History

Kitty is a nine year old, neutered male Domestic Medium Hair cat.   He came to the hospital for an annual physical exam; Kitty also has a history of urinary problems, but the owner had not seen any urinary problems lately.

Workup

Due to his age and history of urinary problems, we decided to do comprehensive bloodwork and a urinalysis. Preliminary workup results were as follows:

• Physical exam- normal
• Comprehensive bloodwork- mild elevation in kidney function
• Urinalysis
• SG > 1.050 (urine concentration - kidneys are functioning properly)
• Blood - moderate protein trace (leukolytes)

Diagnosis

We diagnosed Kitty with a urinary tract infection.

Treatment

We put Kitty on an antibiotic for 10 days and rechecked the urine.

Follow-up

After the 10 day treatment, Kitty's urine was normal.  The urinary tract infection was resolved.

We picked this case to emphsize that there may be underlying problems that do not show on physical examination.  As your pet ages, it is important to have bloodwork and a urinalysis done annually.

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