A Urinalysis is a routine test that reports the physical and chemical properties of your pet’s urine, including the specific gravity (concentration) and the presence of blood, protein, glucose, bacteria, crystals or other abnormalities. It provides information about how well the kidneys are working, can identify inflammation and infection in the urinary system, and can screen for other potential diseases including diabetes.
Most often the urinalysis can be run a sample collected at home. To prevent errs in the test, then sample must have been collected within 4 hours of analysis and stored in the fridge if it could not be brought in immediately.
Occasionally we require a urine sample that is free from potential contamination that occurs during the normal urination process. In these cases, we will request you bring your pet in for sample collection by cystocentesis (urine collected directed from the bladder through a needle and syringe).
The urinalysis can be run in our clinic, or may be submitted to Idexx, our reference lab, for analysis. If abnormalities are detected, additional diagnostic testing may be recommended.