My dog's bladder stone returned quickly after surgery. Is this normal?

Hi and thanks for posting! It can take anywhere from 10-14 days or sometimes a little longer before the bladder can heal after surgery and regain normal stream of urine. It is not uncommon for there to be a shorter urine stream or for patients that have had bladder surgery to urinate more frequently than usual. This should subside in about 1-2 weeks.

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Charlie. It is necessary to continue monitoring him to prevent the stones from recurring. He should have a urinalysis every 3-6 months to look for crystals in his urine, signs of a urinary tract infection and to monitor the pH of his urine. I recommend that the dog fasts for 12 hours before the urine sample is collected. I also routinely take x-rays to look for bladder stones every 6-12 months. He should eat the prescription diet exclusively. I hope this information helps!

I personally don't like to question or contradict another vet's treatment, especially since I can't see Einstein in person, but I would be concerned that there is another cause to his trouble going pee. It can happen that bladder stones are missed in surgery, or new ones can form, and I would be concerned that this could be causing his problems with urinating. I would recommend getting a second opinion from another vet as soon as possible.

A urine culture every few months is a good way to monitor and ensure that she doesn't have a "hidden infection," and the trouble is that with many infections, the pH of the urine will increase which increases the liklihood of struvite formation. I know that cystocentesis sounds scary, but actually most dogs tolerate it very well, and most vets and vet techs are extremely competent with this technique. Repeat urine cultures are great. If you aren't comfortable with that, though, talk to your vet. A simple UA could be done to watch for building crystal numbers, (however, any UA is best obtained via cystocentesis to minimize contamination). Feed soft or canned food or add some water to dry food to increase her moisture intake; the more dilute her urine is the less likely that stones will form. I am sorry that we weren't able to get to your question sooner. Thank you for asking Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach, and good luck with Maggie!

I would recommend seeing your veterinarian for a recheck. Struvite stones often form secondary to a urinary tract infection so your vet may want to test Beemo’s urine to make sure there is not currently an infection present. If you’re able to save a stone for your vet they might want to send it out for analysis - occasionally dogs can have multiple types of bladder stones and it’s possible your vet may want to change the diet or add a supplement if this is the case.

Hello. Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, some of these dogs keep developing stones, & we just do not know the total reason & mechanism for this. So you are perfectly right to feel confused, & frustrated with this. The Royal Canin S/O has been one of the best options in terms of preventing stones through the diet, & of course, the more water he takes in, the more water there is to flush the oxalate elements out of his bladder before stones reoccur. Sometimes we do recommend potassium citrate, if urine pH is consistently lower than 6.5, & some newer thinking is to add hydrochlorothiazide if he does seem to be redeveloping urolithiasis frequently & he does not have high blood calcium levels. You could monitor his urine for blood with urine dip strips manufactured for this purpose ( your vet can help with this ). A full urinalysis should be done every 3-6 months to keep pH between 6.5 & 8 & to maintain urine specific gravity to 1.020 or lower. Imaging, with either ultrasound or x-rays every 6-12 months is useful to identify very small stones that can generally be removed without surgery.removed . Hopefully, Casper will remain stone free for a very long time. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

It does take time for Little One's bladder to heal from the bladder stones, so yes you can still see some blood in her urine. She can bleed on and off after bladder surgery, but I would still monitor her. If the bleeding gets worse or she starts having difficulty urinating, I would contact your vet immediately. I hope she feels better soon!