Dog Urinary Stones: Symptoms and Treatment
📝 Summary
Canine urolithiasis is a common urinary disease, more often seen in older and senior dogs. Dogs with urinary stones are in great pain, showing difficulty urinating, blood in urine, and painful urination. Severe cases can endanger the dog's life and health, so owners should take the dog to the hospital promptly when they notice difficulty urinating, to avoid the condition worsening.
1 Overview
I. Symptoms of Canine Urolithiasis
Urinary stones are divided into bladder stones and urethral stones.
Clinical manifestations: The sick dog often has difficulty urinating, hematuria, and frequent urination, but only a small amount of urine each time. On bladder palpation, many stones rubbing against each other can be felt.
Symptoms of urinary stones: Restlessness, difficulty walking, pain, and severe abdominal pain on palpation. Long-term urinary retention can lead to uremia – coma, vomiting, ammonia smell on the breath, elevated blood urea nitrogen and creatinine, loss of bladder elasticity, and in severe cases bladder rupture.
II. Diagnosing Canine Urolithiasis
Detailed red blood cell tests, urine tests, urinary sediment tests, urinary tract X-rays, and ultrasound are common examination methods;
More in-depth examinations include intravenous pyelography. Collected stones or urinary sediment can be sent for laboratory analysis to determine their composition.
III. Treating Canine Urolithiasis
For a dog that already has urinary stones, first confirm the type of disease through various examinations and find the cause before treating. Second, treat promptly. Mild cases can use conservative treatment including anti-inflammation, pain relief, medication, and dietary therapy; for more severe urethral stones, early laparotomy to remove the stones is needed. In some advanced areas, lasers or ultrasound can be used to fragment small stones. It is recommended to consult a local veterinarian before deciding on a specific treatment.
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