Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Urine bacteria and symptoms in cats with sudden kidney injury
By Siu, Kenneth et al.·Published in Journal of feline medicine and surgery·2022·Colorado State University, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Urine bacterial culture growth and association with urine sedimentation and clinical findings in cats with acute kidney injury.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A group of 97 cats with acute kidney injury (AKI) underwent urine tests to check for bacterial infections. The study found that about one-third of these cats had a positive urine culture, indicating a bacterial infection. Cats showing signs like bacteria in the urine (bacteriuria) or white blood cells (pyuria) were more likely to have a positive culture. This means that if your cat has AKI and shows these signs, it might be worth discussing a urine culture with your vet, especially if cost is a concern.
People also search for: cat acute kidney injury symptoms · cat urine culture results · cat kidney infection treatment
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: A urine culture is often pursued in cats with acute kidney injury (AKI) to screen for bacterial growth in the urine, but it can be cost prohibitive. The aim of the study was to determine the ability of a urinalysis and lower urinary tract signs (LUTS) to predict urine culture results in cats with AKI. METHODS: Ninety-seven cats with AKI were included in this study. This was a retrospective, observational study. Medical records from 2008 to 2018 were reviewed to identify cats with AKI that had a paired urinalysis and urine bacterial culture. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive values of microscopic bacteriuria, pyuria, hematuria and the presence of LUTS for predicting urine culture results was calculated. RESULTS: Thirty-two percent of cats (n = 31) had a positive urine culture. Of these, 28 (90%) had bacteriuria, 21 (68%) had pyuria, 13 (42%) had hematuria and 10 (32%) had LUTS. Of the 42 cats without hematuria or pyuria, seven had a positive urine culture (17%). Bacteriuria had a high sensitivity (90%) and specificity (92%) for predicting urine culture bacterial growth. The absence of bacteriuria had a high negative predictive value for no bacterial growth (95%). The odds of a positive urine culture were increased with bacteriuria (odds ratio [OR] 114, 95% confidence interval [CI] 29-621;<0.001), pyuria (OR 21, 95% CI 7-70;<0.001) and LUTS (OR 5, 95% CI 1.7-16; = 0.004). Hematuria was not associated with a positive culture (sensitivity 42%, specificity 52%). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Microscopic bacteriuria and pyuria on urine sediment evaluation and LUTS can be helpful for predicting bacterial culture results in cats with AKI and in settings where submitting a urine culture may not be financially feasible.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35748789/