How The Test Is Done And What Results Mean

A complete urinalysis evaluates several different aspects of your urine through physical, chemical, and microscopic examination. Microscopic hematuria (red blood cells were seen only under a microscope) may indicate an infection in the lower urinary tract or a kidney stone Sometimes, red blood cells may be seen in the form of red blood cell casts, and this generally points to the kidney as the source, such as an inflammation of the kidney (glomerulonephritis).
But in 2015, the Justice Department announced that Millennium Health, a San Diego company that operates labs, had agreed to pay $256 vet urinalysis million to resolve allegations that the company had overbilled Medicare and Medicaid for unnecessary urine and genetic tests.

In a test of the Cobas 6500 system and UX-2000 analyzer compared with manual microscopy in 258 urine specimens, sensitivity and specificity for pathologic casts were 39.2% and 98.1%, respectively, for the Cobas 6500 system and 45.1% and 93.7%, respectively, for the UX-200 system.
Some foods (such as citrus fruit and dairy products) and medicines (such as antacids) can affect urine pH A high (alkaline) pH can be caused by severe vomiting, a kidney disease, some urinary tract infections, and asthma A low (acidic) pH may be caused by severe lung disease ( emphysema ), uncontrolled diabetes, aspirin overdose, severe diarrhea, dehydration, starvation, drinking too much alcohol, or drinking antifreeze (ethylene glycol).
Hematuria is the presence of abnormal numbers of red cells in urine due to: glomerular damage, tumors which erode the urinary tract anywhere along its length, kidney trauma, urinary tract stones, renal infarcts, acute tubular necrosis, upper and lower uri urinary tract infections, nephrotoxins, and physical stress.

In initial repeat dose, subacute studies, urinalysis can be used effectively to screen for overt changes such as hematuria, pyuria, glucosuria, bilirubinuria, presence of casts, or abnormal crystalluria, as well as providing general information regarding hydration and concentrating ability via specific gravity or osmolality, acid base balance via pH, and energy balance via ketone evaluation of the animal at that point in time.
A simple, color-changing paper test, dipped into the specimen, can measure levels of glucose, blood, protein and other chemicals, which in turn can indicate evidence of kidney disease, diabetes, urinary tract infections and even signs of bladder cancer.
Strips can check for many things in addition to protein and glucose including: pregnancy, because a hormone that is only made by pregnant women can be found; certain legal and illegal drugs that are processed by the kidney; pH is a measure of the amount of acid in the urine.

Blood ketone measurement is now recommended in some guidelines (e.g. Joint British Diabetes Societies guideline for the management of diabetic ketoacidosis), either by stick testing or using rapid automated laboratory methods, although it is not yet in widespread use.
Usually, your kidneys prevent protein from passing from your blood into your urine: loops of capillaries (glomeruli) that filter blood allow small particles to pass into the urine while retaining larger particles, such as protein, and kidney tubules reabsorb the smaller proteins that were able to escape.