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The effect of boric acid on bacterial culture of canine and feline urine
Author(s) -
Rowlands M.,
Blackwood L.,
Mas A.,
Cripps P.,
Crompton C.,
Burrow R.
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of small animal practice
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.7
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1748-5827
pISSN - 0022-4510
DOI - 10.1111/j.1748-5827.2011.01102.x
Subject(s) - preservative , boric acid , medicine , urine , microbiological culture , cats , urinary system , veterinary medicine , chromatography , microbiology and biotechnology , bacteria , food science , biology , chemistry , organic chemistry , genetics
O bjective : To identify the optimal method of submission of canine and feline urine for bacterial culture. M ethods : Cystocentesis samples from 250 animals (200 dogs, 50 cats) suspected of having urinary tract infections were collected. The reference aliquot, without preservative, was processed on site within 2 hours. Two further aliquots (one without preservative, one with boric acid) were stored at room temperature for up to 7 hours and then posted by guaranteed next day delivery to a commercial laboratory for analysis. R esults : Forty‐seven of the samples were positive on culture in the reference test. There was no significant difference between reference test results and those of samples posted without preservative (P=0·39), but samples posted in boric acid were significantly less likely to give a positive result (P=0·01). Samples posted without preservative had a sensitivity of 82% and a specificity of 98%; for boric acid, sensitivity was 73% and specificity 99%. C linical S ignificance : Postal urine samples should be submitted to the laboratory in a plain sterile tube.