When I first brought Lally home from the shelter, we had some piddling problems. Okay, a LOT of piddling problems. The shelter folks put me in touch with their trainer/pet evaluator, who suggested we rule out physical issues first. An overactive bladder could be a sign of a bladder infection.
So I called the vet. They asked me to bring in a urine sample. A reasonable request, sure… but not exactly an easy quest. I asked for their wisdom in attaining this holy grail of specimens. They suggested slipping some sort of flat pan or pie plate beneath Lally when she squatted. Sounds easy enough, right?
Wackiness ensues as I chase Lally around the yard, trying to slip a Tupperware container (I didn’t have a pie plate) under her bottom every time she started to piddle. Of course, she wasn’t exactly sure WHY her person was chasing her or what that thing was… so she would dart away when she saw me getting close. Finally, the need to piddle was stronger than her desire to run away, and I managed to slip the container beneath her just in time.
I let the vet’s office keep the Tupperware, by the way.
Obtaining a urine sample from your dog isn’t easy; it’s probably even harder if you have a cat! Here’s a trick that may help:
- Wash out the litter box thoroughly.
- Line the box with a plastic bag and fill it with those Styrofoam packing peanuts instead of regular litter.
- Close your cat in the room with the litter box and let nature take its course.
- Shake the packing peanuts out of the bag (into the garbage!) and you’ve got your urine sample!
Watch out though: if your cat poops at the same time, your urine sample will be contaminated.
Try to bring your collected samples to the vet as soon as possible. They can be stored in the fridge for up to three hours, but after that, you’ll probably need to obtain a fresher sample.