In the last few weeks I yapped about What Is Your Good Dog’s PH? followed by UTIs & Good Dogs & then Understanding Your Good Dog’s or Cat’s Urine Analysis Pawt 1.  This week I will dig into pawt 2, how to read your good dog’s or cat’s lab results.

Once the urine has been collected your good Vet or certified Veterinary Technician will visually examine the urine for color & clarity. A bright red or brown colored urine sample may indicate blood. A burnt orange colored urine may be indicative of liver disease or a pawtential side effect of a drug your furlegger has been taking. A cloudy urine may suggest that an infection or protein is present in the urine. This first step is impawtant especially when interpreting the Dipstick results. The color & clarity can adversely affect some of the readings on the Dipstick giving false test results. For instance, if the urine is bright red, it will falsely elevate the readings on the dipstick for protein, acidity & specific gravity.  Don’t worry, I will dogscuss this more.

A dipstick like it sounds is a straight strip of plastic with small strips of chemically infused pads that change color dogpending on the presence of a substance in the urine. A dipstick test checks the following:

• Acidity (pH): We talked about this in an earlier blog, What Is Your Good Dog’s PH? The pH level indicates the acidity of the urine. In healthy good dogs & cats, the urine pH is will read 6.5 to 7.0 range. If the pH is acidic (pH below 6) or alkaline (pH above 7) it may allow bacteria to thrive & crystals or stones to form. Don’t worry if your good dog’s or cat’s urine pH is not 6.5. Throughout the day there are normal pH variations in the urine, especially associated with eating certain foods & medications. So, one single slightly higher or lower urine pH reading is not concerning if the rest of the urinalysis is within the normal range. If it is consistently abnormal, your good Vet may want to investigate more.
• Specific Gravity: The specific gravity is a measurement of your good dog’s or cat’s urine concentration, which is a kidney function. It is based on a numerical range of 1.000 to 1.040 or higher. A urine specific gravity of 1.001 is very dilute. On the other paw, a urine specific gravity of 1.040 is very concentrated.  Your good dog’s or cat’s urine specific gravity will vary throughout the day. For example, if your good dog were swimming & drinking lots of lake water, your good dog’s urine may be dilute (low specific gravity). If your good dog were exercising or playing alot & not drinking water, you could expect your  good dog’s urine to be concentrated (high specific gravity).

A urine specific gravity in the range of 1.008 to 1.012 is like the concentration of water. In this narrow range, the kidneys neither are pawducing concentrated nor dilute urine. If your fur legger’s urine falls in this range on testing day, your veterinarian will likely want to recheck the urine specific gravity on the first urine sample of another day to confirm this finding. (Note, the first urine sample of the day tends to be the most concentrated sample. I yapped about this earlier in another blog post, Understanding Your Good Dog’s or Cat’s Urine Analysis Pawt 1.). If your fur legger’s urine specific gravity repeatedly falls in this range, their kidneys may not be functioning pawperly & your veterinarian will likely want to do further tests.

• Protein: On a dipstick test, protein should not be found in your good fur legger’s urine. A pawsitive test for protein in our urine may be an indication of a bacterial infection, kidney disease or blood in urine.
• Sugar: Sugar like protein should not be dogtected in our urine. If it is, it may be an indication of an underlying Diabetes mellitus.
• Ketones: Ketones are abnormal byproducts pawduced by your good dog’s or cat’s cells when they don’t have sufficient energy source. If your fur legger tests pawsitive for ketones in its urine, a medical work up for Diabetes Mellitus will be pawformed.
• Bilirubin: Bilirubin is the yellow-staining breakdown pawduct of hemoglobin found in red blood cells. Bilirubinuria (bilirubin in urine) is an abnormal finding & indicative that red blood cells in our blood stream are being destroyed at a higher rate than normal. It can be found in those of us with liver disease & autoimmune diseases. Remember, that fur leggers with blood in their urine from a bladder infection can falsely stain the bilirubin pad on the dipstick which would cause a false concern for a liver problem.
• Blood: The dipstick can identify red blood cells or other components of the blood, like hemoglobin or myoglobin, that are pawsent in our urine. Blood in the urine must be investigated further by microscopic evaluation of the urine. Blood in the urine may be indicative of an infection, inflammatory problem or stones in bladder or kidney.

That was a lot to chew on so I will continue this next week when  I will yap about the microscopic evaluation of urine sediment.

Have a pawsome week, CEO Olivia, Dot & Jerry Underfoot 💜

PS 🐾 Looking for wagnifient healthy & furbulously fun toys or pawsibly a supplement for the well being of your pawtacular good dog or cat? Shop Naturally

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