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Selected highlights from other veterinary journals

CHRONIC kidney disease (CKD) is a common condition of geriatric cats which affects up to 31 per cent of cats aged over 15 years. However, routine screening in cats can be expensive and may be perceived as invasive by owners. An automated particle-enhanced turbidimetric assay (PETIA) to measure cystatin C in canine urine has recently been validated which can be performed using standard automated analysers available in many commercial laboratories. The first aim of this study was to validate two PETIAs used in human medicine for measuring urinary albumin and cystatin C in feline urine. Using these assays, the authors then investigated whether the following urinary biomarkers could be used as screening tests for azotaemic CKD in cats: urinary albumin:creatinine ratio (uAlb:Cr), urinary cystatin C:creatinine ratio (uCysC:Cr), urine protein:creatinine ratio (UPC) and urine specific gravity (USG). Blood and urine samples were obtained from cats over eight years old at three UK first-opinion practices, between March 1, 2013, and April 30, 2015, as part of a free screening programme. Twelve cats were diagnosed with azotaemic CKD and 40 healthy cats were included in the non-azotaemic group. The urinary biomarkers were compared between the two groups. The human PETIA for urine albumin demonstrated excellent precision and reproducibility, with adequate recovery of albumin and cystatin C when samples containing no detectable albumin or cystatin C were spiked. The human PETIA for urine cystatin C also demonstrated good precision and reproducibility at medium and high concentrations of cystatin C. The results showed that uAlb:Cr and UPC were not significantly different between the groups, but, unlike in previous studies, uCysC:Cr and USG were significantly lower in cats with azotaemic CKD than in healthy cats. The authors conclude that the human PETIAs for albumin and cystatin C were successfully validated for use on feline urine; however, the measurement of uAlb:Cr, uCysC:Cr, USG and UPC are not useful as standalone screening tests for azotaemic CKD in cats.