[SportyBaby]

I am looking to hear from anyone whose baby may have undergone bladder surgery for stone removal (calcium oxalate stones in this case) and experienced complications or a lengthy recovery time.

I should start by saying I am in VERY close communication with my vet so I am not relying on this board for medical advice. Just looking for others' experiences so that I can have some ideas about what might be going on with my guy. It feels like we have been living under a raincloud for the past several weeks and I am not sure what to do next.

My five year old shorkie (shihtzu/yorkie), Sport, has MVD and last fall developed CaOx stones. He underwent a cystotomy exactly four weeks ago for stone removal. He recovered seemingly normally from surgery, except he continues to strain to pee. He is also continuing to have occasional incontinence (i.e. peeing on the floor or the carpet, not on his wee wee pad). (He gets 2-3 walks per day and pees on all walks.) I am of the understanding that most dogs do NOT strain after this surgery and that he should have been back to normal about two weeks post-op.

He has been examined twice since the surgery and nothing has been found. He has been on two courses of antibiotics since surgery and is currently on an antibiotic and an anti-inflammatory. His urine culture came up negative and a quick ultrasound last weekend revealed thickened bladder walls (indicating inflammation) but nothing else. He did not show pain on deep palpation of the bladder. He has appetite and seems generally bright and alert. The straining and occasional incontinence are the only signs that all is not well with him.

I have heard horror stories of allergic reactions to internal stitches causing granuloma and staph infections that could be deadly. I usually trust my vet (an animal hospital where Sport is seen by multiple doctors) but am wondering whether it is time to seek a second opinion. I am not even sure what kind of specialist I would need, or if I need a specialist at all. I don't want to overreact but my instinct tells me he should be back to normal by now and I am worried my vet isn't taking the matter as seriously as I would like.

I would love to hear from anyone else whose baby has undergone bladder surgery and who might have had a similar experience and what the problem turned out to be and how it was resolved.

Thanks in advance,
Holly and Sport