You should seek the advice of your veterinarian if your pet is ill as only he or she can correctly advise on the diagnosis and recommend the treatment that is most appropriate for your pet.

From time to time veterinarians need a urine sample to test - but collection can be difficult !

There are many situations when a  veterinarian may request a urine sample. Urine is one of the main routes that waste products and toxins are removed from the body. Also, in certain diseases, substances appear in the urine which are not normally present - for example sugar (as glucose) appears in the urine of animals with diabetes mellitus; large amounts of protein may appear in urine when there is kidney disease present. The urine may become very dilute in kidney failure, or very concentrated when an animal is dehydrated - and these changes can be detected by measuring the urine specific gravity. If an animal has a urinary tract infection, such as cystitis, the organisms may be detected in the urine, and they can be cultured and tested to determine the best antibiotic to use.

There are several considerations to make when collecting a urine sample :

• Urine should be collected into a clean glass or plastic pot - and if bacteria are to be looked for it should be sterile. Your veterinary practice will be able to provide one for you.
• Sometimes urine has to be collected into a special pot which contains chemicals to preserve it until it is tested. Again, you veterinary practice will be able to provide one.

However, these pots are often small and quite narrow necked - so they can be difficult to collect urine directly into - so it may be necessary to catch the urine into a larger collecting vessel first. Common examples are plastic, porcelain or glass jugs, bowls or buckets. They should be very clean and must not have contained any acids or alkalis or other chemicals which might affect the urine. Cooking ladles can be used to catch urine being voided by dogs, and plain litter trays can be used for cats. Obviously urine collected from litter trays contaminated with dirty litter or faeces will not be much use !

Your veterinary practice will advise you exactly when to collect the urine. Most often an early morning sample is best, and it is usually advised that a mid-stream sample is collected  - although not always. Blood that has collected in the bladder overnight, for example,  may not be expelled until the last sample of urine is passed.

Precautions to Take 

Although the likelihood of contracting a disease is extremely improbable - urine may contain diseases that can be transmitted to humans (called Zoonoses) - for example leptospirosis, so good hygiene precautions should be taken. Try to avoid direct contact with urine, and keep the outside of collecting vessels clean and dry. Ideally, wear gloves during the collection process and wash hands immediately afterwards.  Make sure samples are protected from damage during transportation to your veterinary practice for analysis - if necessary pack them in a padded envelope.

For most tests the urine should be examined as fresh as possible - so collect the urine when you know you can get it to your veterinary laboratory immediately afterwards.

Updated October 2013