kidney stones

[Freedom]

I've known of several dogs who got bladder stones; never heard of kidney stones in a dog, though.

Best wishes for the surgery!

[Jessika]

Bladder stones aren't that uncommon in dogs. It is genetic, but diet very much has a lot to do with it. Surgery is not that hard on them, and depending on how big the stones are, very necessary (after a certain size [larger than a grain of sand, in most cases], they can not be dissolved by diet alone and require surgical extraction). After surgery I HIGHLY recommend sending the stones off to a lab to determine what type of stones they are, and when those results come back in, consult with your vet about an appropriate diet to prevent them from forming again. Diet is VERY important with stone formation. Many owners will stray from the diet because it's too expensive, or its just too much work for them to come to the clinic to buy it, etc, and the pet forms stones again and has to have surgery again.

The surgery we perform at my clinic is called a cystotomy, where you enter the abdomen and make an incision into the bladder, remove the stones, then close everything back up. Recovery time is the same as with any other abdominal surgery (ie, spays). You may see blood and/or clots in the urine for a few days following the surgery, this is normal.

Again, the stones can reform again unless you stick to an appropriate diet that helps keep the urine at a specific pH. Different stones form in different pH, so determining which stones he's formed will determine the diet you will need to keep him on. Also, I forgot to add, water consumption can be helpful in these cases too, making sure to keep a full water bowl and letting him out to urinate frequently. This keeps the urine "moving" so it doesn't sit in the bladder and can help reduce the chance of forming stones.

Good luck!

[daisybee]

Bailey had surgery yesterday and as of late in the afternoon, he was doing well,
The vet said he had about 20 stones. Bailey is a small dog, I don't know where
he put 20 stones, his kidney must have been pretty full. Anyway I'm supposed
to pick him up this morning. I don't know what to expect. I don't know if he'll
be in a lot of pain or if he'll be pretty much like he normally is. Either way, I'll be
happy to have him home. Its amazing to me how many things I noticed were
different because Bailey wasn't here. Not all good things, but you have to take
the good with the bad right