Retrospective Evaluation of the Prognosis and Prevalence of Hyperchloremia in Dogs and Cats.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To determine the prevalence, case-fatality rate, and primary disease processes associated with high corrected chloride concentration (hyper[Cl]) in dogs and cats. DESIGN: Single-center retrospective study. SETTING: Electrical medical records were reviewed to identify dogs and cats with at least one chloride and sodium concentration measured simultaneously during a 60-month period. ANIMALS: A total of 17,120 dogs and 4197 cats presented to a veterinary teaching hospital. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Measured hyper[Cl] was diagnosed in 18.1% (3092/17,120) dogs and 9.4% (396/4197) cats. Corrected hyper[Cl] was diagnosed in 21.1% (3607/17,120) dogs and 9.1% (384/4197) cats. The case-fatality rates were higher in animals with corrected hyper[Cl] than in those with normal corrected [Cl] (p&#xa0;<&#xa0;0.0001). The case-fatality rate was higher in dogs with measured hyper[Cl] than in those with corrected hyper[Cl] (p&#xa0;=&#xa0;0.011). Of the dogs and cats with corrected hyper[Cl], a total of 50.9% (1835/3607) dogs and 38.3% (147/384) cats were categorized as prehospital corrected hyper[Cl], whereas a total of 39.5% (1424/3607) dogs and 48.7% (187/384) cats with corrected hyper[Cl] were categorized as hospital-acquired corrected hyper[Cl]. The case-fatality rate of dogs and cats with hospital-acquired corrected hyper[Cl] was higher than that of prehospital corrected hyper[Cl] in dogs (p&#xa0;<&#xa0;0.0001) but not in cats (p&#xa0;=&#xa0;0.9). Various primary disease processes, including neurologic and urologic diseases, were identified in animals with corrected hyper[Cl]. CONCLUSIONS: Corrected hyper[Cl] was a common electrolyte abnormality identified in dogs and cats, and it was associated with higher case-fatality rates than normal corrected [Cl]. Hospital-acquired corrected hyper[Cl] was less common but was associated with a higher case-fatality rate than prehospital corrected hyper[Cl] in dogs. Further investigation of corrected hyper[Cl] in association with its morbidity and mortality and the role of therapy to target normal [Cl] is warranted.