Feline urological syndrome: associations with some time, space, and individual patient factors.

In the Veterinary Medical Data Program, 4,111 cases of the feline urological syndrome (FUS) were identified from the abstracted records for the period March, 1964, through December, 1973. Associations between FUS and some relevant factors were evaluated by a relative risk technique, referring to the characteristics of the population of all cats seen at the 13 contributing veterinary colleges. Significant differences existed in the rates of FUS for these institutions, whereas the seasonal variations in general were similar for all institutions and years, showing a peak in March and a decrease in July-August. There was an increase in the frequency of the FUS diagnosis over the 10-year period. Persian cats showed increased risk, and Siamese cats decreased risk relative to the other breeds, and castrated males and spayed females were found to have excess risk when compared with their respective unaltered sex category; interaction from age affected the degree but not the direction of these associations. The age factor per se had risks peaking at 2 to 6 years. Finally, heavy cats showed significantly higher risk of FUS than did less heavy cats.