Occurrence of occult bacteriuria in healthy cats

Knowledge of the occurrence of bacteriuria in adult, healthy cats is scarce in the scientific literature. A study was designed to investigate the occurrence of bacteriuria in healthy cats without current or previous signs of lower urinary tract disease. The study included 108 cats, 53 males (49.5%) and 55 females (50.5%). The cats ranged in age between 7 months and 18 years, with a mean age of 4.4 years and a median age of 4.0 years. Urine was obtained by cystocentesis from all the cats, and was submitted for bacteriological analyses. Urine and urine sediment was cultured on separate blood agar plates for quantification and species identification by standard procedures. Detection of ≥103 colony forming units (cfu) per ml urine was defined as significant bacteriuria. Significant bacteriuria exceeding 105 cfu/ml was detected in one sample with a combination of Enterococcus species and Staphylococcus species. There was no bacterial growth in the urine samples from 107 cats (99.1%). Results from our study indicate that the prevalence of bacteriuria in clinically healthy, adult cats is low. Also, that contamination of samples is rare when urine is collected by cystocentesis.