For years, veterinarians have used the dipstick for detecting proteinuria. Isn the dipstick good enough?
Unfortunately, many veterinarians today are depending on the urine protein dipstick dye test to determine proteinuria. This test is neither sensitive nor specific, and can often yield erroneous results. “If you’re interested in detecting a low level of protein in the urine, the dipstick is not sensitive enough. We’re going to get a lot of false-positives, but we may also see some false-negatives with a low proteinuria level. The sulfosalicylic acid, urine microalbumin, and urine protein:creatinine ratio tests are much more sensitive than the dipstick at detecting these lower concentrations of protein in the urine.” Dr. Gregory F. Grauer1 Because of poor specificity of the dipstick as a screening tool, IDEXX Reference Laboratories routinely performs a confirmatory SSA with any urinalysis when a dipstick assay is positive for protein. The SSA test result is included in the urinalysis report. “The standard dipstick tests for protein are of little help when screening cat urine because ther
