SA Urogenital Flashcards
What is the definition of feline idiopathic cystitis?
Abnormal voiding behaviour after exclusion of other disorders
No obvious cause
May be a one-off, or may be chronic/recurrent
What are the 2 divisions of feline lower urinary tract disease?
Obstructive and non-obstructive
Give some causes of non-obstructive feline lower urinary tract disease
Idiopathic cystitis (most common) Uroliths Anatomical defects/cancer Behavioural problems Bacterial infection (common in dogs, rare in cats)
Give some causes of obstructive feline lower urinary tract disease
Idiopathic cystitis
Uroliths
Urethral plus
Bladder stones and bacterial infections
What is feline lower urinary tract disease?
Collective term for signs of lower urinary tract disease and abnormal voiding behaviour
What age of cats is more commonly affected by lower urinary tract disease?
Young to middle-aged neutered cats, 2-6 yrs old
Give some predisposing factors for feline lower urinary tract disease
Obesity
Indoor/sedentary cats
Dry diet
Multi-cat household
Give some clinical signs of feline lower urinary tract disease
Dysuria (difficulty urinating)
Pollakiuria (increased frequency)
Haematuria
Inability to urinate (urethral obstruction)
Behavioural changes
Periuria (urinating in inappropriate places)
How could you gauge whether a cat has obstructive or non-obstructive feline lower urinary tract disease?
Palpate the abdomen-large, often painful bladder if obstructed
Why should you check the penis of a cat with suspected feline lower urinary tract disease?
Can check for signs of self-trauma/crystals/sludge
Penis often blocks at the tip
Describe the pathophysiology of feline idiopathic/interstitial cystitis
Alterations in neurotransmission to and from the bladder -> triggers inflammation
Reduced glycosaminoglycan layer (protects bladder lining)
What is the main trigger of idiopathic/interstitial cystitis?
Stress
Cat respond badly to stressful events anyway, certain stressful events will trigger cystitis, can look at their history for other stress-induced signs eg over-groooming, GI changes etc
Urethral plugs in cats are more common in which sex?
Males
Most common cause of obstruction
What does a urethral plug consist of?
Mucus/glycoprotein matrix, often with other substances trapped in the matrix
What types of uroliths are there?
Struvite (magnesium ammonium phosphate) (normally sterile in cats, not in dogs) Calcium oxalate Calcium phosphate Urates (may see with liver disease) Silica Mixed composition stones
Is bacterial infection a common or rare cause of feline lower urinary tract disease?
Rare
How may infection occur (which can lead to feline lower urinary tract disease)?
Usually iatrogenic (eg catheterisation) Secondary to urolithiasis, anatomical defects or neoplasia
Which kind of cats are more prone to bacterial infection of the urogenital tract?
Older cats with CKD and poorly concentrated urine
Diabetics
Which neoplasia is more common in the bladder of dogs and cats?
Transitional cell carcinoma
More rare in cats than dogs
Give some inherited and acquired anatomical defects of the urogenital tract
Inherited: -Vesico-urachal diverticulae -Bladder hypoplasia -Urethral strictures -Phimosis (inability of the prepuce to be retracted behind the glans penis) Acquired: -Strictures due to trauma -Inflammation -Iatrogenic damage
What biochem results may you see on a blood sample of a cat with feline lower urinary tract disease?
Hyperkalaemia (potassium is normally exreted out in urine)
Hyperphosphataemia (phosphate is normally exreted out in urine)
Metabolic acidosis
Azotaemia
How should you examine the urine of a cat with suspected feline lower urinary tract disease?
Dipstick for haematuria, proteinuria, pH
Sediment analysis (RBC are common +/- WBC, epithelial cells)
Crystals are a normal finding
Specific gravity (highly concentrated predisposes to urolith formation, diluted predisposes to bacterial infection)
Culture and sensitivity (recurrent/persistent cases)
What should you make sure you include when radiographing the urinary tract?
ALL of the urinary tract, including penile urethra
What does US allow you to see when investigating feline lower urinary tract disease?
Thickened bladder walls
Bladder masses
Uroliths and acoustic shadowing
Hyperechoic sediment
When would a cystotomy be indicated in a cat with lower urinary tract disease?
Removal of uroliths that can’t be dissolved medically
Biopsy of the bladder wall
How should you approach treatment of feline lower urinary tract disease?
Treat specific/underlying cause
If no obvious underlying cause, treat as idiopathic cystitis
How would you treat urethral plugs?
Emergency situation
Sedate and use catheter to flush plug back in, then flush bladder 4-5 times with warm saline
What could happen if you don’t treat a urethral plug?
Could develop post-renal azotaemia within 24hrs
Bladder may rupture
How could you investigate whether or not fluid in the abdomen was urine from a ruptured bladder?
Take some fluid and measure creatinine (not urea as this travels quickly across perioneum)
How would you treat struvite uroliths?
Dissolve with medical dissolution diet
How would you treat calcium oxalate uroliths?
Surgical removal
How would you treat other uroliths?
Encourage water intake
Use diet to prevemt recurrence
How would you treat feline interstitial/idiopathic cystitis?
Most cases resolve spontaneously within 5-10 days
Corsticosteroids and antibiotics have no positive effects!
Reduce stress (eg feliway)
Encourage water intake to create dilute urine (wet diet, water fountain etc)
Could give GAG supplements (decrease bladder permeability) but no significant difference
Analgesia and anti-inflammatories (eg butorphanol)
Tricyclic antidepressants (amitriptyline), chronic cases
Give some causes of stress for a cat
Changes in diet Weather Overcrowding Environment Owner stress
Which tricyclic antidepressant may be used in cases of feline interstitial/idiopathic cystitis?
Amitriptyline 2.5-20mg/cat q 24hrs (evenings)
Reserve for long-term treatment
Anticholinergic (increases bladder capacity)
Give some side effects of amitriptyline (tricyclic antidepressant used to treat feline idiopathic cystitis)
May cause drowsiness or urinary retention
Raised liver enzymes, neutropenia and thrombocytopenia
How would you treat a urethral spasm?
Give a negative side effect
Smooth muscle antispasmodics
eg acepromazine
May help reduce severity of signs and prevent urethra re-blocking
May cause hypotension
When does azotaemia occur?
When 75% of nephrons are damaged and not working
Can you have end-stage glomerulopathy without azotaemia?
Yes, as nephrons can function with a damaged glomerulus
Define acute kidney injury
Any damage to the kidney present for less than 3 months
Give some clinical signs of acute kidney injury
Nausea/vomiting Normuria/oliguria/anuria Hyperkalaemia Hypertension Azotaemia/uraemia
Give some causes of acute kidney injury
Toxins Infectious Vascular Post-renal obstructuve Secondary to systemic disease
Define chronic kidney disease
Any structural or functional change that is present and stable for over 3 months
In which 5 ways can CKD become apparent?
Slow deterioration of renal function over time
Previously healthy kidney -> episode of AKI -> progresses to CKD
A congenital condition becomes a problem
Acute or chronic episode -> accelerating decline
A neoplastic process expands/invades
Give some causes of renal damage that would be staged as Stage 1 CKD
Reduced renal concentrating ability Early neoplastic change Structural change (eg renal cyst) Tubular problems Presence of renal proteinuria
Define glomerular filtration rate
Amount of ultrafiltrate that passes through the glomerulus
Measured in ml/kg/hr
What is the most accurate way to assess glomerular filtration rate?
Measure the renal clearance of an exogenous substance eg insulin, iohexhol, or injected/exogenous creatinine clearance
However, these are all affected by pre-renal factors eg dehydration, hypotension
What 3 things must an animal be before you assess glomerular filtration rate?
Hydrated
Normovolaemic
Normotensive
How do urine and serum creatinine levels change with renal and pre-renal damage?
Pre-renal: high urine excretion of creatinine
Renal: low urine excretion of creatinine and high serum creatinine
What is the definition of a glomerulopathy?
Any damage to the glomeruli of the nephrons
What is the classical clinical sign of a glomerulopathy?
Proteinuria (used a method of diagnosis; >2.0)
Which dog breeds are prediposed to glomerulopathies?
Golden retrievers
Labradors
Give the pathophysiology of glomerulopathies
Deposition of immune complexes in the glomeruli (Type III hypersensitivity reaction) or
Antibody production against the glomerulus (Type II hypersensitivity reaction)
-> complement
-> local damage to the glomerulus by inflammation
-> leakage of proteins through glomerulus into urine
Can also get amyloid plaque deposition- high levels of proteinuria
Which breeds are more prone to amyloid plaque deposition in their glomeruli (renal amyloidosis)?
Shar pei
Siamese
Burmese cat
Give some causes of glomerulopathies
Familial (eg shar pei, beagle)
Acquired
Infectious (eg Lepto, sepsis, pyometra, pyelonephritis)
Inflammatory (eg severe pancreatitis)
When would you suspect a glomerulopathy?
Sick animal with proteinuria that does not resolve with treatment (eg has pancreatitis/sepsis)
Animal with newly diagnosed azotaemia and/or high urine protein
Hypertension of unknown origin
Thromboembolic event
At risk breeds
What is the gold standard method for diagnosing glomerulopathies?
Give some problems with this method
Biopsy, but is expensive, high risk of bleeding, doesn’t change tx options
What should you do after getting a positive dipstick result for proteinuria?
Quantify this result using the urine protein:creatinine ratio
Most easily confirmed by taking a cystocentesis sample and analysing haem and biochem
Should also confirm persistence of proteinuria by having proteinuria in 3 samples, 2 weeks apart
You should only start treatment for a glomerulopathy after proteinuria is confirmed to be which 3 things?
Persistent (3 measurements, 2 weeks apart)
Renal
Quantified (do UP:C)
Which values for proteinuria suggest glomerulopathy and which suggest tubulointerstitial lesions?
> 2.0 suggests glomerulopathy
<2.0 suggests tubulointerstitial lesions
For which values of proteinuria for dogs and cats would you start treatment?
Dogs: >0.5
Cats: >0.4
How do you treat proteinuria?
How does it work?
What may happen as a result?
Ace inhibitors (benazapril)
Reduces efferent arteriole pressure -> reduced GFR -> reduced pressure in glomerulus
Mild effect on BP
Reduced GFR may cause an increase in azotaemia, phosphate, potassium, serum creatinine (monitor?)
Why does hypercoagulability occur with glomerulopathies?
Due to loss of anti-thrombin III
Give some treatment options for hypercoagulability associated with glomerulopathies
Low-dose aspirin (diluted)
Clopidogrel (inhibits platelets)
Dalteparin (inhibits factor X)
Give a problem with hypertension
Can cause end-organ damage (eyes, heart, kidneys, liver, CNS)
What is the standard treatment for hypertension?
What is the target value?
Amlodipine
Target: 150mmHg systolic
How can you alter diet when treating glomerulopathies?
Restrict protein (reduces proteinuria and azotaemia) Omega-3 supplementation (reduces glomerular inflammation) Renal diet if azotaemic (stage 3 in dogs, stage 2 in cats)
Why is it important that an animal eats when it has azotaemia?
Starvation results in catabolism of body proteins -> increased protein through kidneys
Summarise how you’d treat a glomerulopathy
Ace-inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers (eg benazepril, to reduce proteinuria)
Anti-hypertensive medication (amlodipine)
Anti-thrombotic medication (loss of anti-thrombin III)
Diet (restrict protein, omega 3 supplementation)
What is the general prognosis time for dogs with a glomerulopathy and no azomtaemia?
6m-1yr
What would you suspect in a dog with a 24hr history of severe vomiting, collapse, intense abdominal pain and mild diarrhoea?
Acute pancreatitis
Why should you sometimes be skeptical when measuring urine P:C ratio in the vets?
UP:C will increase in the vets due to stress
What would you give to a dog with CKD with increased phosphate?
Phosphate binder
Renal amyloidosis in Shar peis can result in what?
High levels of proteinuria
Commonly preceded by episodes of ‘Shar pei fever’-self-limiting swollen hocks/pyrexia
Rapidly progressive
Commonly leads to nephrotic syndrome
How would you treat renal amyloidosis (Shar peis)?
Typical treatment for a glomerulopathy plus colchicine +/- DMSO
What is the method of inheritance of polycystic kidney disease?
Depends on breed (persian, ragdoll, british short hair, WHWT)
Is autosomal dominant
How is polycystic kidney disease characterised?
Cysts in the kidney and also liver (slowly progressive)
What is nephrotic syndrome?
When is it seen?
Severe loss of protein from the glomerulus
Often seen in severe/end-stage glomerulopathies and common in amyloidosis
How is nephrotic syndrome characterised?
Hypoalbuminaemia
Peripheral oedema
Hypercholesterolaemia
+/- azotaemia
What is the prognosis like for nephrotic syndrome?
Very poor-12.5 days (due to low oncotic pressure)
Which fluids should you avoid in dogs with nephrotic syndrome?
Colloids
Give some pre-renal causes of acute kidney injury
Decreased renal blood flow caused by: -Dehydration -Hypovolaemia -Hypotension (Causes decreaed GFR and mild azotaemia)
Is pre-renal acute kidney injury reversible?
Yes if corrected in time
Give some causes of renal parenchymal disease
Ischaemia
Toxins
Intrinsic renal parenchymal disease
Systemic diseases targeting kidney
Give some causes of ischaemia which can then lead to renal parenchymal disease
Hypovolaemia Hypotension Renal vasoconstriction (prostaglandin inhibitors) Thrombi, DIC Pancreatitis, peritonitis, vasculitis
Give some toxins which can cause renal parenchymal disease
Antibacterials (aminoglycosides) Chemotherapy drugs (cisplatin) Radiographic contrast media NSAIDs (eg ibuprofen) Organic compounds (ethylene glycol) Easter lily Paracetamol
Give some intrinsic conditions that cause acute kidney injury
Infectious (leptospirosis, FIP, leishmaniasis)
Pyelonephritis, septic emboli
Glomerulonephritis
Trauma
Give some systemic diseases that cause acute kidney injury
Multiple organ failure
Polycythaemia
Lymphoma
Hypercalcaemia
Describe the 4 stages of acute kidney injury
Initiation phase: damage starts
Extension phase: ischaemia, hypoxia, inflammatory response, ongoing cellular injury, cell death
Maintenance phase: GFR stabilises, azotaemia, uraemia, variable urine production
Recovery phase: azotaemia improves, tubules undergo repair, can have marked polyuria
How do you diagnose acute kidney injury?
History (recent anorexia, PD, vomiting, diarrhoea, toxin exposure? Signs of infection?)
Physical exam (dehydration, uraemic breath, hypothermia, tongue/buccal ulceration, +/- kidney pain/enlargement, occasional neuro signs)
Bloods (azotaemia, hyperkalaemia, metabolic acidosis, increased PCV, TP)
Urine (isosthenuria, can see glucosuria and haematuria, look at sediment for casts, WBCs, bacteria, crystals)
Imaging (radiography: kidney size, shape, opacity, ureter, bladder, urethra. US: renal size, parenchyma, echogenicity)
How big should the kidney be in dogs?
What about cats?
Dogs: 2.5-3.5 x L2
Cats: 2-3xL2