Collecting urine samples from cats

[mike45]

Our cat is diabetic and the vet told us we need to start taking urine samples on a regular basis. At first we tried something called No-sorb (black plastic pellets). He hated this stuff and did not urinate on it.
Now our vet offered something called Kit4cat (www.kit4cat.com). Has anyone heard of this product?
We'd appreciate any advice.
Thanks, Mike.

[sugarcatmom]

Welcome to the feline diabetes club! Been in it for 8 yrs with my guy, so I know a couple tricks of the trade. Is your cat a shy pee-er, or do you think he'll let you slide a shallow jar lid under his butt once he starts to urinate? I found that to be the easiest, but some other things you can try would be to put Saran wrap over the top of the litter once in a while so that urine pools in it. Some people slide a long-handled spoon or ladle under the urine stream, and some people use aquarium gravel. You could also get a Smart Box.

One thing about urine testing diabetics: it should not be used to determine dosing. It's an excellent tool for monitoring ketones, so make sure you're using Keto-stix or Keto-diastix (which test for both ketones and glucose). But for monitoring glucose levels, the absolute best thing you can learn to do is test your cats blood glucose using a human glucometer. It's not that hard once you get the hang of it. More info on that here: http://www.felinediabetes.com/bg-home-test.htm

What food are you feeding your cat right now? What was he eating before? If he's not eating a low-carbohydrate wet food, you need to read the info at this site: http://www.catinfo.org/?link=felinediabetes Diet plays a crucial role not only in the development of diabetes in felines (it's caused mostly by high-carb dry diets), but also in managing it, and even possibly eliminating it.

What type of insulin are you giving, and how much? How long has he been diabetic?

[Ozzie]

My cats go into a trance when peeing. A long handled ladle works fine.