My dog pees inside. Can a free catch urine sample be cultured?

Your vet might be worried about a urinary tract infection and may want to get a sterile sample to send out for a culture through a procedure called a cystocentesis. In this procedure a very small needle is advanced into the bladder, sometimes using ultrasound guidance. It is a very common procedure in veterinary medicine. Diabetic animals often have 'quiet' urinary tract infections that are not obvious on a typical urinalysis and a urine culture to look for bacteria is often more helpful. A urine culture also helps determine what antibiotic the bacteria are susceptible to. Performing a culture on a 'free catch' sample that you would bring in might not be helpful since contaminant bacteria from the lower urinary tract can be in the sample.

Cultures are best run on urine samples collected directly from the bladder via a cystocentesis. This way you avoid any environmental contamination and know if there is a true infection. Please feel free to post any additional questions.

The culture is helpful for identifying the organism responsible for the infection, but is not necessary to determine the presence of infection. An infection can be detected by a routine urinalysis, which would include a microscopic evaluation of the urine. Considering this, a urine culture would not be necessary unless there was other reasons for doing it. I hope that helps and all is well with Hanz.

Surprising, most dogs and cats do not react when the needle is inserted. The pets are typically rolled on their backs and pressure is applied to the bladder to isolate it. I think the pets are focusing more on this than the needle. The bladder should be located just under the skin (just like a vein in your arm). It is expected to be quick for most pets (30 seconds or less). The bigger the bladder, the easier it is. My clinic opens at 7 am so I will have clients waiting for me at 7 am and will not have let their pets go to the bathroom since the night before. This makes things easy and fast in general. Talk with your vet about your options.

Hello. Was this a sterile sample or one caught while she was urinating? Some white blood cells can be normal in the vaginal vault when collecting a free catch sample. It this was a sterile sample, then the white blood cells may be there because of inflammation not caused by infection. Often, these are very self-limiting, especially in puppies. Antibiotics are not required not recommended in these situations. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Leti. I would give her a break for a few days so that she starts urinating normally again. Then I recommend using an old soup ladle to collect the urine. It allows you to be a little further away from her and not have to swoop in when she starts to go. Just hold the ladle under her and hopefully this will be a less stressful way to collect her urine. Good luck!

If Dutch has blood in her urine, seems painful, or is straining to urinate without producing urine I would recommend seeing an emergency veterinarian before your appointment. To catch a urine sample you can take a clean, shallow plastic container and scoop it underneath her once she postures to urinate. It can help to have two people - one to hold a leash and the other to catch the sample. Place it in the refrigerator until you go to your appointment.