Retrospective Review of Gastrointestinal Surgical Cases in Cats at Lagos Veterinary Teaching Hospital

Gastrointestinal surgical conditions in cats represent a diverse and challenging clinical area of feline surgery, ranging from foreign body obstruction to neoplasia and intussusception. This retrospective study reviews gastrointestinal surgical cases in domestic cats presented at the Lagos State University Veterinary Teaching Hospital, South West Nigeria, between January 2020 and December 2023. Case records of 83 feline patients that underwent gastrointestinal surgery were analyzed for signalment, diagnosis, surgical procedure, intraoperative findings, and postoperative outcomes. Foreign body obstruction was the most frequently encountered diagnosis, accounting for 37% of all cases, followed by intussusception at 22% and alimentary lymphoma requiring biopsy at 14%. Enterotomy was the most commonly performed surgical procedure in 46% of cases. The jejunum was the most frequent site of obstruction or intussusception. Perioperative complications including intestinal dehiscence and septic peritonitis were documented in 16% of cases and were significantly associated with delayed surgical intervention. Cats with peritoneal contamination at the time of surgery had a 2.4-fold higher mortality rate. Overall survival to discharge was 78%. Age, body condition score, and concurrent systemic disease were the strongest predictors of surgical outcome. This review contributes important baseline clinical data to the limited body of literature on feline gastrointestinal surgery in Nigerian tertiary veterinary institutions and supports the need for enhanced emergency surgical capacity. Keywords: feline gastrointestinal surgery, foreign body obstruction, enterotomy, Lagos, intussusception.