Common crystals

Crystal pH Information
Ammonium biurate

Usually neutral to
acidic: pH 7
Brown, spherical to irregular crystals
("thorny" apple)
Common in Dalmations, English bulldogs
In other breeds of dogs or cats suggests
liver dysfunction and portosystemic
shunting
May occur with amorphous urates or
sodium urate (needles or prisms)
Amorphous

Phosphates: pH
7
Urates: pH 7
Small, irregularly shaped crystals
Can be of different composition (urates,
xanthine, phosphate) depending on pH.
Can be seen in healthy animals
Mimic bacterial cocci - perform a gram
stain to differentiate
Bilirubin

Acidic: pH < 7
Small needle-like to granular yellow or
yellow-brown crystals
Indicates bilirubinuria due to conjugated
(direct) bilirubin
Bilirubinuria can be normal in dogs but is
abnormal in other species.
Calcium carbonate

Usually alkaline:
pH 7
Spherical to irregular (rhomboid, dumb-
bell, ovoid) yellow to colorless crystals.
Spherical forms have radial striations.
Normal in horses, guinea pigs
Not normally seen in dogs, cats or
ruminants.
Calcium oxalate dihydrate
Usually neutral to
acidic: pH 7
Colorless octahedrons, "envelopes"
Can be seen in healthy animals or in

animals with calcium oxalate uroliths
But can be seen with hypercalciuria or
hyperoxaluria (ex. ethylene glycol or
oxalate rich plant ingestion)
Develop over time with storage of urine
Magnesium ammonium
phosphate (struvite)

Usually neutral to
alkaline: pH 7
Can be seen in healthy dogs, cats and
ruminants.
Also common in bacterial-induced
alkalinuria and with sterile struvite or
mixed uroliths


Uncommon crystals
Crystal pH Information
Uric acid

Acidic: pH <
7
Yellow, red-brown or brown, rarely colorless
hexagonal plates or needles (rare)
Variable: Rhomboid to diamond crystals,
often with pointed ends, hexagonal flat
crystals, rosettes, barrel shapes
Calcium oxalate monohydrate

Usually
neutral or
acidic: pH
7
Oval, spindle, dumb-bell and picket shaped
forms
Oval, spindle or dumb-bell forms are
infrequently seen in urine from healthy dogs
and cats but can be seen in hypercalciuric
conditions and ethylene glycol toxicity
Picket fence form (arrow) are commonly
observed in ethylene glycol toxicity in dogs
and cats, but can also be seen in animals with
hypercalciuria due to other causes (e.g.
lymphoma)
Calcium phosphate

Usually
neutral or
alkaline: pH
7
Colorless
Blunt-ended needles or prisms, often in
rosettes, can be amorphous
Cystine

Usually
neutral to
acidic: pH
7
Flat colorless hexagonal plates, which often
aggregate
Indicative of cystinuria, a rare inborn error of
amino acid metabolism affecting many
breeds of dogs.
Drug-associated

Variable but
usually
acidic: pH <
7
Various forms (needles, radiating bundles,
round with striations), yellow to colorless
Can be seen in animals on certain drugs: e.g.
sulfonamides (mimic various forms of
urates), ampicillin (slender needles to
sheaves), contrast media, primidone
The image on the left is a sulfonamide crystal
(often forms fan-shaped structures) from a
dog that was treated with trimethoprim-
sulfonamide and sulfasalazine for a chronic
urinary tract infection
Tyrosine

Acidic: pH <
7
Fine colorless to brownish needles
Indicate severe liver disease or conditions
causing aminoaciduria in humans, but very
rare in animals
Unknown crystals
Needles
Variable pH
All the crystals shown on the left were seen
in the urine from dogs. Their identity is
uncertain
Variable shape
Not clearly identified as any of the known

Needle-like bundles

Flat plates resembling
cholesterol

crystals
Solubility assessed with hydrochloric acid,
acetic acid and sodium hydroxide - solubility
characteristics do not match those of known
crystals
Significance dependent on clinical signs and
history