Microalbuminuria is an important predictor of nephropathy in people with diabetes or hypertension, and early intervention after detection can prevent the progression to renal failure.1 Microalbuminuria is present in 12% of nondiabetic people and is associated with renal functional abnormalities.2 With mounting evidence that microalbuminuria may be an early predictor of renal disease, investigation of this condition in cats is warranted.
Microalbuminuria is defined as the presence of a small amount of albumin (1 to 30 mg/dL) in the urine. Most of the protein in urine is albumin, although exceptions to this include hemoglobinuria, myoglobulinuria, or paraproteinuria from neoplastic conditions such as multiple myeloma.
Standard urine dipsticks can detect albumin in the urine at levels of 30 mg/dL or higher, and this level is termed overt proteinuria. Microalbuminuria is an albumin concentration beneath the limit of detection of standard dipsticks. Spot measurement of urine protein concentration may not...