Urine Sample

State College Veterinary Hospital recommends checking a urine sample on certain patients that could have renal compromising issues. Our goal is to always try to collect a sterile and clean sample. To do this we recommend stopping by the hospital to pick up a sterile urine cup along with a latex glove. We recommend that samples are caught in the morning and brought to our office as soon as possible. Samples are only good for twelve hours. When dropping off the sample at the veterinary hospital you will need to let the staff member know who it belongs to and why we are running the sample. The staff member will then have you pay for the tests and ask for a phone number where you can be reached.   

When collecting a sample from a dog; which is much easier then obtaining one from a cat; take the dog outside and keep their leash as close to you as possible. Once the dog has started to urinate, then slide the cup under the stream and collect the sample. Please make sure not to touch the inside of the cup or the lid and only fill the cup half full. Once the lid is placed back on top of the cup you can bring it to our office or keep in the refrigerator in a brown paper bag to protect from light. When collecting the sterile sample you must use only the sterile cup. Containers washed in the dishwasher are not sterile and you can not catch the urine in a separate container then transfer to the cup. 

When collecting urine from a cat, it is always best if you can also slide the cup in under the animal as they urinate. However, we know that can sometimes be difficult if not impossible to do. To make this easier, please stop by the hospital and buy Lab Litter. This litter substitute product is comprised of tiny plastic pellets that your feline urinates on instead of regular litter. 

To use lab litter, clean out your regular litter box with soap and water. Then place a scoop of your regular clay litter in the pan. Take a kitchen size trash bag and make a liner on top of your regular litter and sprinkle the lab litter pellets on top of the trash bag. Once the animal urinates just pour the urine and the pellets into the cup provided. Please bring the sample to the hospital right away or keep it in the refrigerator in a brown paper bag. 

If you have multiple cats using multiple litter boxes, then you will need to separate the one cat in their own room with their own box.