How to collect a urine sample from your cat
Sometimes when cat owners need to visit the vet because their cat is showing symptoms of urinary tract problems, they may be asked to bring a urine sample to the vet. Bringing a urine sample can help the vet diagnose what your cat is suffering from more quickly. For example, a urine sample can tell you if your cat has any kind of urinary tract infection.
Cats, as you probably already know, can be a little picky about where they perform their urination, they often like to have a rummage around in their litter box before they pee. At first thought, therefore, taking a urine sample from a cat may sound like a very difficult and challenging task, but it doesn't actually have to be as hard as it sounds! Here's how to do it!
The first thing you need to know is that vets often have ready-made urine test kits that you can buy. These kits contain everything you need to take a urine sample from your cat. The kits often include plastic balls, a pipette and a test tube. The plastic balls are used instead of the sand in the litter tray.
Once you have purchased a kit, it's time to take the urine sample:
First you need to empty the litter box of the normal cat sand. Then clean the box, wash it clean and dry it.
Then pour the plastic balls provided into the box. These plastic balls will make the cat still want to use the box. The reason these plastic balls are used instead of regular cat litter is because they do not soak up the urine like regular litter does.
Once the cat has peed in the box, it's time for you to collect the urine. You do this using the pipette that came with the kit, then fill up the test tube with the collected urine. Keep in mind that the vet will want about 5 ml to be able to do an examination of the sample. 5 ml corresponds approximately to the sample tube provided in the urine sample kit.
The urine should be analysed as fresh as possible. Therefore, you will need to place the urine tube in the fridge in case there is a wait before you can submit it to the vet for analysis, but preferably submit it as soon as you can after collection.
In fact, if no plastic balls are included in the urine test kit, it is just as well to use unpopped, natural popcorn without salt as a supplement to the plastic balls. Instead of a test tube, you can also use any cleaned jar to collect the urine.
