New research from Royal Canin reveals a 39% rise in cats diagnosed with urinary disorders and a 10% rise in dogs.
The rise in cases has been linked to increased levels of stress in cats, caused by changes in routines leading to owners and children spending more time at home.
Yet, despite a 10% rise in new and recurring urinary cases in dogs, only a third of vets reporting an increase in urinary disorders in dogs are running more urinary stone analyses a year ago. The majority (53%) said they are carrying out the same number of urinary stone tests for dogs and 12% are carrying out less tests.
Cost and time biggest barriers to urinary stone analysis
Vets said costs and time taken to get the results back were the biggest barriers to using a urine stone analysis service more frequently. Cost was a factor for 35% and 33% of vets said the time to get test results was an issue.
Only 16% of vets surveyed were aware that Royal Canin provide a free urine stone analysis service with a 10 a day turnaround on test results for vet practices across the UK. Once diagnosed and a recommendation is made, vets said owner compliance was the biggest factor stopping successful treatment of urinary disorders in cats and dogs.
Other barriers quoted included obtaining urine samples from cats, which impacts the ability to give a correct diagnosis and pet owners’ desire for a quick fix and reluctance to invest in follow up investigations.
Elisabete Capitao, Vet and Vet Marketing Manager at Royal Canin said: “Our research revealed that many pet owners don’t understand urinary disease – a third don’t know what the causes are and over a third mix feed a urinary diet with other food. Considering that owners want the best for their pets, poor diet compliance could be a consequence of this lack of understanding about urinary disease.”
