Urine culture as a test for cure: why, when, and how? Jody P. Lulich, DVM, PhD * , Carl A. Osborne, DVM, PhD Minnesota Urolith Center, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Minnesota, 1352 Boyd Avenue, St. Paul, MN 55108, USA Case scenario Consider the following case scenario. A colleague in private practice called the urology service for advice about a 9-year-old-spayed female Golden Retriever with persistent pollakiuria and gross hematuria of 2 months’ duration. Urinalysis revealed numerous red blood cells, white blood cells, proteinuria, and spherical structures thought to be bacterial cocci. A diagnosis of bacterial urinary tract infection (UTI) was made, and therapy with orally administered amoxicillin with clavulanic acid was prescribed. After 2 weeks of therapy, the owners indicated that clinical signs were still present but less severe. Urinalysis revealed persistence of numerous red blood cells and white blood cells. Based on the assumption that uropathogenic bacteria causing these abnormalities were resistant to amoxicillin with clavulanic acid, oral administration of trimethoprim/ sulfadiazine was provided. In this clinical setting, what is the likelihood that poor response to therapy was caused by antimicrobial resistance by uropathogenic bacteria? Furthermore, what is the likelihood that use of trimethoprim/sulfadiazine will be associated with eradication of pollakiu- ria and hematuria? In considering the answers to these questions, consider the following observations. In two retrospective clinical studies, it was estimated that the hospital proportional morbidity rate of UTI in dogs was 10% to 14% [1,2]. In contrast, in another retrospective clinical study, the hospital proportional morbidity rate for persistent or recurrent UTIs in dogs was only 0.3% [3]. In a retrospective clinical study of 100 dogs with persistent * Corresponding author. E-mail address: lulic001@maroon.tc.umn.edu (J.P. Lulich). 0195-5616/04/$ - see front matter Ó 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.cvsm.2004.03.005 Vet Clin Small Anim 34 (2004) 1027–1041