Urolithiasis in dogs. I: Mineral prevalence and interrelations of mineral composition, age, and sex
Ling, G.V.; Franti, C.E.; Ruby, A.L.; Johnson, D.L.; Thurmond, M.
American Journal of Veterinary Research 59(5): 624-629
1998
ISSN/ISBN: 0002-9645 PMID: 9582968 Document Number: 485009
Records were used to compile information from all canine calculi analysed between July 1981 and January 1994 at the School of Veterinary Medicine, Davis, California. 11 000 specimens (5781 from females, 5215 from males, and 4 from dogs of unrecorded sex) were collected. Approximately 70% of the specimens were from a first episode of urolithiasis. Calculi were located in the urinary bladder of 93.1% of females and 79.0% of males, and in the upper urinary tract of 4% of females and 2% of males. Calculi were found in multiple sites in 23.1% of males and 5.2% of females. Significantly higher proportions of struvite, apatite and urate were found in uroliths from females. Oxalate, cystine, silica and brushite were significantly more prevalent in males. 61% of specimens from males and 29% from females were composed of a single mineral substance. The most common mineral combination of 2 or more minerals included struvite and apatite. An additional 67 specimens from male dogs and 49 from female dogs contained other mineral combinations. In 48% of specimens from males and nearly 62% of specimens from females, the mineral formed several distinct layers of differing composition. It is concluded that the prevalence of canine uroliths differs between ages and between the sexes in dogs, that many specimens contain complex layering of minerals and that most specimens are found in the urinary bladder.