Bladder Stones in Dogs

Just like humans, dogs can develop stones in their bladders. This can give them trouble urinating. It can even become life-threatening if the stones obstruct the bladder, and your dog is unable to urinate at all.

So, what exactly are bladder stones?

Stones can form in your dog's bladder. These stones can be small like sand, though they can also become quite large. Some dogs have both small and large stones in their bladder.

What are the symptoms of bladder stones?

The most common signs that you may notice include:

Trouble urinating. Your dog may be acting like he or she has to go to the bathroom, but not much may be coming out. He or she may be asking to go out more than often. You may notice that, when he or she does urinate, it isn't always a very large amount.

Unable to urinate at all. If your dog is unable to urinate, this is an emergency. The stone could be obstructing the flow of urine.

Blood in the urine. The stones can irritate and damage the bladder wall, which could be causing the blood in your dog's urine.

How are bladder stones diagnosed?

Most of the time, dogs are diagnosed with having a urinary tract infection. They may have blood in their urine. However, after being given antibiotics, it comes back. If your dog has had multiple urinary tract infections, the veterinarian may decide to investigate the reason why.

The veterinarian may be able to feel them through the bladder wall. If your dog has a large stone, the veterinarian may actually be able to feel them. If not, he or she might recommend more testing.

Larger stones are often visible on radiographs. This simple test can be done in the office, and you will be able to see white spots in your dog's bladder.

However, if they are small, you may need an ultrasound to fully diagnose bladder stones.

So, what can you do to help your dog?

There are three options for owners.

You may decide to do nothing. This isn't the best choice because bladder stones can be quite painful for dogs. You will also have to be on the lookout to make sure that your dog is able to urinate. You aren't going to want your dog to become obstructed and be unable to urinate.

This is life-threatening because the toxins can quickly build up. At this point, you would have to hospitalize your dog on intravenous fluids. He or she would need to be unblocked and blood work will need to be ran regularly to ensure that there is no kidney damage after. The bladder could also burst, and there would be nothing that you could do for it.

Surgical removal is the most common option. Your veterinarian would put your dog under anesthesia. After opening up the abdomen, your veterinarian would open the bladder and remove the stones. He or she would flush the bladder out and then stitch everything back up.

However, many people start with prescription diets and antibiotics. Some stones will dissolve when the dog is fed a certain diet. If you go this route, you will have to feed this diet to your dog for several weeks. At that point, you may repeat the x-rays or ultrasound to see if any progress is made. There are several types of stones, so you might end up trying several different foods until you find the one that is right for your dog. However, when going this route, you also need to make sure that your dog doesn't obstruct.

What is the prognosis?

If your dog goes through surgery, the prognosis is usually good. That being said, they can come back, so you need to make sure that you keep an eye on your dog. Your veterinarian may recommend x-rays regularly to ensure that there are no stones forming in the bladder.