Newton has been on a diet without any treats except freeze-dried meat for about a month now, so it was time for him to go back for a recheck on his urine pH.
He was welcomed to the vet’s office by their appointment sign.
And of course, we were also greeted by Josie, the clinic cat. She doesn’t always pay much attention to the cats in carriers in the lobby, but she walked over and looked in at Newton, who meowed back to her.
There was another cat in the lobby during our visit: a tuxedo kitten named Dale, who is up for adoption. The rest of his litter was adopted last weekend, and he has a lot to say any time he thinks someone might pay attention to him.
Since a urine sample isn’t sterile when a cat uses the litterbox the usual way, the vet wanted a sample drawn from Newton by cystocentesis.
One of the things I really like about this vet’s office is that they will do procedures in exam rooms if they don’t require the big equipment in back, and that includes cystocentisis.
Newton: What’s going ON?
The vet tech performing the cystocentisis first tried to feel Newton’s bladder, but his mother apparently taught him to “go before you leave home.” The tech wasn’t confident she could find it with a needle without visualization, so they used a small ultrasound unit.
The tech wiped his abdomen with rubbing alcohol and moved the wand around the spot she had wiped, watching the ultrasound screen.
Newton: You aren’t going to publish photos of this on the internet, are you?
Once the vet tech located the his bladder, she inserted the needle into it.
When the tech drew back the plunger, you could see the urine drawn from Newton’s bladder filling the syringe, sterile and ready to test.
This is the kind of thing that goes on in the back of your vet’s office all the time, but it’s nice to get a glimpse of it.
We’re waiting for Newton’s test results and crossing our paws that his urinary pH will have come back down to an acceptable level so there aren’t more diet changes needed. We’ll let you know what we hear.
