title: Twenty-four hour urinary protein loss in healthy cats and the urinary protein-creatinine ratio as an estimate.
abstract: Urinary protein loss was determined in 12 healthy cats. Voided urine was collected and protein quantitated by the Coomassie blue method. Mean protein loss for all cats was 12.65 mg/kg/24 h (5.45 SD). Protein loss for male cats (n = 6) was 16.62 mg/kg/24 h (3.3 SD), which was significantly different (P less than 0.01) from 8.69 mg/kg/24 h (4.09 SD) for females (n = 6). A single urine protein-creatinine ratio correlated well with the total urinary protein loss in mg/kg/24 h. The correlation coefficient for the protein-creatinine ratio in voided urine (UPCV) vs 24-hour urinary protein (UP-24) loss was 0.968, and that for the protein-creatinine ratio in urine obtained by cystocentesis (UPCC) vs UP-24 was 0.945. The regression equations were UPCV = 0.02145 + 0.02338 x UP-24 (mg/kg), and UPCC = 0.02667 + 0.02133 x UP-24 (mg/kg). Using the mean value plus 3 SD of urinary protein loss from the healthy cats in this study, a healthy cat would be expected to have a urinary protein loss of less than 29 mg/kg/24 h. A protein-creatinine ratio from a single urine sample provides an accurate estimate of urinary protein loss in healthy cats.
authors.affiliation: Department of Small Animal Clinical Sciences, Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg 24061.
authors.forename: W E
authors.initials: WE
authors.lastname: Monroe
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Davenport
authors.forename: G K
authors.initials: GK
authors.lastname: Saunders
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002415:Cats / Q000652:urine*; D003404:Creatinine / Q000652:urine*; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D011507:Proteinuria / Q000652:urine / Q000662:veterinary*; D012016:Reference Values; D012044:Regression Analysis
chemical_list: D003404:Creatinine