Radiographic lumbosacral vertebral abnormalities and constipation in cats

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Lumbosacral intervertebral disk disease (IVDD) in cats usually develops concurrent with constipation, spondylosis deformans, and sacralization. However, the prevalence of lumbar IVDD in cats was considered low, and there was less information on the incidence of non-traumatic lumbosacral vertebral abnormalities that may affect large bowel dysfunction. This study aimed to retrospectively investigate the relationship between non-traumatic lumbosacral vertebral abnormalities, both congenital and acquired, and large bowel dysfunction in cats. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Of 3108 cats that were presented to the Diagnostic Imaging Unit, the Small Animal Teaching Hospital, Faculty of Veterinary Science, Chulalongkorn University, between March 2016 and February 2018, 1365 cats met the inclusion criteria. All abdominal radiographs were reviewed, and all subsequent data were recorded, including the presence of congenital or acquired lumbosacral lesions, number of lumbar vertebrae, and length of the second, fifth, and last lumbar vertebrae, including the type of lumbar abnormalities. Moreover, radiographic information relating to constipation and megacolon was also collected. RESULTS: Non-traumatic lumbosacral vertebral abnormalities were observed in 29.74% of cats. The most common congenital lumbosacral vertebral abnormalities were six lumbar vertebrae, sacralization, and lumbarization, whereas most common acquired lumbosacral abnormalities were bone spur, narrowing disk space, spondylosis deformans, and lumbosacral degeneration, respectively. Cats with abnormal lumbosacral vertebrae are prone to have more problems with the large bowel (p=0.0057; odds ratio=1.731). Moreover, congenital and acquired lumbosacral abnormalities were also at risk of large bowel abnormalities (p=0.0069; odds ratio=1.920 and p<0.0001; odds ratio=4.107, respectively). CONCLUSION: This study revealed the evidence and distribution of the variation in feline lumbar anatomy and also elucidated that cats with abnormal lumbar vertebral columns were more likely to have problems with distal gastrointestinal tracts than those without.