Urine samples - what to expect
How should the urine be collected?
Urine samples are collected in different ways depending on the species of your pet and also what tests are to be performed.
If a urinary infection is suspected, a sterile sample will be required. In this event a procedure called cystocentesis is performed. A needle is inserted directly into the bladder and urine is withdrawn. This is surprisingly well tolerated by most pets. The sample obtained will not have been contaminated by bacteria so it can be used to see what bacteria are present and which antibiotic will be best to treat it with.
For dogs where culture is not required, we normally ask owners to collect the urine using a free-catch method. A clean pot or dish from home is adequate for collection of the urine. A specially designed ‘Uripet’ collection device is available from the surgery and this is particularly useful for obtaining samples from bitches. It is often best to take the samples first thing in the morning, ideally during ‘mid-flow’.
For cats we provide a special non-absorbent litter kit called ‘Katcor’. The Katcor should be placed in a clean litter tray and the cat restricted to this area. Cats that are used to using a litter tray will generally use the litter as normal. Cats who usually urinate outside may take a while to use it – you know your cat, so please discuss this with your vet if you have any problems. There is a pipette and sample pot to harvest the urine from the tray.
For most tests we require the urine to be as fresh as possible. Please do not refrigerate the sample as this may cause crystals to develop which would not normally be there.
When will I get the results?
Some samples will be examined within the practice and these results will usually be available on the same day or the next day. Others will be sent away to external laboratories and the results take a few days or even weeks to come back to us. Please call the vet who is dealing with your pet at the time requested to be given the results.
If you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact us.
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