3 Fast Facts about Urine Testing in Dogs and Cats

·1) Perhaps contrary to popular belief among pet owners, it is not very common to see urinary tract infections (UTI) in cats

2) However, about 30% of dogs do get UTIs. It is important to differentiate this from subclinical bacteriuria

3) Approximately 50% of dogs with renal (kidney) disease have proteinuria. A proteinuria quantitative work-up includes MA or UPC. MA can detect a small amount of urine albumin (1mg/dl) compared to the urine dipstick which detects 30mg/dl. It is species specific, but it is limited in availability so most people use UPC, which can be tested from pooled, free catch urine samples and should be <0.4 in cats and <0.5 in dogs

References:

1) Veterinary Partner. Veterinarypartner.com

2) Tilley, L. P., & Smith, F. W. (2005). The 5-minute veterinary consult: Canine and feline. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

3) Yin, S. A. (2010). The small animal veterinary nerdbook. Davis, CA: CattleDog Pub.

4) Eclin path. https://eclinpath.com/hematology/leukogram-changes/leukogram-patterns/