cystitis (4) and tumors (2), and urethral stenosis (2). Conclusions: Considering the relative small number of cases, the present study, confirmed that the radiographical technique is not the best choice to image the urinary tract diseases. However, especially when accompanied by contrast studies, radiography demonstrates to be a reliable tool to diagnose urinary pathologies and it still maintains its importance, particularly when other techniques are not available.