Hypocholesterolemia in cats: a multicenter retrospective study of 106 cats

Abstract

Objectives The aim of this study was to describe the clinicopathologic findings and associated diseases found in a population of hypocholesterolemic cats referred to two tertiary care facilities. Methods An electronic medical record search was performed at two veterinary university referral centers to identify cats with serum cholesterol values below reference interval between January 2004 and 2016. Clinicopathologic data were reviewed for each case and cats were classified into specific disease categories based on clinical diagnosis. Median cholesterol values were compared between disease categories, as well as between survivors and non-survivors. Results In total, 106 hypocholesterolemic cats were included. The median age of the cats was 6 years (range 0.24–18 years). The most common disease categories were gastrointestinal (25.9%), hepatobiliary (19.8%), hematologic (14.8%) and urogenital (14.8%). Though median serum cholesterol values did not differ significantly between survivors and non-survivors, cats with concurrent hypoalbuminemia were at higher risk (odds ratio 15.6, 95% confidence interval 5.2–46.6; P <0.0001) of not surviving to discharge than cats with normal serum albumin concentrations. Conclusions and relevance Taken together, our data suggest that while the degree of hypocholesterolemia did not appear to influence survival rates, the concurrent presence of hypocholesterolemia and hypoalbuminemia was associated with a worse prognosis.

Period prevalence and mortality rates associated with hypocholesterolaemia in dogs and cats: 1,375 cases

“…As far as we know, this is the first report of the prevalence of hypocholesterolaemia in a diverse population of dogs. The period prevalence of feline hypocholesterolaemia in our study differs from the reported prevalence of 0.3-0.4% at other academic institutions (Bowman et al 2019). This is likely explained by different inclusion methods for the study populations.…”

“…This association with mortality has also been previously shown in canine aflatoxin hepatotoxicosis and in dogs with severe sepsis resulting from parvoviral enteritis (Yilmaz & Senturk 2007, Dereszynski et al 2008. Although a retrospective study in 106 cats did not find a relationship between mortality and severity of hypocholesterolaemia alone, it did find that when hypocholesterolaemia and hypoalbuminaemia were evaluated together, the odds ratio of non-survival increased to 15.6 (Bowman et al 2019). The relationship of hypocholesterolaemia with death in humans is well established and a similar linear trend to our study was also demonstrated in three human hospitals (Windler et al 1994, Bonville et al 2004.…”

“…The period prevalence of feline hypocholesterolaemia in our study differs from the reported prevalence of 0.3‐0.4% at other academic institutions (Bowman et al . 2019). This is likely explained by different inclusion methods for the study populations.…”

“…In a third study, dogs hospitalised in the ICU that had hypocholesterolaemia showed increased odds of death (Viall et al 2019). There is only one study to date in cats, which did not show an association between the degree of hypocholesterolaemia and survival (Bowman et al 2019).…”

“…There is only one study to date in cats, which did not show an association between the degree of hypocholesterolaemia and survival (Bowman et al . 2019).…”