Urine collection from your dog or cat

Why should you collect urine from your dog or cat?

If your dog or cat has pain when urinating, urinates too much, seems to urinate blood or has started drinking a lot more, these are all reasons to have to submit urine to your vet. The vet can get a lot of information from the urine that is important to determine if and what might be abnormal about the pet.

What information can your vet get from urine?

Urine is examined in different ways: first, the urine is looked at and smelled to see if any abnormalities are visible. A refractometer is used to determine the specific gravity of the urine. This gives information about the degree of concentration of the urine and thus gives information about the functioning of the kidneys. If the urine is not concentrated at all and your dog or cat has not started drinking much more, this may be an indication of kidney problems. Furthermore, the vet uses urine sticks to determine if there is inflammation, presence of glucose (diabetes) and if there is protein in the urine. Proteins can indicate a bladder infection or a kidney problem. A microscope is also used to check the urine for inflammatory cells and bladder stones. If urinary crystals are present, it can be determined immediately whether they are struvite or oxalate stones for appropriate treatment.

In short, from urine your vet can get a lot of information, while it usually doesn't have to be an unpleasant procedure for your pet. Uhhh yes, as an owner, collecting urine can sometimes be a hassle. Fortunately, there are several roads that lead to Rome, and what works well for the cat may be a bit trickier for the dog.

Catching urine in a cat that pees in the litter box.

Collecting urine from a cat that pees in the litter box sounds like a piece of cake, but what do you all need to pay attention to in order to collect usable urine?
First of all, it is very important that the litter box can only be used by the cat whose urine you need. To prevent the cat from preferring to urinate outside, it may be necessary to keep it inside for a few hours. In addition, the litter box should be well clean and left empty or filled with a filling that does not soil the urine but allows you to collect it properly. Leaving it empty sounds convenient, but unfortunately then most cats will not urinate on the tray. < So what do you fill with? You can fill the bin with Katkor cat litter pellets, these are pellets through which urine is not absorbed and after urinating, urine can be conveniently put into a jar using the pipette provided. If you don't have katkor or your fussy cat doesn't want the Katkor litter box grit either, you can fill the bin with a shredded bin bag.

I can't manage to collect urine from my cat, now what?

Well and cat is a stubborn animal, which is why we like them so much, but this trait can also sometimes cause problems when it comes to collecting urine. Some cats never do their business on a litter tray because they don't like it, but changing the normal litter, in this case by Katkor, can also make the cat not want to go on the tray. If you have really tried everything but collecting urine really doesn't work or there is urgency, your vet (after consultation) can also help, of course.

Collection of urine from your dog

. Most dogs do not go to a bin to urinate, but simply do so outside. If the dog allows it, you can hold a tray under the pee during urination to collect enough urine quickly and easily. Unfortunately, most dogs find this so strange that they stop peeing or run away halfway. Then you're better off using a deep spoon (e.g. a soup spoon) whether or not on an extended stick. Because you stay further away from the dog, he will often mind this less. For best results, hang the spoon out under the dog only when she starts peeing. Once your dog has started peeing, she is less likely to stop immediately than if you start collecting right away. If, despite all efforts, it does not succeed in collecting urine, it is best to contact your vet. There, urine can be collected from a male dog with a catheter and sometimes it is necessary to puncture the bladder directly.

Which urine is best?

Morning urine is the most concentrated and gives the most reliable result. If you failed to do this and there is some urgency, you can of course collect urine from later in the day. However, it is useful to tell the vet which urine is involved, i.e. what time you caught it.

So it worked! I've collected urine and now?

Party! You managed to collect urine. After collecting the urine, you can put it in a sealable clean jar. It is very important that the jar you use is indeed clean. It would be annoying if sugar is found in the urine, which later turns out to have come from the jar. It is advisable to bring the collected urine directly to the animal clinic (note opening hours). If this is not possible, the urine can be kept in the fridge. Of course, the fresher the urine, the more reliable the values and abnormalities found. It is therefore useful to write down what time the urine was collected, whether it is morning urine and whether it has been in the fridge and how long it has been there.

-This is an automated translation-