How to get a proper urine sample from uncooperative feline?!

[swampmaxmum]

You should find it fairly easy with the crystals they give you as they do not absorb the urine and there should be a pipette and container included for you to put the sample in if you are lucky enough to get one!!
Trouble is, he pees at night (which cat then?) or when I'm holding Swampy's food so that he eats it (aaah). I have yet to actually catch him on his way to the tray. If at first etc. I think the catheter method sounds very sore....

How long would you say he`s been vomiting for overall? I had a very similar thing with my cat a few years ago. She would eat and then vomit up a few hours later. It turned out she had eaten a rubber stopper off of the end of the clothes horse and had to have it taken out so it might be some sort of foreign body.
Yes that occurred to me as Max eats plastic when stressed. No vomits since Saturday and mucho katalax so it's a wait and see.
Have you thought of getting a water fountain as this sometimes encourages them to drink more?

It is always best to get the urine sample to the vets within about 6-12 hours of it being passed if you can.

Thanks for that tip. I may have to get one out of both of them soon. Do you find the white crystals work better if you change to one of those very small litter trays?
Sorry, couldn't work out how to change the font and why this bit is below the quote??? not v PC literate!

[Desley (booktigger)]

Yep, thats what I meant. My vet doesn't like doing it very much though. I didn't think catheterisation was used for urine samples?

[Amanda (mad4moggies)]

I think Desley means cystocenthesis. It does carry it`s risks though but usually they don`t mind it too much!

[Millys Mum]

Catheterize?
My Taz had several samples taken this way, he was very brave! 

[Desley (booktigger)]

Good luck - I got the first one out of Tom by putting him in the bathroom with the tray, he obliged. The next two he had to go to the vets for, as over a week of trying resulted in nothing - he jumped on the settee to use the normal tray one night, and was shut in one room for 6 hours one day and wouldn't do anything!! As Amanda says, it does need to be there relatively quick - my vets actually say within 4-6 hours. Some vets do say it is a better result if they insert a needle in and extract (I do know the proper term, just can't remember how to spell it!!)

[Amanda (mad4moggies)]

You should find it fairly easy with the crystals they give you as they do not absorb the urine and there should be a pipette and container included for you to put the sample in if you are lucky enough to get one!!

How long would you say he`s been vomiting for overall? I had a very similar thing with my cat a few years ago. She would eat and then vomit up a few hours later. It turned out she had eaten a rubber stopper off of the end of the clothes horse and had to have it taken out so it might be some sort of foreign body.

Have you thought of getting a water fountain as this sometimes encourages them to drink more?

It is always best to get the urine sample to the vets within about 6-12 hours of it being passed if you can.

[Millys Mum]

If Max uses clay litter you could try fish tank gravel, its similar in texture.
Failing that cant your vet just express some himself?

Good luck

[swampmaxmum]

He does sometimes come to 'inspect' a tray when I've cleaned it. I'll try that, thanks. Trouble is (unbelievable) he is vomiting now too. He vomits almost exactly 3 1/2hours after eating. The food is undigested. He had bloods done and the vet's a bit baffled as they don't show anything obvious to the vomiting. He's had Katalax as was constipated on his new food (i/d).
He does chew plastic when annoyed, so I am a little concerned that he found a bag (hide them but...) when I was out a week ago and this is from that, although I think if plastic had blocked him it'd been more dramatic. It seems to be some sort of gut irritation. Yesterday he didn't vomit, but didn't use the tray (nasties) either. Once he let both ends go at once in the litter tray.
HE was great on old l/d too which I'd put him on as he suddenly started to vomit dry food. (and no, he won't touch the porky one either).

No way am I going to get a urine sample today as he vomited at 11.30 so all food's banned until this evening.  Although he is hungry I'm not supposed to feed him.  I can try at the weekend but would it keep in the fridge until Monday?

I suppose I could syringe in some water once he's eaten. Yes he is on i/d wet food and I add extra water to it.
Thanks for all your support; this is worrying and very tiring as you can imagine.

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

Does he come to use the tray when you clean it?  I've never had to get a sample from mine but have always thought that if I needed one from Jaffa I'd just have to clean the litter tray and he'd come and do one for me 

re the water.  Does Max drink wet food?  That has a high water content and you can add a bit extra water to it as well.  water fountains are popular with lots of cats otherwise I'd say put lots of containers of different sizes and shapes around your house.  Some cats prefer to drink out of a glass or something like that rather than a bowl.

[JackSpratt]

Hmmm....that's a toughy, because the cat I need to take regular samples from is so co-operative that he pees into a sample jar for me! 

If they have separate litter trays it shouldn't be too difficult with the crystals, though.

[fluffybunny]

Does he always use a litter tray or does he ever go outside?  When I needed to get one, I let Sooty out in the morning, and followed him with a clean saucer.  As he squatted to start his wee, I just snuck up behind him and popped the saucer underneath.  Fortunately his wee sort of pointed out a bit backwards so it all landed in the saucer, then it was simply a case of pippetting a sample up.  He looked terribly unimpressed about the saucer but once he'd started weeing he didn't seem to be able to do anything about it 

[swampmaxmum]

My other cat, Max, has to have a urine sample analysed as he has some funny blood results (never rains but....). He doesn't drink or pee much anyhow and at night he shares a litter tray with Swampy. (who now insists on his own separate loo during the daytime).  I've been given some white crystals to put in the tray and told it's 'easy'. Ho hum.  Any tips from experienced samplers would be much appreciated. He's fussy about litter too - he may not even enter the tray if it's not his usual under-the-paws litter.  He's a very highly strung cat.

Also any tips on how to make him drink more as his blood tests showed some dehydration (he's not allowed anything salty - licking my marmite knife...I know, I know, health inspector time  used to work). Does natural yoghurt count as 'liquid'? He likes that.