Urolithiasis in dogs. IV: Survey of interrelations among breed, mineral composition, and anatomic location of calculi, and presence of urinary tract infection
Ling, G.V.; Franti, C.E.; Johnson, D.L.; Ruby, A.L.
American Journal of Veterinary Research 59(5): 650-660
1998
ISSN/ISBN: 0002-9645 PMID: 9582971 Document Number: 486999
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. Results analysed included those of a mixed-breed group and 26 common breeds of stone-forming dogs. Interrelations of breed, sex and age of the affected dogs, mineral composition of the specimens and associated urinary tract infections were analysed. Proportions of culture-positive specimens were significantly correlated between the sexes. Staphylococcus intermedius was isolated most often from either sex, ranging from 36.1 % (Basset Hounds) to 67.9% (Pekingese) of cultured specimens from females and 8.7% (Chihuahuas) to 71.4% (Scottish Terriers) of specimens from males. The second most frequently isolated bacterial species, Escherichia coli, ranged from 0% in males of 2 breeds and females of 4 breeds to 25% in Cairn Terrier males and 19.4% in Basset Hound females. Streptococcus spp. were the third most frequently isolated bacterial species. Significant correlations between the sexes were found for percentages of calculi located in the urinary bladder, and for calculi voided in the urine. Breed and sex differences in prevalence of urolithiasis- and mineral-associated bacterial infections are numerous. S. intermedius was the most common isolate from specimens from all but 3 of 54 breed/sex groupings. For either sex, streptococcal infections were significantly related to proportions of calculi passed in the urine.