Epidemiology of urolithiasis in dogs from Guadalajara City, Mexico

Abstract

Urolithiasis is a frequent and recurrent problem in dogs around the world. Several epidemiological studies based on mineral composition of uroliths have been carried out in different geographical areas. The objective of this study was to analyze epidemiological data of 195 dogs with urolithiasis from the metropolitan area of Guadalajara Jalisco, Mexico. To determine the chemical composition of uroliths, quantitative and qualitative analyses were performed by means of stereoscopic microscopy and infrared spectroscopy. The dogs` median age was six years and a male-female ratio of 1.4:1 was observed. The most affected pure breed dogs were schnauzer, poodle, Labrador retriever, Yorkshire terrier, and German shepherd. The frequency of uroliths of struvite, calcium oxalate, urates, mixes, and compounds, is similar to the one found in other studies performed in other populations. However, a much higher frequency of silicate-containing uroliths (16.92%) was observed, both in a pure form as well as in mineral mixtures. These results led us to suggest the need to develop further investigations to determine the origin of this high frequency.Figure 1. Different types of uroliths. Note the differences in shape, size, color, and number; however, none of these characteristics is specific to a particular mineral composition.