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Frustrating Vet Visit

Zumie05

Well-known member
Coco a while back had a UTI and crystals, which she went on antibiotics and a special diet for. Then recently we had a neurology exam that required bloodwork.

Yesterday I took Coco in for a double whammy, to retest her urine and get the blood work. The bloodwork was fine and easy, but the frustrating part was the urine collection!

I was given instructions to not let her potty in the morning, and I did not. They wanted to take a sterile sample, so they had to poke a needle through her belly to get to her bladder...yikes! I felt bad, but understood this was the best way to get a sterile sample.

I dropped her off at 8:45am and got concered at 3pm when I hadn't heard back. They said her bladder was empty and asked if I let her go potty, and I said no that is not possible she didn't have any accidents and I didnt let her go! So I came back a few hours later, 5pm, to get her, and they still said they could not get a sample. As soon as they brought her out, she exploded on the floor.. I mean she urinated a lake out there. And then she went even more outside! I just don't see how they were not able to get a sample from her, when her bladder was obviously full?!?

:-X
 
Hi

What an awful traumatic time for all of you ,I wonder why they couldn't get a sample when she so obviously had a full bladder ,it will be concerning if you have to go back .
Best wishes to you all.
 
That sounds really concerning to me. You can easily palpate a dog or cat's bladder. I am shocked they didn't get a sample unless there's something anatomically amiss with your girl. Has the vet been good otherwise?
 
Wow what a horrible experience for you and Coco. Poor little girl held it in for so long

My cat has had her urine extracted through use of a needle into the bladder. I was present for the whole procedure and it took less than 5 minutes. Did the vet know she urinated so much when you picked her up? What was his explaination for it? Seems strange that they couldn't get the sample.:confused:
 
The strange thing is, yes the vet is very good, they love my pets, are always very thorough. They said they tried at least 5 different times and could not get anything out. They said she either had no urine, or she has a VERY small bladder. They even piped water down her throat (she wouldn't drink willingly) and witnessed her explosion upon letting her out of the kennel lol. I wasn't mad for the accident, I sort of expected her to go on the floor after holding it in for 8 hours plus 8 hours from the night!

I am going to try again, visit will be free..and I am going to not take her on her final potty break the night before, hoping this will help "balloon" her bladder.

They could not to a regular collection because 1) she is still in heat which will mess with the accuracy of the test and 2) even if she was not in heat there is still a chance bacteria can get into the sample.

If worse comes to worse, we are going to wait until she is out of heat and just do a regular sample, where I have to catch it.

Still very frustrating!!
 
Poor Coco, and you, that's just awful I would be so upset and angry at the vet it seems ridiculous that they couldn't do something that should be so easy?
I would be asking for a refund as well as no charge if you go back. Good luck I hope Coco is ok.
 
I understand your frustration....

Sounds like they could not find her bladder... should not be THAT hard to find it. Agree that they not only should do it for free but maybe work on locating her bladder first.

I am mad at our vet school hospital too... when she went there nearly 10 days ago for bloodwork, I instructed them to do ALL tests that possibly needed doing for a gastro-intestinal issue. Guess what tests I just found out they did NOT do.... a full GI panel! Helloooo!!! She was there for a GI issue... and they ran other blood tests that were not very relevant.

Now poor Gracie has to go back tomorrow to get this done... and is already terrified of the place from all the needles, shaving her belly, urinary extraction, etc. she shivers all over! I am just furious.
 
Poor Coco. Makes me wonder, too, if her bladder is very small or in the wrong place, which might explain the infection and odd behavior you posted in her video. Have they done an X-ray to determine if that is the fact?

A sterile sampling is the best. "Catch" technique with our Sophie always yielded bacteria when a sterile sample would come in 'clean.'
 
Hey folks, I wouldn't rush to be critical of vets. I know from having my lovable late Quincy the cat that even with a full bladder there can be reasons why they cannot get a sample. It is not always easy to do an extraction.

If you have doubts about why they couldn't get urine, I'd simply ask what may have been the problem. (y) There could be many reasons, a small bladder being one. You do not just want to go jabbing around over and over with a needle trying to find it, which has risks and is stressful for the animal. The issue may possibly be connected to her liver shunt diagnosis as well.

I'd never get mad (except at myself for failing to get my dog outside fast enough or missing signals :) )about dogs having accidents, *anywhere*, especially not in a vets (where they really could care less -- they are used to mopping up all the time and males often mark too :lol:) More seriously, they are *never* relieving themselves indoors because they have some agenda. They either have an urgent physical need and absolutely MUST go or we owners haven;t adequately trained them yet or they are too young to be fully reliable. The fault is not theirs. (y)

A good way to acclimate a frightened dog to the vets is keep the dog comfortable in his or her crate inside, and/or have a good supply of tasty small treats (if feeding isn't an issue for the visit) so the visit has good associations. I play catch with Jaspar with a crumpled piece of paper if the office isn't crowded. :) He likes to sit and catch the paper balls mid-air.
 
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