Need Recommendations for Urine Test Strips

[spac]

When my cat went to the vet's, some of his numbers were off on his urinalysis. The vet thinks it's related to stress, but wasn't sure.

The vet would like me to try doing the test at home a few times using OTC reagent urine test strips. Unfortunately, they aren't able to give me any and the ones they recommended are too expensive given the short shelf life once opened.

If anyone has used these, could you please make a recommendation on good brands? The strip specifically needs to test for glucose and protein. I don't know if I should use one designed for a pet or a human or if it makes any difference. The vet couldn't give me any info because he's never had a cat with abnormal tests like this so he's never recommended a client try this at home.

 

[abyeb]

Could you ask your vet if you could just collect the urine in a sample cup at home and bring it in to be analyzed? That saves you the hassle of dealing with test strips. You would need to get a very clean litterbox (and special litter from the vet that won’t mess up the sample), but I think that you would have to go through that whole process regardless, because you would need to keep the sample sterile even if you are using test strips at home.

If you really want to use the test strips at home, maybe ask your vet if they could just sell you a few strips? I don’t know if there are legal reasons that would prohibit that, but I figure that buying a few strips from the vet would probably be cheaper than buying a whole packet, because you probably only need 2 strips anyway (1 to run the test and the other as a spare).

 

[LTS3]

Try this one:

It looks like it costs about $30 or so at any pharmacy.

I don't think there are any pet specific urine test strips. Even vets just use Human urine test strips in the office.

 

[spac]

Thanks.

There are test strips made for cats and dogs, I'm just unsure about them due to their cost. The manufacturer (DFI) appears legitimate and was referenced in a veterinary study.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01M26O93Q/?tag=thecatsite
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B077X8NSKN/?tag=thecatsite

 

[LTS3]

Those will work just as well as the Human ones. If you need test strips right away, probably best to head to the local pharmacy and pick up some.