Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Oct;23(10):945-951.
doi: 10.1177/1098612X21990302. Epub 2021 Feb 5.

Retrospective interview-based long-term follow-up study of cats diagnosed with idiopathic cystitis in 2003-2009

Anna V Eggertsdóttir  1 , Stine Blankvandsbråten  1 , Páll Gretarsson  1 , Anna E Olofsson  1 , Heidi S Lund  1
Affiliations

Retrospective interview-based long-term follow-up study of cats diagnosed with idiopathic cystitis in 2003-2009

Anna V Eggertsdóttir et al. J Feline Med Surg. 2021 Oct.

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of this study was to register long-term recurrence rates and mortality rates in cats diagnosed with feline idiopathic cystitis (FIC), with an observation period until death or a minimum of 10 years.

Methods: Data regarding recurrence of signs of feline lower urinary tract disease (FLUTD) and FLUTD-related mortality in cats diagnosed with FIC between 2003 and 2009 were obtained through structured telephone interviews with the cat owners from December 2018 until February 2019. The interviews were based on a standardised questionnaire covering whether the cat was still alive or not, whether death/euthanasia were due to FLUTD and whether the cat had experienced recurrent episodes of clinical signs of FLUTD. If recurrences had occurred, exact numbers or estimates of 1-3, 4-6 or >6 recurrences were recorded.

Results: The owners of 50/105 FIC cats included in a previous study (48%) were available for inclusion in the present study. At the time of the interview, only 6/50 cats (12%) were still alive. The FLUTD-related mortality rate was 20% (n = 10/50). Twenty-three cats (46%) had no recurrences, three cats (6%) were euthanased shortly after diagnosis, nine cats (18%) had 1-3 recurrences, three cats (6%) had 4-6 recurrences and six cats (12%) had >6 recurrences. For the remaining six cats, the number of recurrences was uncertain.

Conclusions and relevance: The long-term prognosis for cats diagnosed with FIC may, based on the results from the present study, be regarded as fairly good, as approximately 70% of the cats either recovered without additional episodes, experienced only a few recurrences, are still alive after a minimum of 10 years since inclusion in the study, or were euthanased for reasons unrelated to FLUTD.

Keywords: Lower urinary tract disease; idiopathic cystitis; mortality; recurrence; stress.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Overview of the cats with feline idiopathic cystitis (FIC) eligible for inclusion (n = 105) and those eventually included in the study (n = 50). FLUTD = feline lower urinary tract disease
Figure 2
Figure 2
(a) Age (years) from initial diagnosis to euthanasia in cats euthanased owing to feline lower urinary tract disease (FLUTD) (n = 10). (b) Age (years) from initial diagnosis to euthanasia in cats euthanased for causes other than FLUTD (n = 27)
Figure 3
Figure 3
Number of recurrent episodes with regard to whether the cat was euthanased owing to feline lower urinary tract disease (FLUTD) or not (n = 50)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Osborne CA, Kruger JM, Lulich JP. Feline lower urinary tract disorders – definitions of terms and concepts. Vet Clin North Am Small Anim Pract 1996; 26: 169–179. - PubMed
    1. Gerber B, Boretti FS, Kley S, et al. Evaluation of clinical signs and causes of lower urinary tract disease in European cats. J Small Anim Pract 2005; 46: 571–577. - PubMed
    1. Sævik BK, Trangerud C, Ottesen N, et al. Causes of lower urinary tract disease in Norwegian cats. J Feline Med Surg 2011; 13: 410–417. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Westropp JL, Buffington CAT, Chew D. Feline lower urinary tract diseases. In: Ettinger SJ, Feldman EC. (eds). Textbook of veterinary internal medicine. 6th ed. St Louis, MO: Elsevier Saunders, 2005, pp 1818–1850.
    1. Buffington CAT, Chew DJ, Kendall MS, et al. Clinical evaluation of cats with nonobstructive urinary tract disease. J Am Vet Med Assoc 1997; 210: 46–50. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources