A Specimen to Remember

We are not fans of our current vet. When Lonestar suffered from his Urinary Tract Disease in December we took him to an emergency clinic because that was our only choice. We took him to our vet for a follow up and then during another visit with Alamo, we mentioned Lonestar's past blockage problem. The vet told us we needed to bring in another sample just to make sure no more crystals were forming.
"Please bring in a urine sample so we can check," says the vet. Nice lady, but come on. I'm thinking she's a quack.
I was open to any suggestions -so I asked. She suggested the obvious way and then decided to give me 3 pee cups, each including about a 1/3 cup of mini rocks. Apparently the little rocks don't absorb the pee, so when he goes, I can use a syringe to capture the pee and voila, there's the sample. Of course I have to get a fresh litter pan for this and make sure I've got his pee and not Alamo's. Ever since we've started monitoring the litter pan (long story for another day), the cats have decided they want more privacy.

Lonestar likes to dig and cover. A cup of rocks was not going to suffice so I combined the three cups worth of mini-rocks. This gave me a clean cup, just in case I caught Lonestar in the act.

Last night, as Sean and I were having a routine conversation at the litter box, Lonestar came in to take a whiz. I realized this was my chance. I grabbed the cup and stuck it under him. He was a bit surprised. Bless that cat... he did not get scared and run away like I presumed he would. I managed to hold the cup at the right place and got a few tablespoons of pee in the cup. Even more surprisingly, I didn't get a drop on my hand or the outside of the cup.

I know you are wondering why this is blog worthy. But, you have to admit, this is pretty amazing right? I got a urine sample from a cat the old fashioned way.