TOPEKA, KS / AGILITYPR.NEWS / March 24, 2021 / Support from Hill’s Pet Nutrition sustains vital service for veterinarians worldwide

The Minnesota Urolith Center (MUC) is celebrating two milestones, the analysis of its 1.5 millionth urinary stone (urolith) and 40 years of delivering stone analysis to veterinary healthcare teams around the world. Part of the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Minnesota, the MUC aims to reduce the incidence of urinary disease and enhance the care of pets with urinary disorders. With support of its long-term partner Hill's Pet Nutrition, the MUC provides the veterinary profession with free stone analysis and science-supported recommendations to help deliver optimal care to their patients.

In addition to the individual dogs and cats helped by the MUC, the epidemiological data gathered during the last 40 years has inspired the development of minimally-invasive therapies for dissolution of struvite uroliths, progress on the genetics of stone disease and, more recently, a collaboration with Washington University to adapt burst wave lithotripsy for cats with ureteral stones. 

MUC Director Professor Jody Lulich said: “During the last few years, we have seen the incidence of struvite stones increasing yet it is a stone that can be dissolved medically. We are also seeing a global rise in canine cystine stones; over 4000 dogs were diagnosed in 2020 - eight times higher than 20 years ago. Understanding risk factors and causes of stone types is key to their treatment and prevention. Our analysis highlights important trends that inform efforts to improve the health of companion animals and help prevent recurrence.”

To enable veterinary healthcare teams to quickly access stone analysis results and individualized patient recommendations for treatment and preventive strategies, the MUC has developed a multi-language smart phone app (MN Urolith). Features recently added include the ‘CALCulate’ and ‘CALCuRad’ functions to assist with more accurate prediction of stone composition.

Dr. Lulich said “Reaching our 1.5th millionth stone and our 40-year anniversary in a year scarred by the COVID pandemic is testament to fantastic teamwork by our clinicians, technicians and students. Our service is funded by donations and we thank all the veterinarians and pet owners who have supported us. We are particularly grateful to Hill’s Pet Nutrition for its support, enabling us to continue the legacy of the MUC’s founder, Dr Carl Osborne.”

Dr S. Dru Forrester, Director - Global Scientific Affairs at Hill's Pet Nutrition, said “Our partnership with the MUC helps ensure the best care for pets, with an emphasis on the nutritional management of urinary stones over options, such as invasive surgery. We are proud of the work done by the MUC team, which has helped improve the lives of millions of pets and encourage all veterinarians to take advantage of its free service to enable them to best manage their individual patients."