Kidney Stones
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What are Kidney and Bladder Stones?
Well first off, the urinary system is responsible for filtering, forming and secreting urine. The urinary system is made up of the bladder, kidneys (which filter blood & produce urine), ureters (the tubes that flow the urine from the kidneys to the bladder) and then the urethra ( the tube that flows the urine from the bladder to the outside of the body) Dogs have natural minerals in their bodies just like humans and Kidney | Bladder Stones form when certain chemicals in the body clump together. A stone can stay in the kidney or travel elsewhere in the urinary tract. Since there are different minerals in the body (calcium, magnesium, ammonia etc…) there are different types of stones. Mineral wastes sometimes are only slightly soluble, so if they move slowly through the urinary system, they can crystallize and actually become stones.
Bloody urine, vomiting, abdominal pain, recurrent UTI’s.
There are several different ways the vet can diagnose kidney stones. They might do one or several of the following tests: urinalysis, blood work, bacterial urine culture, x-rays, ultrasound or urography.
Treatment is a case by case decision only the vet can make. Some treatments might include: fluid therapy, antibiotics, dietary changes, or even removal by surgery or by lithography (this uses shock waves to break the large stone into smaller pieces so it can pass)