Postoperative mortality in cats after ureterolithotomy

Objective: To identify preoperative risk factors associated with mortality before discharge in cats having a single or multiple ureterotomy procedures to treat a ureteral obstruction. Study Design: Case series. Animals: Cats (n=47). Methods: Data were obtained from the medical records (2002–2009) of cats that had undergone ureterolithotomy procedures. Multiple preoperative factors were evaluated for association of survival to discharge. Result: Survival to discharge after ureterolithotomy was 79% (37/47). Over 79% of cats were azotemic before surgery and 94% had chronic kidney disease changes at the time of ultrasonographic diagnosis. Six cats required an additional surgical procedure because of complications with ureterolithotomy. Overall prevalence of postoperative uroabdomen was 6% (3/47). On multivariate analysis, there were no preoperative variables significantly associated with survival to discharge. Conclusions: Ureterolithotomy in cats was associated with a 21% mortality rate before hospital discharge. No preoperative variables associated with mortality were identified; therefore, further studies are needed to identify more discriminating preoperative characteristics for mortality after ureterolithotomy in this population of cats.