Bladder stones

[cockergirl]

I took my 3 year old cocker to the vet a few days ago. I caught her cleaning her "bits", and chattering her teeth after- she only does this when she can taste blood or pus. She had no other symptoms of a urinary infection- not weeing more often etc. Anyway, when the vet examined her, he said she had a "lump" in her bladder. He gave her a shot of antibiotic and anti-inflammatory, and has booked her in for x-ray on Tuesday morning. He thinks she could have bladder stones and if so will operate to remove them.

She's on antibiotic tablets till then, and is still occasionally doing the teeth chattering thing. She also is very tender- she snapped at a friends springer who stuck his head underneath her to sniff the other day- that's unheard of for my dog- normally she'd cock her leg up and let him! (Floozy.)

I'm worried that it will turn out to be something worse than a stone.

Does anyone know anything about bladder stones in dogs, or have any experience of them? Do they come back? What causes them? etc.

Thanks for reading, and please send good vibes to my doggy. She's had six ops in three years, so she doesn't have a lot of luck!

 

[JAK]

Try not to worry - bladder stones in dogs are pretty commonplace!

Unfortunately, once removed, they can come back but there are various substances to help acidify the urine & also various diets (once the stones have been analyzed) to help prevent this from happening!

Poor little doggie, she certainly has been rather unlucky, hasn't she?

 

[k9h]

I had a dog that use to strain alot trying to pee & when she did there was blood in it. She had a stone & had to be operated to have it removed it was the size of an orange poor girl

I started to feed Apple Cider Vinegar as this breaks down the calcium which is what forms the stones & should hopefully stop them from reforming. So far so good.
Hope all goes well with your girl keeping fingers crossed for you.

 

[mrdarcy]

OMG!

My wirehaired dacshsund bitch has just been diagnosed with bladder stones.

About four weeks ago she was really off colour and trying to wee a lot. She also went off her food which is unheard of!

Took her to the vets where she promptly and very conveniently passed a load of small, sandy coloured stones. Ouch! No wonder she was feeling poorly.

They had her in the day after to xray her for any larger stones which would have to be cut out. Fortunately there weren't any but because of the dog that she is (prob genetic they reckon) she will always be prone to reforming them.

The type of stone formed will be different from dog to dog and dependent on the pH of the urine. So not all stones are formed from calcium... some are magnesium concentrate, and there are lots of other types too - all depends on the individual dog.

My bitch was put on anti-biotics because the stones irritated the bladder and caused cystitis. After a couple of days on anti-biotics she was her old self again and had clearly passed all the stones. The vets sent the stones off for testing. The results came back yesterday and we now know the type of stones and the future treatment needed. She has the most common sort - struvite... these are the most common ones in bitches apparently.

Basically she has to go on a prescription treatment diet (Hills s/d) for a month. This diet re-balances the pH of the urine and dissolves any stones remaining in the bladder. After a month they will retest her urine and if its back to normal she can come off that diet.

BUT because putting her back on normal dog food will just result in the pH becoming out of wack again (and stones reforming) she then has to go on a special maintenance diet for the rest of her life (Hills c/d).

Hope that's been some help. Fingers crossed for your little doggy. I'm sure she'll be fine and bladder stones are very treatable so try not to worry too much.

 

[cockergirl]

Thanks all!

She doesn't have bladder stones. The lump didn't show up on x-ray, but the vet was reluctant to open her up yet. So she's on strong antibiotics and Rimadyl till Mon- if the lump is still there and she's still uncomfortable, she'll have a laparotomy there and then.

She has a genetic disorder and it may be the lump is related to a previous op. She has a very peculiar anatomy, and it's quite a rare condition, so the vet is really working in the unknown at the moment. He tried to catheterize her and couldn't, so i'm hoping that I'll get some answers soon.

She's uncomfortable at times although better than she was.

Thanks again for your help, and G_G; I hope your dog is well again soon.

 

[mrdarcy]

Your poor girl. I'll keep sending her good vibes and hope that your vet gets to the bottom of it soon. There's nothing worse than not knowing what's wrong.

My girl started her special diet yesterday teatime. It comes in tins and looks like a big lump of lard - very repulsive looking to me and I wondered if she'd turn her nose up. But they must put something very tasty in it because she loved it! At £15 for 12 tins though it isn't the cheapest meal in the world! Ah well... as long as she gets better it'll be more than worth it

Sad thing is she can't have any biscuits or any other treats at all - only what comes in those tins. She thinks she's been naughty because of no biscuits at bedtime. Poor thing