Incidence and risk factors for feline lymphoma in UK primary‐care practice

Objectives: The study aimed to estimate the incidence and prevalence of feline lymphoma in cats attending primary-care practices across the UK and to identify patient-based and environmental (radon and pesticide exposure) risk factors. Materials and methods: Case records from the VetCompassTM programme from primary-care veterinary practices in the UK were searched for a diagnosis of lymphoma in cats in 2016. Cases were required to have had an external laboratory confirmed diagnosis based on cytology and/or histopathology. A nested case-control study design was used to identify risk factors for lymphoma using multivariable logistic regression. Results: From a cohort of 562,446 cats under veterinary care at VetCompass participating practices in 2016, a total of 271 lymphoma cases were identified (prevalence: 48/100,000, 95% CI 44- 56/100,000; incidence 32/100,000, 95% CI 26- 35/100,000). There was 180 incident lymphoma cases and 803 controls, all aged 2 years and older. Male (OR 1.7, 95% CI 1.2-2.4, P=0.004), insured (OR 3.6, 95% CI 2.3-5.6, P=