Applicability of the urine test strip reader DocUReader for evaluation of animal urine specimens

Objective: The present study was aimed to investigate whether the urine test strip reader DocUReader, which uses LabStrip-U11Plus test strips, also correctly measures test reactions with animal urine specimens. Material and methods: A total of 60 urine specimens from dogs (n = 36), cats (n = 18) and horses (n = 6) were evaluated comparatively with LabStrip-U11 Plusteststrips (visual readings as well as analysis with the DocUReader) and routine methods of the clinical laboratory (density measurements with a refractometer, pH test with pH indicator sticks, urine test strips Combur(9)-Test, microscopy of sediment). Results: All urine specimens could be analysed with the LabStrip-U11 Plus test strips and evaluated with the DocUReader. Visual evaluation of the test strips corresponded with the results of the DocUReader in all cases. Results of the LabStrip-U11 Plus and the Combur(9) test strips showed good correlation with identical values in 75-100% of chemical reactions. Deviations rarely exceeded more than one test degree. The pH established with the LabStrip-U11 Plustest strips correlated well with the results of the pH indicator sticks. However, specific weight measurements differed between the LabStrip-U11 Plus test strips and the refractometer. Therefore, results of density measurements are not usable. This is due to the principle of the chemical reaction and-not the quality of the test strip. Conclusion and clinical relevance: Despite the mentioned limitation, application of the DocUReader in animals is advisable. The reader enables faster analysis of urine specimens, objectifies reading of test strip reactions and accurately transfers the results to the clinic's computer system.