Preventing Dogs from Bladder Stones

Some dogs may be used to urinating and defecating only when they are walking. If the owner does not take it for a walk, it may hold it in. Over time, the dog's urine concentration becomes higher and there will be more mineral crystals. This means that the dog is at a higher risk of bladder stones. When there are enough stones, it may cause urethral obstruction. If the degree is serious, it can cause the dog's bladder to rupture, and even endanger life!

What are bladder stones?

Bladder stones are hard stones that form in the bladder. These stones are made up of bacteria, crystals, and various minerals in the bladder. A dog may have one or more bladder stones in his bladder, and they can vary in size and shape.

Bladder stones can form in a few weeks or take several months to form. The growth rate usually depends on the number of crystals and the severity of the infection. Generally, a larger stone may take several months to grow. But if there are a lot of crystals or the infection is severe, some large stones can form in as little as two weeks.

Clinical Signs of Bladder Stones in Dogs

Male dogs often have bladder and urethral stones at the same time. The main symptoms are difficulty urinating, frequent urination, and hematuria. The affected dogs have straining and groaning when urinating. In the early stage, they can discharge a small amount of urine and urinate in a dripping manner, but they cannot discharge urine at all later. Fine sand-like stones can be touched at the foreskin. As the disease progresses, the affected dogs have abdominal distension, and the bladder can be felt to be full and swollen when touching the abdomen. Due to urinary poisoning, the dog shows symptoms such as polydipsia and vomiting. Eventually, the dog will die due to complications caused by bladder rupture.

Female dogs mostly only have bladder stones, which are manifested by frequent urination in the early stage, turbid urine with sticky or cellulose flocs, or blood in the discharged urine, and severe cases are hematuria. Some dogs show pain reaction when urinating, with small urine volume and frequent urination. Some dogs can discharge small particles or fine sand-like stones when urinating. If the stones are large and numerous, a hard, full bladder with slight mobility can be felt by pressing the upper abdomen and the front of the hip tubercle with both hands while standing and restrained.

Causes of bladder stones

 

1. Environmental factors: In a hot and dry climate with long hours of sunlight, the evaporation of body fluids due to high temperature and untimely water replenishment can cause dog urine to concentrate, which is conducive to the formation of stones. In addition, the seasons, water sources, and water quality in different regions can affect the incidence of stones.
2. Dietary factors: Long-term feeding of chicken liver, pork liver or beef, lean pork, and foods containing high animal protein diets will lead to an increase in the phosphorus-calcium ratio in the feed, causing an increase in serum and urine phosphorus levels, thereby increasing the incidence of urinary stones.
3. Urinary tract infection factors: The urinary system is infected by bacteria, causing damage to the urethral epithelium, resulting in epithelial cell shedding and cast formation, leading to the formation of the core of the stone. In addition, vitamin A deficiency or the use of estrogen and the stimulation of surgical sutures can also cause epithelial cell shedding, leading to the formation of the core of the stone. These factors are all predisposing factors for the formation of urethral stones. If the relative balance between salt crystals and colloids in urine is disrupted, salt crystals in urine will continue to precipitate and attach to the core foreign body to form stones.
4. Water drinking factor: Dogs that do not like to drink water or drink insufficient water have a higher incidence of bladder and urethral stones. Insufficient water drinking leads to urine concentration, which makes the stone crystals in urine in an oversaturated state, making it easier to form crystals and precipitate, which can further increase the probability of stone formation.
5. Gender factor: Generally speaking, the clinical incidence of bladder and urethral stones in male dogs is higher than that in female dogs. This is because the urinary tract of male dogs is relatively long, curved and thin. A small amount of stones cannot be eliminated or remain in the urethra after formation. Therefore, in clinical practice, male dogs often have bladder stones and urethral stones at the same time.

Diagnosis and Treatment of Bladder Stones

The symptoms of bladder stones are similar to those of simple bladder infections or cystitis, but most dogs with bladder infections do not have bladder stones. Therefore, the conclusion of bladder stones is not based solely on these common clinical symptoms. Some bladder stones can be found by palpation of the abdominal wall. However, some stones may be too small or the bladder is inflamed and painful to be palpated. In this case, they can be found by ultrasound machine at the hospital.

Generally, there are three main treatment options for bladder stones, surgical removal, pulse therapy, and dietary dissolution. This will depend on the type of stone your dog has, or their medical condition. Surgical removal of bladder stones. This is usually the quickest way to treat bladder stones. However, general anesthesia may not be the best option for some dogs.

If the bladder stones are very small, your veterinarian can flush them out of the bladder using saline in a catheter and syringe. Any of these non-surgical procedures can also be used to obtain a sample of the stone for analysis so that your veterinarian can determine if dietary dissolution is feasible.

In some cases, bladder stones can be dissolved by feeding your dog a special diet. This diet will be adjusted according to the type of stone. This treatment avoids surgery. But dietary dissolution is not necessarily feasible for all types of stones, and the dissolution rate is slow. It may take weeks or months to dissolve a large stone. During this time, the dog may continue to have blood in the urine, difficulty urinating, and recurrent infections. The risk of urinary obstruction remains high.

Ultrasound dissolution is also one of the treatments for bladder stones. It can quickly pass the stone through the urethra without surgery.

Prevention of bladder stones

• Increase the number of urination points for dogs

Some dogs may have been trained to only go out to the toilet, but they may hold their urine for a long time due to the busy work of their owners or the weather. In this regard, the owner can put a few more pet potties at home to encourage the dog and let it know that it can go to the toilet in the right place even at home.

• Increase the amount of water

Give clean and sufficient drinking water every day. If the dog does not like to drink water, you can try to add a little honey to increase the dog's desire to drink water. In addition, choose wet canned food for feeding, the water in it can also help the dog replenish water.

• Diet adjustment

By controlling the acidity and alkalinity of the food fed to help improve the stone constitution and control the disease, professional veterinarians can provide formula feed suitable for dogs, and match it with water intake. In addition, having a strong body can effectively resist diseases. Even going out for a 10-minute walk every night is a good exercise.

Usually, the owner should also pay more attention to the dog's urination to see if the color, frequency and time of urine are normal. If you find any abnormal situation, you should take your dog to the hospital for examination in time.