Pyelonephritis in cows: 15 cases (1982-1986).

Medical records of 15 adult cows with a final diagnosis of pyelonephritis were evaluated retrospectively. Only 3 cows had obvious clinical signs that indicated urinary tract disease. Physical examination, including rectal and vaginal examinations, and urine chemical reagent strip screening detected abnormalities in all 15 cows and allowed subsequent confirmation by culture results of urine samples obtained using a catheter. Bacteriologic cultures of urine revealed Corynebacterium renale infection in 6 cows and Escherichia coli infection in 9 cows. Long-term treatment with antimicrobial drugs resulted in recovery in 9 of 11 treated cows. Of these, 4 of 4 cows with C renale infection and 5 of 7 cows with E coli infection recovered; the remaining 2 cows with E coli infection died.