kolling@decwrl.UUCP (Karen Kolling) (10/12/85)
> How do you get a sample? Well, you could follow the cat around with a paper > cup until you get lucky, but _I_ would shut it in a varikennel with lots of > water and no kittybox. When you see that you have a sample, pour it off into > a container, rinse out the kennel, apologize to the cat, and call your vet. The first time my vet told me to get a urine sample from one of my cats, I thought he was out of his mind. However, it turns out to be incredibly easy. This method has worked on two different cats. Keep a small shallow dish (like the saucer that goes under coffee cups or a shallow dessert dish) near the litter box. When you notice the cat about to use the box (keep your ears peeled for scratching-the-litter sounds, or perhaps your cat habitually uses the box shortly after eating, like one of mine does), quickly materialize by the box (don't scare the cat), and just as the cat sits down, whip the little dish under his or her behind. Even the most hyper cat doesn't seem to notice the dish, perhaps because the litter is so lumpy normally. Don't get litter in the dish, as this contaminates the sample. A sample is useless once it's more than three hours old, and should be refrigerated until you can get it to the vet. P.S. Attention people who when replying to messages include the entire original message (and the reply to that, and the reply to that reply) in their messages -- Holy whatsis, some of us read news at 1200 baud, you know, not to mention the phone line costs, give us a break and edit this stuff down, please.