Pancreatitis in domestic cats: prevalence
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.31210/spi2025.28.04.23Keywords:
research, domestic cat, gastroenterology, pancreas, prevalence of pancreatitis, age, sexAbstract
The article presents the results of a comprehensive analysis of the prevalence of non-infectious pancreatitis among domestic cats in the Poltava region during the period 2022–2024. In total, 13,146 cases of disease in cats were registered in veterinary clinics in Poltava, of which 11,437 (87.0 %) were non-infectious pathologies. Digestive disorders accounted for 19.16 % (2,191 cases), among which pancreatitis was diagnosed in 334 animals (15.25 %), which allows us to identify it as one of the leading pathologies of the gastrointestinal tract along with gastroenteritis (291 cases; 13.29 %) and neoplasms (137 cases; 6.25 %). An in-depth analysis included 134 cats with laboratory-confirmed pancreatitis, among which 14 animals were found to have a chronic form of the disease, and 10 had concomitant disorders of the hepatobiliary and digestive systems. An age-related dependence of the development of pathology was established: the largest proportion was animals aged 7–11 years (41.7 %), followed by cats aged 1–6 years (33.3 %) and 12–15 years (25 %). Gender distribution showed no significant differences: females – 54.2 %, males – 45.8 %, which does not indicate a stable gender predisposition to the development of pancreatitis. The obtained results indicate the high clinical significance of pancreatitis in the structure of non-infectious gastroenterological pathologies in cats, its polyetiological nature, and frequent combination with other diseases of the abdominal organs. A summary of the obtained results indicates that pancreatitis is a polyetiological process that often occurs in combination with other inflammatory or metabolic disorders of the abdominal organs. The data presented are of practical importance and can serve as a basis for improving diagnostic approaches, interpretation of clinical and laboratory indicators, and the development of algorithms for early detection of pathology and planning of further studies aimed at clarifying risk factors, breed- and season-related predisposition to pathology, which is especially relevant in the context of an increase in the number of chronic gastroenterological diseases in small domestic animals.
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