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Stool sample

post #1 of 6
12/28/10 at 12:59am
Thread Starter 
This may sound like a strange question, but is it okay for a stool sample to have litter on it? I have to take a stool sample with me to the vet tomorrow, and I tried to catch Walter in the act but I wasn't in time. I did get it fresh, pretty much right after he did the deed, but it was covered in litter. Is that okay?? Also, to clarify, I put them in the fridge until tomorrow, correct? I double baggied each of them and then put them in a disposable food container. Hopefully this works, b/c I HATE dealing with poop that doesn't come out of a baby's butt.
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post #2 of 6
12/28/10 at 1:12am
Yes, vets expect there to be litter covering the sample. They might actually give you a strange look if you show up with a fresh, bare piece. Just make sure to take the freshest sample you can get. The vet doesn't examine the whole piece, he will take a very small sample to put on a slide and examine under a microscope. That's why tapeworms aren't detected, the egg sacs are bigger than the sample that the vet actually uses.
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post #3 of 6
12/28/10 at 2:10am
Thread Starter 
Okay good! lol As far as I can tell from the past few days, they tend to do their pooping in the evening, so I think these will be the freshest I will be able to get.
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post #4 of 6
12/28/10 at 2:39am
Oh this thread was definitely worth a visit. A good question and a good answer, I might add.
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post #5 of 6
12/28/10 at 10:29am
Yes, it can have litter, except that if it will be tested for Giardia, it can not be refrigerated; it needs to be left at room temperature. It has to be tested within 24 hours, so going to the vet tomorrow is ok. If you plan to test for giardia, sorry, but you will have to collect another sample....
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post #6 of 6
12/30/10 at 5:26pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Carolina View Post
except that if it will be tested for Giardia, it can not be refrigerated; it needs to be left at room temperature. It has to be tested within 24 hours, so going to the vet tomorrow is ok. If you plan to test for giardia, sorry, but you will have to collect another sample....
I was talking to my cousin today who is a vet, and asked her about this b/c she thinks that they could possibly have Giardia, and she said that it can be refrigerated. She said:

Quote:
Originally Posted by My Cousin
You can refrigerate the samples, but the fresher, the more accurate. Our lab pick-up is around 5 PM, so if you were to drop off a sample to my hospital in the morning, we would refrigerate it until lab pickup at 5 PM and then it is driven about an hour in a cooler to Tucson, AZ where it is flown to Pheonix, AZ.
So even the vet's office refrigerates it.
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