RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS OF THE 28th ECVIM-CA CONGRESS

Canine urine samples obtained by cystocentesis at AHT between April 2017 and February 2018 were prospectively included in the study. Samples were inoculated within 4h of collection for reference QBC. A bacteriology swab was immersed in the urine and returned to its original tube. The urine samples were kept in the original sterile container and both samples, sterile container and bacteriology swab, were stored at room temperature. After 48h, the urine samples with a positive culture were inoculated for standard QBC, again. A total of 213 urine samples were included, 16.4% (35/213) of the initial cultures were positive and 14.2% (5/35) of those had a mixed bacterial growth. Urine stored in a sterile container and bacteriology swab cultured 48h after sample collection had identical sensitivity of 94.6% and a 95% CI [81.81%‐99.34%] for UTI detection. Considering all the colonies isolated in the initial samples, the sensitivity for bacterial species detection of urine stored in a sterile container and a bacteriology swab was 91.1% and 93.1% respectively. No samples showed growth of a bacterial species not isolated from the initial sample. In contrast to previous studies, the results of the current study suggest that the use of a urine soaked bacteriology swab or sterile containers are both reliable methods for detecting UTI after storage of canine urine for up to 48h at room temperature.