How the hell am I supposed to collect a urine sample from my cat?
My vet is running tests for my cat Oliver to see why he has been so sick. He took blood and x-rays and found nothing abnormal. He did a fecal check and found nothing strange at all. He has recommended changing his diet and I will start the process of switching over the food today, but he has also requested a urine sample.
I brought my cat in because of blood in the stool so I am not sure what good a urine sample will do, but he requested it so I suppose I should bring it in. I have no idea how to collect urine from him though and since I am at work I don’t want to ask on the phone so that my coworkers overhear me. Can I just bring him a clump from the litter box or would that be useless? If I can’t just bring a litter box clump how can I get my cat to pee in a container? I am pretty sure picking him up and squeezing is out of the question so there has to be another way. Anyone else ever done this before and able to instruct me as to how to do this without getting my face ripped off by 14 lbs of orange fury?
Weird, I just discussed this with someone (I’m watching her cat).
She showed me a large pill bottle full of some kind of special rocks. You’re supposed to remove the kitty litter from the box, put the rocks in, wait for the cat to do her business, then put the entire thing - rocks and urine - back into the pill bottle.
Apparently it feels enough like litter so the cat knows it can go there, but doesn’t absorb anything so the sample stays in-tact.
Did you ask the vet how you’re supposed to do this?
Special rocks? Hmmm…I didn’t really ask since the vet called me at work to tell me about the results of the x-ray and the blood work. He just said to collect a urine sample and rather than saying, “Sure…how would you suggest I get my cat to piss in a cup?” here in the cubicle farm I just went with it. I will call him back after work if this requires special rocks or other items I don’t have at home.
thinks that vets and other animal medical people have far, far more nerve than she would ever have to try that on a pissed-off kitty
I wish I had advice, I’ve never had to do this. But I was once owned by a cat who ended up at the vet with FUS, which involved a catheter for a day or two. He hated having anything up there so badly that he tore it out overnight. The staff was both impressed and horrified. The idea of getting such a sample from a cat…eeeeeeek!
See, if it was a ferret, I could help you. I once had to express the bladder on one of my ferrets; he had an enlarged prostate due to adrenal problems and I basically had to help him pee twice a day until the meds kicked in. The vet taught me how to palpate for the bladder and how to squeeze.
He’d had a catheter in for a week prior and didn’t even touch it.
I bet if you just take all the litter out of his box for a little while he’ll still go in there out of habit. Just clean it before hand, rinsing really well afterward to remove any soap/detergent residue, and put it back where it normally goes. Keep on eye on him so you can then collect it and put it into a jar or something right after he goes. Clean it again, refill with litter, and there you go.
Oh, right. Cause if the cat gets pissed about a catheter going up its pee-hole, it won’t at ALL be pissed about a sharp piece of metal going clean through his skin into one of his organs.
