Bladder Stones in your Dog

wCould your dog suffer from bladder stones as a patient of mine has? A little fat Norfolk Terrier called Tess came in today with yet another bout of cystitis or bladder infection. This time the owner said that Tess really appeared in discomfort when she tried to urinate and did not appear to pass much at all except small drops of blood. I was about to prescribe yet more antibiotics as I could not feel much in her fat belly, but had a niggling feeling in the back of my mind that there was something else going on. She had not eaten, so I booked her in for an x-ray and my niggles were correct. She had very obvious stones in her bladder.

wOften bladder stones can be flushed out or melted down by changing the diet (and thus changing the acidity or alkalinity), but she needed an operation to have them cut out of her thickened bladder. They were sent to the laboratory for analysis but looked very much like smooth, yellow struvite stones - the most common stones in dogs that develop in alkaline urine.

wThese types of stones are more common in bitches that get recurrent infections of the bladder or certain foods can result in a more alkaline urine which results in the development of these stones.

wSome breeds such as Dalmatians are genetically predisposed to have a more acidic urine and they can get oxalate crystals or stones forming and these tend to affect male dogs more.

wDogs that also have a low intake of water which results in a more concentrated urine are predisposed to bladder stones.

wThere are special diets that your pet will need to go onto if only crystals are diagnosed. Prescription diets such as Hills S/D produce a more acidic urine to help melt down the struvite crystals.

wI imagine that cranberry juice would have the same effect if you really cannot get any prescription food but whether your dog would drink it is another matter.

wTo prevent these crystals reforming, Tess will need to onto Hills C/D when she goes home tomorrow. The only problem with it is that it is very tasty and dogs can get fat (or fatter as in Tess' case) when on the diet. Weigh a certain amount for each day according to your dog's weight and stick to it.

wHills U/D is the treatment of choice for dogs with oxalate crystals such as those seen more commonly in Dalmatians. The few dogs I have had on this diet have unfortunately not liked it, but there are other brands such as Royal Canin Urinary Control which is available in certain areas and appears to be tastier.

wI hope that your dog is insured if any of these problems are discovered as all these foods fall under the insurance.

For treatment of dogs that are drinking and urinating more click on my dog e-book below. It is full of advice and treatment at home of common illnesses in dogs.

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