Final answer:
Waxy casts in a dog's urine sediment indicate a problem with severe kidney damage or chronic kidney disease. They form due to stagnation in the kidneys and can co-occur with signs of urinary tract infections, like white blood cells in the urine, suggesting an inflammatory or infectious issue.
Step-by-step explanation:
Waxy Casts in Urine Sediment
When waxy casts are found in the urine sediment of a dog, it often indicates a serious problem within the kidneys. Waxy casts are typically associated with chronic, severe kidney damage and can suggest that kidney function has significantly deteriorated. Diseases such as kidney failure or chronic kidney disease can lead to the presence of these casts. Cellular casts, including waxy casts, form when there is stagnation of the tubular flow in the kidneys, allowing aggregation of cellular material which solidifies into casts.
The presence of white blood cells in the urine could suggest an infection such as a urinary tract infection. In such cases, the urine may appear cloudy and this could be an indicator of inflammation or infection. Therefore, seeing waxy casts, alongside white blood cells in urine tests, would warrant further investigation for potential kidney diseases or urinary tract infections.
In contrast, while both diabetes mellitus and diabetes insipidus lead to high urine volumes, the specific gravity and glucose content would differ. Urine from a dog with diabetes mellitus will typically have a higher specific gravity and contain glucose, whereas diabetes insipidus would present dilute urine with a low specific gravity and no glucose.