2015 ACVIM Forum Research Abstract Program

Urethral thermoplasty is feasible and safe in the acute setting and induced the acute histopathologic changes required for successful treatment. Long term-studies in research dogs and eventually clinical patients are necessary to determine the efficacy of LTUT for treatment of canine incontinence. Dry reagent strips (dipsticks) are commonly used as part of a routine urinalysis. To our knowledge no studies have evaluated the effects of blood on the dipsticks. As the results depend on the color of the reagent pad, discolored urine could potentially affect the final readings. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the effect of hematuria on manual urine dipstick evaluation in dogs and cats.