Brave little Jerry, a 6-year-old Bichon Frise, visited our hospital after his owners noted him straining to urinate. Jerry had been dealing with a UTI for the last month and had been diligently eating his urinary diet given to him by his regular vet. Earlier that day, Jerry had visited his vet and although no bladder stones were visible on an ultrasound, there were some looming. Within a few hours of his visit, a bladder stone had lodged itself in Jerry’s urethra.

Our doctor, together with Jerry’s owner, agreed to a plan of placing a urinary catheter to flush the stone back into the bladder, freeing up the urethra to pass urine. This procedure was successful, and the stone was dislodged. The discussion then took place regarding the next steps. Because there had already been attempts to dissolve the stones through a diet that were unsuccessful, it was recommended that a cystotomy be performed. We presented the option to perform the surgery overnight at our hospital or to call their vet the next day to book surgery there. We like to provide these options to clients to allow them to go where they are most comfortable. In this case, because the owners were concerned about Jerry blocking again, they opted for surgery that night.

An incision was made into the bladder and our veterinarian took time to ensure all palpable uroliths were removed. She then ran the urinary catheter back and forth in the urethra to ensure there were no remaining calculi. The bladder was flushed with saline and sutured closed. Post-operative radiographs were taken to ensure no remaining calculi as well. The bladder stones were then sent off to the Canadian Veterinary Urolith Centre to be assessed.

Jerry came in for multiple rechecks post-surgery to ensure that everything was healing well. Jerry experienced some slight dribbling and discomfort that were to be expected but all were resolved, and we are happy to say that Jerry is now fully recovered and in good health!