Clinical evaluation of commercial reagent strips for detection of significant bacteriuria in dogs and cats.

The reagent strip technique of quantitative urine culture was a satisfactory screening test for the detection of significant bacteriuria in dogs and cats. The reagent strip technique was found to be of almost equal sensitivity as the calibrated loop technique in identifying significant bacteriuria. Significant bacteriuria was detected in 38 of 148 urine samples evaluated by the calibrated loop technique. Of these 38 urine samples, significant bacteriuria was detected in 35 by the commercial test. False-negative results were obtained with reagent strips in 1 urine sample which had significant bacteriuria by the calibrated loop technique. The other 2 samples had bacterial counts of suspicious significance (10,000/ml of urine) by the reagent strip technique. False-positive results were obtained with the reagent strip technique in 3 urine samples; however, all 3 urine samples had bacterial counts (10,000/ml of urine) of suspicious significance when evaluated by the calibrated loop technique. The reagent strip technique was not satisfactory for the examination of patients with gross hematuria. The nitrite test portion of the commercial test did not detect significant bacteriuria in all samples and, therefore, was not suitable as a screening test for significant bacteriuria in dogs and cats. The nitrite test may have been inhibited by ascorbic acid, a metabolite which normally may exist in the urine of these animals.