Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Subclinical urinary tract bacteria in cats - how common
By Puchot, Melanie L et al.·Published in Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery·2017·Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA, United States·View original on Crossref →
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Original publication title: Subclinical bacteriuria in cats: prevalence, findings on contemporaneous urinalyses and clinical risk factors
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A study found that subclinical bacteriuria (bacterial colonization in the urinary tract without symptoms) is uncommon in cats, affecting about 6.2% of those tested. Most of the positive cases were female cats, and the most common bacteria found was E. coli. Cats with subclinical bacteriuria often showed abnormal urine sediment and were more likely to have chronic kidney disease. The findings suggest that if a cat shows no signs of urinary issues and has normal urine results, there may be little reason to perform further testing for bacteria.
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Abstract
Objectives Subclinical bacteriuria (SB) is bacterial colonization of the urinary tract in the absence of clinical signs. The purposes of this study were to determine the prevalence of SB in cats and to describe results of the contemporaneous urinalysis. Secondarily, patient characteristics associated with SB were compared with those for cats without SB. Methods An electronic search identified all urine cultures performed on cats at a teaching hospital between 2009 and 2015. Results were subcategorized based on the presence or absence of lower urinary tract disease (LUTD) and SB-positive cases identified. The first control population was from samples without LUTD. The second control population was from all samples not identified as a SB-positive sample, including subclinical negative samples and those with LUTD. Five controls for each SB-positive sample were selected for both control groups. Medical records for all groups were reviewed. Results In all, 31/500 (6.2%) subclinical samples were positive. Most infections were a single organism (n = 27); four contained multiple organisms. Escherichia coli was the most common species (58%) followed by Enterococcus species (25%). Positive specimens were more likely to be from female cats (n = 24) vs male (n = 7; P = 0.0054). SB was strongly associated with bacteriuria (60% vs 6%; P <0.0001) and pyuria (67% vs 19%; P <0.0001). Positive specimens were significantly more likely to have an abnormal sediment examination (odds ratio 13.5, P <0.0001). When compared with all specimens including those with LUTD, SB was significantly associated with a lower urine specific gravity (1.022 vs 1.030; P = 0.0256) and presence of chronic kidney disease (68% vs 46%; P = 0.0168). Conclusions and relevance In this study, SB appears to be uncommon in cats and, in most cases, is associated with an abnormal urine sediment examination. Based on this study, there is little indication to perform a culture in a cat with no clinical signs of LUTD and an unremarkable sediment examination.
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Search related cases →Original publication on Crossref: https://doi.org/10.1177/1098612x16688806