Fat droplets in urine
Variably-sized droplets of free lipid are fairly commonly observed upon microscopic examination of urine from dogs and cats. They can most readily be differentiated from cells by their propensity to float up under the coverslip to a different plane of focus compared to cells which have settled to the surface of the slide. They are uniformly round, but more variable in size than cells and are smooth in appearance. If you focus up and down, you can also visualize their perfectly round (droplet) appearance, even when suspended in urine. The lipid originates mainly from degeneration (physiologic or pathologic) of epithelial cells lining the tract and, as an isolated finding, is usually without clinical significance. There is no clear association with hyperlipidemia.
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