Nitrite in Urine

RE: Nitrite in Urine

Roland Bulkyn-Rackowe — Wed, 21 Feb 2018 17:48:47 GMT

I rarely see nitrite colour changes... I would always look at a wet and stained sediment and be more suspicious where the sg is <1.025 (dog) 1.035 (cat) or pink on the nitrite in fresh urine.

RE: Nitrite in Urine

Rob Loxley — Tue, 20 Feb 2018 18:14:49 GMT

[quote user="nikki"]I was taught the nitrite bit was only relevant to human urine and not to look at it at all for animal urine. Same as the leucocytes[/quote]

Leukocyte esterase patch: lots of false +ve in cat (I would ignore), performs better in dogs (more specific but sensitivity not great).
I usually look at nitrites alongside leukocytes (in dog), pH, sediment +/- culture, and of course the history/presentation! For the OP's dog, I'd consider a urine culture

RE: Nitrite in Urine

nikki — Tue, 20 Feb 2018 17:15:19 GMT

I was taught the nitrite bit was only relevant to human urine and not to look at it at all for animal urine. Same as the leucocytes.

RE: Nitrite in Urine

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Tue, 20 Feb 2018 16:53:12 GMT

[quote user="Martin Atkinson"]the nitrite box nearly always changes colour[/quote]

RE: Nitrite in Urine

Martin Atkinson — Tue, 20 Feb 2018 16:14:55 GMT

Given the nitrite box nearly always changes colour and only a minority of animals are going to have a UTI I never take any notice of it.

RE: Nitrite in Urine

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Tue, 20 Feb 2018 14:12:52 GMT

As I have understood it for fifty years, bacteria in the urine convert nitrate to nitrite so the nitrite concentration is a qualitative indicator of bacterial infection. The sticks of course are for human urine and this might well be completely inapplicable for the dog or cat. I can't recall ever making any decision on the grounds of the nitrite patch colour.

RE: Nitrite in Urine

Julie Innes — Tue, 20 Feb 2018 09:06:59 GMT

I thought nitrites were produced by bacteria in the urine (could be wrong!)