Retrospective case control study of pet ferrets with cystine urolithiasis in Quebec, Canada : epidemiological and clinical features
Article [Version of Record]
Is part of
Journal of veterinary medicine and surgery ; vol. 5, no. 1.Publisher(s)
Insight medical publishingAuthor(s)
Abstract(s)
Objective: To describe epidemiological and clinical features of cystine urolithiasis
in pet ferrets.
Methods: Retrospective case control study on medical records from four private
clinics and one teaching hospital for pet ferrets diagnosed with cystine urolithiasis
confirmed by spectrophotometry presented between July 2014 and July 2019 in
Quebec, Canada; these cases were then compared to a reference population of
210 ferrets (controls) presented at the same facilities over the same timeframe.
Results: Among the 36 identified cases, most affected ferrets were neutered males
(32/36, 89%) and the mean age at presentation was 1.8 (± 1.0 standard deviation)
year. Grain-free diets of six different brands were offered for at least three weeks
prior to the presentation to 34/36 (94%) of the included cases. The ferrets that
developed cystine urolithiasis were 57.9 times (Odds ratio [OR], 95% Confidence
interval [95% CI]: 11.0, 304.8) more likely to receive a grain-free diet compared to
the reference population. No significant difference in the values for the energy,
protein, cysteine, and methionine contents were detected between the grainfree and the cereal-based diets offered to these pet ferrets. Among ferrets with
uroliths, those with urethral calculi were 4.7 times (OR, 95% CI: 2.1, 10.4) more
likely to develop an acute urinary tract obstruction.
Conclusion: Although a definitive causation could not be drawn solely from these
clinical cases, this case control study highlights a possible nutritional aetiology in
the complex pathogenesis of cystine urolithiasis in ferrets.
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