ARE URINE REAGENT TEST STRIPS DESIGNED FOR USE IN HUMANS SATISFACTORY FOR ANIMALS?
Most diagnostic reagent strips used to perform routine urinalysis in veterinary laboratories have been designed for human use. Although these reagent strips provide useful information when used to evaluate urine samples collected from animals, test results obtained with several diagnostic urine strips are unreliable. Are you familiar with the limitations of the specific brand of diagnostic reagent strip used in your hospital? The following list summarizes limitations of most reagent strips, and suggestions to minimize them. • URINE SPECIFIC GRAVITY values of dogs and cats obtained with reagent strips are usually unreliable. Because the highest value that these reagent pads can detect is 1.025 to 1.030, they are unsatisfactory to detect adequate renal concentrating capacity in dogs of cats. TIP: Utilize a refractometer to determine urine specific gravity values. • URINE PH test pads will allow measurement of pH values to within +/- 0.5 units. This is satisfactory for routine evaluation
