How Many Stones Can Be Stuffed Into One Dog

[Guest davidsl88]

After a terrible couple days of uncontrollable 'accidents' last week, on Tuesday I took Colby to the vet where it was discovered he had kidney stones and they totally filled his bladder! I thought my eyes would fall out of my head when I saw the x-ray his bladder was huge and looked ready to explode - we were able to count 16! The vet inserted a catheter to relieve his bladder and advised Colby have surgery immediately so I drove him to the emergency hospital at Tufts that night. They made him comfortable and scheduled surgery for (Wednesday) morning. When the surgeon called later that morning to update me on his progress, he told me he "scooped" more than 2 dozen stones (haven't received the report on what type yet)! More remarkable they were all astonished how easily Colby tolerated the surgery and how well he was recovering that instead of keeping him the estimated 4-5 days they initially thought, he would probably be able to come home Thursday and he did! This 10 year old senior is a puppy again! Hes already back to doing the Colby spin at the back door when its time to come back in for a meal (or the t-r-e-a-t!). And just as important alerting me when he needs to go out…

 

Looking back, we are upset for our poor boy that he was suffering (for how long???!!!) and we had NO CLUE!!!! He had been a tad lethargic (if thats possible for a grey!) and seemed to need to go out more frequently, even had a couple isolated accidents that we attributed to old age and his old nemeses, corns that made it difficult for him to walk the stairs to potty, but he continued to eat, beg for the ride and walk and accepted us and company with his usual attitude (When can I go back to sleep?).

 

Geez, I wish these guys could talk!!!

Edited March 7, 2011 by davidsl88

[maggiespet]

So glad Colby is on the mend. Is this something that can happen again? Are there symptoms to look for? I'm asking for my own education. Since these guys can't talk, we need to arm ourselves with as much info as possible and learn from each other. Hope your happy guy continues to heal.

[Guest davidsl88]

So glad Colby is on the mend. Is this something that can happen again? Are there symptoms to look for? I'm asking for my own education. Since these guys can't talk, we need to arm ourselves with as much info as possible and learn from each other. Hope your happy guy continues to heal.

 

Thank you! And OY!! Brain fart! I typed ‘kidney’ stones – they were bladder stones! He was practically symptom-free, which is not unusual, right up until Monday when he peed on the (white tile) kitchen floor. I could finally see his urine was tinted pink (very diluted as he was drinking a lot of water, but that was ‘normal’ for him, so we missed that as a ‘symptom ’). Lethargy or “depression” could also be symptoms, but hard to distinguish in a greyhound, more noticeable in a more energetic breed. He had stopped eating for a few days a month or so ago, but so did Stormy – it’s a frequent enough occurrence and they time it together – and again, not unusual for greyhounds (or MY greyhounds, anyway!). He did go out more, but not enough to call my attention other than thinking he was, after all, getting older. And, sometimes they like to go out just to get the treat, which is more Stormy’s game. He did have a few accidents, not a lot, but unfortunately I thought it was because at times, he’s reluctant to walk the stairs to go outside because of the corns (we just had yet another removed last month). When I called the vet Monday, I thought I was bringing him for a UTI. By Tuesday, Colby was begging to go out literally every 5 minutes, straining to pee with no result. I kept him downstairs so he didn’t have to climb the stairs and ran up and down all morning until our appointment. That’s what informed the vet it had to be more than a UTI (which he also had). Manipulating the bladder confirmed what he thought. The x-ray, as I said, was eye-popping! LOL!!

 

I guess I would watch for all those signs and then stick around to watch while he potties, to see if he’s straining, painful(?) or unable to go entirely. After 7 years with my boys, I’m just now learning that even the most nothing or subtle change could mean it’s SOMETHING.

[Batmom]

Holy petunias!

 

I'm so glad you found the problem, and that he's now stone free and on the mend.

[TheFullHouse]

Good lord! Poor guy. Glad he's all taken care of now.

[greytpups]

glad he's feeling better...and thanks for posting...I agree, those signs may be hard to determine if there is a problem or not.

[gracegirl]

Thanks for the info! We are searching for answers to a mystery pee problem right now and will keep this in mind when we see the ultrasound tech for a view of the tummy later this week. Glad your boy is feeling better and handled the surgery so well.

[Mystella]

Wow it is amazing that he hadn't been having a lot more accidents, his bladder must have had hardly any room for actual pee, poor guy. So glad you found out what it was and that he breezed through the surgery so well.

 

Is there anything they told you that contributes to it or that you need to change for him to prevent more forming??

[AstasMinion]

Poor baby! So glad he's doing so well after surgery!

[BootsyCollins]

We had the same thing happen with our cat. His bladder was so full, the stones were even lining his urethra. He must have been in agony, and we never knew it.

 

I'm so glad your vet was able to make him better!

[Guest davidsl88]

I appreciate all your good wishes - thanks so much! We've not heard back yet as to the type of stones, so we don't know what in the future we'll try to prevent... we'll find out the 16th, when he goes back to our vet for another check-up. I do know diet can help/hurt when trying to prevent or dissolve stones. "Mystery pee" issues are so frustrating and hard to catch (no pun intended)!! But with the outcome we had and what it could have been, I'm glad that's 'all' it was... And from now on, any change in potty habit will be immediately checked out!!

 

Good luck with your doggie, gracegirl, I hope it's just that 'simple' for you. CMoon75, that's exactly what kept me awake a few nights - the pain our pets must have felt! Poor kitty - all better?

[BootsyCollins]

Dogs and cats are very different, of course, but my cat had surgery to open the urethra to allow any smaller stones to pass on their own, and he was put on a special food to keep his urine ph at a certain level to prevent the formation of more stones. This was in 1999, and he lived for another 11 years. He died last year at the ripe old age of 18, with no reoccurences. I hope your boy has the same experience!!

[EllenEveBaz]

Yowza!

 

I hope you'll update us after his follow-up visit. I didn't know there were different kinds of stones. I gather the kind will determine what sort of preventative diet he'll be on?

[brandimom]

GWHIZ I wish they could talk to us also. Never had a dog with kidney stones but I have had kidney stones and the pain is BADDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD. What a trooper your dog is and glad the outcome is good!!!!!!!!

[Guest davidsl88]

Thanks, I'll let you know what we find out and rec. for prevention - I'm learning so much more than I ever wanted about bladders and stones and urine... LOL!! There are different stones that develop for different reasons, mostly having to do with diet producing acid/alkaline content in the urine. My inexpert and limited knowledge comes from the emergency vet (and information packet he gave me that night) and Im trying to reconstruct what he told me but… surgically removing the multitude of stones was the best thing to do to save his bladder and end his pain quickly. Depending on the stone: short-term low protein diet producing acid(?) urine and lots of water can help dissolve Struvite stones. Calcium stones are harder to treat via diet and so are more often surgically removed. I think these can be caused by a more grain/vegetable diet that produces alkaline urine. He likely had these stones for a good long time before the terrible finale last week. But as I read more of the symptoms I understood why none meant anything to me (all of which he had to some slight degree, except ONE irritability or aggression, which he NEVER showed) as pertaining to MY dog - because I could relate almost every single one to his normal behavior. He couldn't have felt well, but we never knew which is most frustrating to me. (I have a great picture of him from early last month, where hes obviously having a good time racing through chest-deep snow - he LOVES snow!! - yet he HAD to be sick then.) Now that weve gone through this, Ill adjust his diet accordingly, but Ill also assume hes prone to infection and stones so from now on I'll get a urinalysis at least twice a year to detect infection/urine makeup. Were feeling very lucky Colby had an excellent outcome, hes 7 days post-op and feeling great (as much as we can tell hes never been an enthusiastic pup!).

 

(brandimom, I have a slight idea of what you went through - my best friend had kidney stones and it was HORRENDOUS!!! She was shrieking!! She made ME cry!! LOL!).

Edited March 8, 2011 by davidsl88

[4My2Greys]

Did you ever find out what kind of stones Colby had?

[Guest davidsl88]

Yes, thanks for asking... lab came back just today... stones were struvite and I'm considering him (us) 'lucky'! He goes back to our vet tomorrow am, but I spoke at length with Tufts vet today. [struvite] Stones are likely to return, but easily managed with hydration and a vigilant eye on future UTI's. We will require a urine culture every 6 months that will keep us on top of this proclivity; once UTI is identified, A/B's/short-term low/no protein diet and lots of water will follow. If he develops stones again, this course will encourage them to dissolve. To tell the truth though, he's 10 this week and our Colby will likely die an old gentleman (a healthy, 'good' death), before he develops stones again...

 

I am thankful for my experience as mom to 3 girls: I am more prone to taking a nap than panic!!(LOL!!!) I hope you and your family and doggies (too!!!) are well...

[4My2Greys]

That is good to hear, I was really hoping that would be the case for him. Not that you would want to have to worry about either, but it is the better of the two. Have you considered getting some of the pH strips to test his urine at home on a regular basis between the cultures? If I remember correctly the stones tend to form in a particular pH it would also give a heads up to any possible UTIs. Some ideas to increase his water intake. If you feed a kibble, I always add at least a cup of filtered water to my dogs kibble when I feed them. Also if you don't have one I have found my dogs really like drinking out of the dog fountains that keep the water running.

We are all doing well thank you. Nadir was going through his own pee episodes for a few weeks lately. Seems like there was a rash of them lately in H & M. For him it turned out to be something in the fish oil capsules I had started giving him again. It didn't take me long to figure it out though. I always suspect something new I've added to his diet so I stopped giving him the fish oil. At the same time though I was wanting to see if it was a UTI how it would respond to D-mannose. Things cleared up for about 10 days so I started giving him the fish oil capsules again and lo and behold the incontinence starts again. I stopped the capsules and its been about 17 days with no more incidents and that is holding it for 10 hrs while I am away at work.