Female Urinary Catheter Placement (Dog)

We’ve all been here. The dreaded dog female urinary catheter. WHY ME you think. Here’s a guide to make it happen.

Supplies:

• sterile gloves
• sterile lubricant
• 10 ml syringe of sterile saline
• urinary catheter
• stylet (optional)
• closed collection system
• sterile saline
• syringe to infuse bulb
• assistant to hold tail

Procedure

1. Ensure the patient is sedated well enough to tolerate the procedure and is well-monitored.
2. Place the patient in lateral or sternal recumbency. (For beginners, sternal is typically easier if you hang the rear legs off the table).
3. You will need an assistant to hold up the tail. If your patient has diarrhea, a temporary purse-string may be placed.
4. Clip any excessive hair around the vulva. Clean with dilute chlorhexidine solution and saline or alcohol.
5. Don sterile gloves and pick up the urinary catheter.
6. Check the bulb by infusing the appropriate amount of saline (may need assistance from a second person). Be sure to deflate the bulb.
7. Infuse 10 ml of sterile saline into the lumen of the catheter. (Be sure to use all 10 ml as many urinary catheters have a hydrophilic lubricant that is activated with at least this much saline)
8. Hold the blunted end of the catheter in your dominant hand and be sure to apply liberal amounts of lubricant to the tip.
9. Apply a liberal amount of lubricant to your nondominant index finger.
10. Position yourself to be at eye level with the vulva.
11. Insert your lubricated nondominant index finger into the vagina as far as you are able to obstruct entry into the cervix.
12. Gently insert the catheter tip ventrally along the floor of the vagina slowly. Be sure to stay on midline as much as possible.
13. If the tip of the catheter reaches the end of your inserted finger, pull the catheter out, and start again.
14. Continue to slide the catheter along the floor and advance until urine is produced through the catheter lumen.
15. Typically, you will not be able to feel the vaginal papilla, especially in edematous patients. Staying on midline and slow advancement will help to ensure placement nearly every time.
16. Once urine is within the lumen of the catheter, inflate the bulb with the appropriate amount of saline.
17. Attach a closed collection system to the catheter and pull the catheter gently to get traction with the inflated bulb against the trigone of the bladder.
18. It is not necessary to suture the urinary catheter in place. The catheter line and collection system can be secured with vetwrap to the tail or to a rear limb.