Sassy is a sweet little lady Shih Tzu of 8 years. Her person had just died after fighting a long illness and her new people who inherited her brought her to us. Sassy’s chief complaint was that she couldn’t hold her urine and it was discoloured a pinkish tinge. The poor girl was peeing all the time. Urine just dribbled from her. Needless to say, she was soiled about the hind end and had a terrible odour. You could find Sassy anywhere she went, just follow the bloody urine trail and your nose. Sassy was quite embarrassed by this and clearly use to a better life than this.
When she presented, a very full bladder was palpated through the abdominal wall. But rather then being full of urine, a rocky substance was palpated. We retrieved a urine sample and took radiographs of the bladder. The diagnosis was easy – Sassy had a severe case of bladder stones. The radiograph illustrates bladder stones in the bladder and in the neck of the bladder and in the vaginal vault! The urine sample indicated infection, irritation and pain. Sassy was started on antibiotics and anti-inflammatory pain killers and scheduled for surgery the next week
This picture illustrates the bladder full of stones before opening up the bladder wall. Now the bladder is open and some stones have been removed



After removing over 200 stones another radiograph was taken to ensure no stones were left behind.
It’s been 5 months now and Sassy made a great recovery and has no sign of bladder stones again. The stones were analysed to discover what made them form in the first place. The stones were struvite stones.
These stones frequently form in small breed dogs like Minature Schnauzer, Bichon Frise, Shih Tzu, Yorkshire Terrier, Lhasa Apso and Minature Poodles. They are most frequently found in females who have an underlying infection. Mostly middle age to older dogs are affected.
The good news is that Sassy’s struvite stones can be prevented with special attention to her diet and treating any urinary tract infections very early before stones can form. Sassy now eats Medi-Cal Preventive food which is designed to help prevent bladder stones.