Dogs, like other pets, are susceptible to various diseases. And if the owner can cope with such troubles as a small scratch or a splinter in the paw pad of a four-legged friend on his own, then in case of more serious illnesses he has to seek help from a veterinarian. And in most cases, to make an accurate diagnosis, the doctor will require collecting urine from the dog for analysis.
This task confuses many owners , because they have no idea how to get a dog to urinate in a jar or plastic container. But in reality, collecting dog urine is not that difficult, although the process will require some skill.
What you need to collect urine from a dog
If your veterinarian requests a urine sample, there are a number of simple rules to follow. Below is a list of the main ones:
- Store the collected urine in a clean container. The sample you collect in the wild may not be sterile (that is, free of bacterial contamination), but ideally it should be free of foreign contaminants. Therefore, it is better to collect it in a clean container directly during the “production process” than from a diaper or the floor.
- Pay attention to the shape of the container. For male dogs that raise their legs, you need a jar or any cylindrical object. If you have a female dog or a crouching breed, you will need a flat tray such as an aluminum round plate. It is more convenient to slip it under a girl dog.
- First wash the container with soapy water and dry. And directly for collection, wear latex gloves.
- Take a stealth approach. Most pets prefer to relieve themselves away from you and are likely to be distracted by their owner standing next to some strange basin.
- Be sure to keep your pet on a short leash so that when he starts peeing, you can slide a container under him.
Important! Shelf life of collected urine at room temperature
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2 hours. If a trip to the veterinarian is planned later than the specified time, the quality of the material begins to deteriorate, so the sample for analysis should be stored in the refrigerator on the bottom shelf, but not frozen in the freezer.
What information does a urine test provide?
Clinical laboratory specialists evaluate the obtained biomaterial according to many parameters.
Table 1. What do the results of a dog’s urine test indicate?
| Physical and chemical parameters | Normal indicators | Deviation from the norm | What can deviations from the norm “indicate”? |
| Urine color shade | "yellow straw" | "dark tea" | problems with the liver and gall bladder |
| "meat slop" | suspicion of glomerulonephritis | ||
| Urine clarity | absolute or with signs of slight turbidity | cloudy | there may be blood cells, fat, epithelial particles, bacteria, a lot of salts present |
| Relative density (specific gravity) | from 1,010 to 1,025 | below normal |
|
| above normal |
| ||
| Acidity level (pH value) | from 4.5 to 8.5 | pH |
|
| pH > 7 |
| ||
| Protein | absent | presence up to 0.3 g/l |
|
| more than 0.3 g/l |
| ||
| Glucose | up to 1.5 mmol/l | more than 1.5 mmol/l |
|
| Bilirubin | absent | present | Can mean:
|
| Urobilinogen | traces are acceptable | high content |
|
| Ketone bodies (acetone) | absent | present | It happens to be caused by:
|
| Hemoglobin | absent | present | Can mean:
|
| Microscopic examination of urinary sediment | |||
| Red blood cells | from 1 to 3 unchanged units in the field of view | changed or many unchanged | Can mean:
|
| Leukocytes | up to 6 units in the field of view | > 6 |
|
| Epithelial cells | single elements or complete absence | a lot of transitional epithelium | Probably:
|
| many renal epithelium | Probably:
| ||
| Cylinders | none | presence | “Speaks” of severe kidney damage, and: Hyaline is a sign of organic problems. Waxy - severe kidney dysfunction. Pigment problems - problems with hemoglobin. Grainy can mean:
|
| Bacteria | are absent, since healthy urine is sterile | >50000 in 1 ml | infectious process in the urinary system |
| Slime | absent or present in small quantities | present in large quantities | inflammation in the urinary tract |
| Crystals | Urates are normally found in the urine of bulldogs and dalmatians | In other breeds they may be a symptom of poor liver function. | The presence of tripel- and amorphous phosphates indicates suspicion of cystitis. The presence of calcium oxalate indicates:
|
Normally there should be no bacteria in urine
Based on the results of the study, the doctor may prescribe additional tests to clarify the diagnosis.
What can affect the reliability of urine test results?
The data obtained can be uninformative and unreliable in cases where:
- the animal receives diuretics (diuretics), steroids, and other medications;
- it is necessary to check the biomaterial for protein or its ratio to creatinine, and the dog suffers from cystitis. In this case, leukocytes and blood in the urine may show an increase in protein levels, and this will not provide objective information about the functioning of the kidneys;
- it is required to take a sample for bacterial culture, and the owner refuses to carry out the urine collection procedure in a clinic, offering to bring a sample obtained at home.
In order for the diagnostic results to reflect the real condition of the pet, you should follow all the doctor’s instructions and be sure to warn him about the medications that the dog is receiving.
When an animal takes medications, the urine test result may be biased
How to properly collect urine on the street
Your task is to place the prepared container under your pet at the moment when he takes his starting position and begins to pee. In order not to distract him, the container should be secured in a wire loop on a long handle (like a smartphone on a selfie stick).
Therefore, when going for a walk, you must:
- Wear latex gloves.
- Secure the container well in a wire with a handle.
- If you don’t want to take the full container home, then you should take with you a jar with an airtight lid into which to pour the contents.
- Put a leash on your dog and go for a walk.
There is no need to shout at the animal or show excessive nervousness. The pet senses your behavior well. A frightened or excited dog will most likely not want to urinate. Therefore, act as if you are not observing your pet’s behavior at all.
In a male
Most male dogs raise their leg to urinate, positioned near a tree. The owner's task is to sit on the side. There is no need to stand directly behind your back - this is not convenient for maneuver. At the moment when a stream appears, you need to place a container under it, get a portion of urine and take it away. There is no need to wait until the end of urination, especially if the dog is large - he can touch your structure with his paw or side and spill the valuable cargo.
Important! Do not allow grass or dirt to get into the urine container.
The girl has
To urinate, female dogs sit down. The task remains the same. You need to place a prepared flat container under it when it has already sat down.
But this process has a difficulty - the distance between the front and hind legs of representatives of medium and small breeds is not very large. Therefore, it is inconvenient to place the container. If this is the case, then stock up on a first-aid urine collection bag or a child's urine bag. It must be secured before walking the dog.
When and why is a urine test prescribed?
Urine testing allows:
- evaluate the functioning of the animal’s kidneys and other organs and systems;
- diagnose a sick dog and choose treatment methods.
Indications for testing urine are:
- suspicions of diseases of the urinary system and diabetes mellitus;
- probable poisoning;
- assessment of the severity of the pathology and intermediate results of therapy.
Urine is an indicator of a dog’s health
In addition, a urine test is recommended:
1. Representatives of small dog breeds, aged 1.5 to 2 years.
2. Dogs genetically predisposed to conditions such as:
- urolithiasis and bladder infections (as in pugs, dachshunds, griffons, etc.);
- kidney dysfunction (as in Rottweilers, retrievers, malamutes, etc.).
You can read more about such an infectious disease in dogs as cystitis here.
3. Animals over 5 years old if:
- have difficulty urinating:
- the dog drinks a lot for unclear reasons, while running to the toilet less often or more often than usual;
- the color and/or smell of urine is different from normal.
Important! These signs suggest health problems that require diagnosis and treatment. If left as is, your pet will develop urinary incontinence.
How to take urine from a dog in the house
The home method of collecting on a tray or diaper is practiced for small dogs. But they must be litter trained. The urine sample collection process would then be as follows:
- Wash the tray with laundry soap and dry.
- Place clean plastic film on it.
- When your dog is done with his business, simply collect the urine with a sterile syringe without a needle.
- Store in an airtight, clean jar until you go to the doctor.
It will not be possible to take urine from a dog that is not litter box trained in this way. She simply will not understand what they want from her. If the dog goes to a certain place, then you can cover it with film. And, when the pet completes the procedure, collect the urine with a syringe. But this method is one of the most polluted. After all, the dog will stand with its paws on the film, and the veterinarian may not accept such a sample or get the wrong result after the study.
Notice that the small puppy does not lift his paw when urinating. He pees standing up with his paws spread wide. You need to bring the container to the side and place it under the stream.
Did you know? Urine is 95% water. The rest
—
it is 2.5% urea and 2.5% various salts, hormones, nutrients and creatine.
Bacteriological analysis
If from 1000 to 10,000 microbial bodies are detected in 1 ml of a female’s urine, this is normal. For males, these figures indicate inflammation of the genitourinary organs. This analysis is necessary to titrate the effect of antibiotics that will subsequently be used for treatment.
Neoplasms and crystals. If crystals of tyrosine or leucine are detected, one can safely indicate pathologies caused by leukemia. The presence of cholesterol indicates neoplasms in the kidneys or degenerative processes occurring there.
Analysis for the presence of fungi. At a certain analysis temperature, microscopic fungi grow. They should not be present in a normal analysis. But with prolonged use of antibiotics and in the presence of a disease such as diabetes, the painful microflora is activated.
Urine analysis for fungi can be carried out using test systems - these are special strips adapted for veterinary diagnostics and in laboratory conditions.
In some cases, the initial analysis done using the test system may deviate from the norm in one direction or another. In this case, there is no reason to panic. It is necessary to carry out repeated tests from a veterinarian who is licensed to perform the work. Any veterinarian can interpret a urine test.
Almost any dog's disease can be cured. It is important to monitor the dog’s health and, at the slightest suspicion, contact a specialized medical facility.
Other Urine Collection Methods
If you decide to use a pharmaceutical urinal, then it also needs to be placed under the stream, like the container. The advantage of collecting in a pharmaceutical container is only its sterility. Otherwise, the procedure is technically identical to collecting in a container.
A child's urine bag is a plastic bag. It is unpacked and put on the genital organ, gluing the edges with a sticky layer to the body. In the same way, urine is collected from cats and small animals. As soon as the dog urinates, the urinal bag is removed and drained into a clean, airtight container. This is not to say that the procedure is suitable for everyone. For very curious and fidgety pets - no. If such a pet tries to remove the urine bag, and you distract him from this process, the animal will decide that this is a new fun game, and you will not be able to collect a sample for analysis.
You can also put a condom on the male genitals, securing it with an elastic band. At the end of the process it is simply removed. You should not be afraid that there will be a lot of liquid and it will spill. Unlike bitches, males pee very sparingly. After all, they are going to mark, at a minimum, all the fences and bushes during the walk.
Another popular way: fold 2 plastic bags one into the other. Attach them to your pet and collect urine in them. But it's more difficult and wet than just catching the stream with a container.
Be prepared with the right tools
First, you need to have an idea of what you are going to use to collect your urine. You have several options.
- Sterile urine container : This can be obtained directly from most veterinary clinics. They look like little sterile cups and are just the right size.
- Plastic Container : This is my favorite because they come in different sizes and most are airtight. I buy cheap containers like Rubbermaid or Glad containers and keep them just for catching urine.
- Old plastic pill bottles : These can be handy urine containers for small dogs, but again, just make sure they're clean before you use them.
- Plastic Ziploc Bags : These are not my first choice because things can get messy if a hole or rip occurs, but some people like to put their urine in small bags. I'm not here to judge.
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What to do if you fail to take urine
If your pet prefers privacy when urinating and does not want to cooperate, then it is better to take him to the clinic. This should also be done when the veterinarian needs a sterile sample, which is necessary to detect a kidney infection.
Did you know? The smell of urine may indicate illness. Musty
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these are diseases of the liver, smelly
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of the bladder, and it smells sweet in diabetes mellitus.
Material for analysis will be taken directly from the bladder using cystocentesis. This is a process in which a sample is taken with a special sterile needle, inserted through the abdominal wall into the bladder. The procedure is not entirely painless. But for pets accustomed to vaccination, it is not difficult.
Do not allow your dog to urinate in the hospital parking lot before the test is collected. If the bladder is empty, the doctor will not be able to get anything out of it. Also, do not walk your pet before the test and try to give it something to drink so that there is enough fluid in the bladder.
Microscopic research methods
After some time, the urine settles and a sediment forms in it.
Organic sediments:
- The presence of red blood cells indicates a disease of the system of organs that form, accumulate and excrete urine.
- Leukocytes - the norm is 1 - 2. If the number of leukocytes exceeds these figures, we can safely talk about kidney pathology.
- Urine sediment always contains epithelial cells. This indicator is especially pronounced in females.
- A high percentage of the number of cylinders is a sign of abnormal kidney function.
Inorganic sediments:
- When the acidity of urine is higher than normal, it contains a lot of uric acid, potassium sulfate and calcium phosphate. This indicates possible tumors, pneumonia, uric acid diathesis, and fever.
- If an animal's urine is brick-colored, this is a confirmation of diseases such as glomerulonephritis, renal failure.
- Calcium oxalate is found in urine in small quantities. When the oxalate level is higher than normal, this is a manifestation of diabetes, pyelonephritis or calcium pathology. When a dog’s diet is dominated by plant-based foods, the presence of calcium carbonate in the urine is normal.
- Fatty acids indicate atrophic changes in the kidneys.
Why is it necessary to prepare an animal for analysis?
Many foods, chemicals, and medications can significantly alter the composition of blood, urine, stool, and other samples used for testing. If these substances are in the pet's body before the sample is taken, the test result may be false. Ultimately, this can lead to an incorrect diagnosis and incorrect treatment.
The result is also influenced by the time of collection of material for analysis, the general condition of the animal, and the presence of stress factors.
If all these points are not foreseen in advance, the result of a trip to the clinic may be disappointment, wasted money and unnecessary stress for your pet. To prevent this from happening, we will tell you how to properly prepare for a laboratory test.
Preparing for skin scrapings
If your pet suffers from itching or hair loss (alopecia), he will most likely need a skin scraping, a tape test, or a trichoscopy (examination of fur or hair).
In order for the analysis to be as informative as possible, under no circumstances should you treat your skin or fur with any preparations. You should not even use plain water or surface antiseptic 3-5 days before visiting a specialist. In case of severe itching or significant swelling, only a doctor can help your pet.
We also strongly recommend that you do not shave or comb out the affected area of skin, do not remove scabs from sores, and do not even trim the hair, because then the doctor may not see the pathogen cells that are important to him in the study.
