How long will a reading be valid on a keto strip?

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MayBTheresHope

MayBTheresHope

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I am asking because I have a breeze litter box and can put the strips on the bottom catch pan underneath the litterbox to collect the urine sample. This works very well. I have NEVER seen my cat on the litterbox, so it is hard to check for ketones any other way. I was just wondering if I put a few strips down and he pees, then I check the strips 4 or 5 hours later, will the reading still be valid?
 
Hi, you might want to wait for a second opinion on this, but I do believe when reading ketone test strips, you need to wait 20 seconds to verify the color after urine hits it. Anything longer then that, and the color darkens. At least, that is what I remember ..
 
My ketone strips say right on the bottle "read at exactly 15 seconds". If you watch them after you've taken the 15-second reading, they do darken.

My Pumbaa has been pretty good allowing me to put him in the litter box, and then peeing for me. It's almost like telling a kid to go potty before you leave for the store. Then, when I hear him start to tinkle, I slide a tablespoon under him and catch some of the urine mid-stream.

Good luck!

Suze
 
Hi,
my Bayer Ketostix state "Dip the reagent end of strip in FRESH specimen & remove immediately" with fresh in capitals, as above. My Bayer Keto-Diastix state that the test must be read within one hour of obtaining the specimen. Both statements deal with the time interval between obtaining the specimen and actually dipping the reagent strip in. Then, exactly 15 seconds for ketones and 30 seconds for glucose after dipping the reagent strip, I read the strip against the colored code on the bottle. I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit it, but I actually have a second timer to read the time exactly. Or a microwave second timer would be great to use.

Good question because I have seen some posts with members not really knowing when the specimen was deposited by our kitties. And it can be really tough to obtain urine sample or know the exact time. My Pudge is off insulin so I'm happy to use this method to simply check how things are going, instead of poking his ears. I do both, occasionally. Sophie
 
Ok...thanks! Was just wondering if this might be a solution. The sticks that I have tested with were still within range of normal in color after I collected them, so I wasn't sure if these were valid readings or not. Our box does say it is ready to read after 15 seconds, but it just doesn't indicate if anything after that is still a good reading.
 
The stix will continue to darken as time goes by so the only correct reading is after the first 15 seconds from a 'fresh' sample (within 1 hour). If you come back to the strip an hour later it might be dark as anything.

Glad to hear you got it figured out.
 
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