Occurrence and clinical outcomes of bacteriuria in 9 cats affected by neurogenic bladder: a retrospective cases series (2021-2024).

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the occurrence and the clinical outcome of bacteriuria in cats with neurogenic bladder (NB) resulting from chronic thoracolumbar spinal cord injury.

ANIMALS: 9 paraplegic cats with NB due to chronic T3-L3 spinal cord injury, housed in a shelter for neurologically impaired cats.

CLINICAL PRESENTATION: Retrospective case series. Medical records from the Veterinary Teaching Hospital of the University of Bari (Italy) between January 2021 and May 2024 were reviewed. Cats with a confirmed diagnosis of NB, managed exclusively via manual bladder expression, resulting from chronic (> 3 months) thoracolumbar spinal cord injury were included. The keywords neurogenic bladder and spinal cord injury were used to identify cases.

RESULTS

All 9 cats experienced at least 1 episode of bacteriuria over the observational period. Across 27 clinical evaluations, 18 positive urine cultures were identified. Of these 18 cultures, 12 were classified as subclinical bacteriuria (SB) and 5 as urinary tract infections (UTIs); 1 was unclassified. None of the SB episodes were treated with antibiotics. Progression from SB to UTI was observed in only 2 cats.

CLINICAL RELEVANCE: This study highlights a high occurrence of bacteriuria in cats with NB, with SB being the most common presentation. In the absence of antimicrobial therapy, SB progressed to UTI in only 2 out of 9 cats. These finding suggested that, although diagnostic criteria may have limitations in this population, in the absence of comorbidities, a conservative approach to the management of bacteriuria in cats with NB, monitoring SB and reserving antimicrobial treatment for UTIs, may be appropriate.