Please keep Toby in your thoughts
 

I haven't posted in a long time (sometimes life just gets in the way) but long story short, Toby has bladder stones and has to have surgery on Monday. X-ray was done today as was the pre-op blood work. Luckily the stones are in his bladder and not his urethra so should be easy to remove as long as they don't creep into his urethra. The vet seems to think they will most likely be struvite stones but won't know until the results come back (and she said that could take up to a month!)

They want him to stay the night Monday but when I found out no one is there from 9 pm to 8 am I said absolutely not and that I will bring him home and take him back to the vet Tuesday morning so she can do the "post op check up." With him being a puppy mill dog there is NO WAY IN HE** he will stay in a crate and be calm regardless of how much medicine he has in his system.

If anyone has had experience with bladder stones and has any advice I'd love to hear it.

Toby is in my thoughts and prayers for a successful surgery and speedy recovery. I agree with bringing him home for the night. Make sure you are familiar with the nearest pet ER just in case you need assistance.

Thanks Kristin. Yes, we know exactly where the ER is as we've had to take Speedy there in the past. This is one of the rare times I wish I had purchased pet insurance. I was told the cost would be somewhere between $800-$1,000. But I'm thinking it will be less since I'm not leaving him there overnight and the pre-op blood work is already done. UGH!

Dianne, how long has he had the stones? It is my understanding that they should be able to recognize the stones via X-ray. Cooper recently had struvite stones and they cleared up when he changed his diet to Royal Canine SD. Have you tried a diet change?

I'm sorry to hear this. Toby is in my prayers.

How big are the stones? Did your vet discuss dietary options to try to dissolve the stone since he/she suspected struvite?

Karen, we don't know how long he's had the stones. This was his second UTI within a few months. No x-rays were taken the first time he had a UTI. Since his first UTI cleared up with antibiotics no further action was taken. I have had him on Solid Gold (a cranberry supplement) ever since his first UTI. Once we got his UTI cleared up he stopped having accidents in the house and stopped peeing in the house for the most part.

Cathy & Karen: We were able to see the stones in the x-ray but she said there are two types of stones and we won't know which kind they are until they take them out. Yes, the vet did talk to me about a signficant change in his diet (prescription Science Diet) after his surgery is over. No more frozen raw green beans, no more cranberry supplement, nothing! She said anything other tha the Science Diet food is off limits because we don't know if it will affect the way the Science Diet is supposed to work in his system. She did say Toby is healthy and his weight is good (8 lbs 2 oz). This little stinker is soooooooooooooo food driven I don't think he will care what he eats as long as it is food.

I knew this UTI was different from his last one because I was able to watch him strain to pee for the past few days with nothing coming out. And my husband said last night he tried to pee on the new rug (and we've had it for over three months). So I got him in to the vet today and am so glad I did.

His last UTI was struvite crystals and the vet said struvite stones are common in dogs.

Thanks for your concern. You both know this little guy means the world to me.

Praying for Toby.

My previous yorkie, Barkley had surgery to remove 7 bladder stones, two were in his urethra. My vet was able to flush the 2 stones back into the bladder, thank God. He did great! Loved his Royal Canin OS food, although he did miss his treats. He died a year ago this August but it had nothing to do with the surgery or the stones.

Ooops, sorry, I meant Royal Canin SO.

Thanks Teri, I'm sure he will come through just fine. He's a tough little guy!

I'm sorry Toby is sick. I hope his surgery goes well and that he will be free from pain.

Sending Toby lots of good thoughts and blessings for his sugury tomorrow

Hi...sending a prayer for Toby!,,

I would check into home cooking...only recipes from vet nutritionist of course!
At least you could have home cooked treats I would guess. ...or maybe science hill has treats.


Good luck...and nice to see you again.

Hi Dianne
Body has this surgery recently & did very well. I was thankful a poster told me that he would have blood in his urine after the surgery, makes sense but I was glad it was mentioned so I didn't panic when I saw it. It lasted for about 3 days with less blood each day. Also, after surgery the bladder is smaller & he needed lots of trips to his pad. Bodie is not crated at all, so it wasn't a concern but if Toby is crated remember he will need to potty more frequently. I slept on the floor so Body could run to his pad whenever he needed without him jumping off the bed since all jumping, etc is a no-no for 2 weeks.
We will be thinking of you and Toby.

Thanks everyone. Yes Shinja, Science Hill does have treats that I will definitely need to get.

Jan, the vet did mention there would be blood in the urine and not to panic. Toby uses stairs all the time. I will definitely be watching him. I understand the recovery is fairly quick although the stitches won't come out for 10 days. He is never crated. I may put his belly band on him for the first day or so. He usually doesn't wear it unless we are leaving him and Speedy home when we are out shopping.

What will be tough is tomorrow morning at 6 a.m. when he is barking and bouncing on my wanting his breakfast! This dog's internal clock is unbelievable and he doesn't stop until he gets what he wants. Hopefully I can keep him in bed until it's time for me to get ready for work and then I will take him straight to the vet.

Can one of you tell me how many stitches they usually get after this type of surgery and will he need to wear a cone? I'm hoping NO CONE! I'm wondering if I just put a belly band on him if that will cover the stitches and keep him from pottying on the floor if he can't hold it.

No stitches for Barkley. I think they used absorbable ones on the inside and glued the skin on the outside. I'm not sure if that is the standard way of doing it or not. The incision was about 3 inches long.

Yikes! Vet said Toby will need to come back in about ten days to get the stitches out so I guess they won't be gluing him back together. Probably a good thing because he's fast and if I turn my head for one second, he might be off and "running" (not really).

I hope all goes well for Toby!

Thanks Jenny, I do too!

Praying for Toby and hoping all goes perfectly.

Prayers lifted that all goes well for Toby today!

Hoping to hear Toby awake and okay and praying for that little one.

Thinking of Toby and looking forward to hearing he is home.

Toby is home and all doped up. LOL He only had one stone but it was as big around as a pencil eraser. The vet said it doesn't look like a struvite stone on the outside but it's possible that it is on the inside. Will have to wait for the lab results. He did great. He still has his catheter in until tomorrow morning when I take him back for his post op visit. She said he did go out and potty today but I can't get the little guy to even stay awake enough to stand up to potty. I took him out and all he did was lay down so I brought him back in. She wants me to feed him half of what he normally gets and continue his antibiotic but he has no interest in food or going potty. He has about 9-10 stitches. His dental went great. No gum disease and no loose teeth. Below is the stone (will need to zoom in to really see it). It reminds me of a piece of coral from the ocean. I borrowed Speedy's crate to pick him up so that's why you see him on a pink blanket. LOL

Poor baby. I am glad he is out of surgery and hope he feels better soon.

Thanks Patti. I think keeping him calm after he completely coherent is going to be the difficult part. UGH

Glad surgery went well! Poor Toby. He should feel better soon.

Prayers answered and little Toby is coming along nicely, it sounds. He's very blessed to have you and vice versa! Keep the updates coming as you can. I'm praying Toby is totally well very very soon.