My beautiful Jack Russell, Henry, passed away yesterday, from complication due to cystine bladder stones. He was only 5 years old. As you can guess, I am devastated.
We had him since he was a puppy, one year ago he started to strain to urinate, so I took him to the vets. Turned out he had a blockage in the urinary tract, to cut a long story short, he had a two and a half hour operation, thank God he came through it and within 48 hours was back to normal. I did a lot of reading up on cystine bladder stones, they represent less than 1% of the types of bladder stones in dogs.
A couple of weeks ago, Henry started to spend more time urinating, but I kept a close eye on him and although there were times when urine was not flowing, there were still large pools of urine during the course of the day. At home he was normal, eating normally, drinking normally, sleeping and playing normally, I decided to continue to keep a close eye on him. A few days later, I saw him squatting and trying to urinate in the house, something he has never done before, even as a puppy. I took him straight away for a walk, but there he was, running playing normally, full of life, even though he was taking longer to urinate. On the evening I caught him trying to urinate in the house again, this time in the middle of the small pool of urine was a very small stone, it looked just like a cystine stone. The following day everything was back to normal, I was overjoyed and relieved.
Last Thursday morning, I sensed there was something wrong, but there was nothing I could actually point to. At home, a few hours later, I saw Henry trying to urinate in the house again. I rang the vets, but they could only see him the following day. I took Henry (who was still acting normally in every other way) for a walk, this time I saw no evidence of any urine flowing at all. I took him straight to the vets, who referred who straight to the animal hospital. After a scan they confirm there were a great deal of stones, Henry underwent a three and a half hour operation, after the operation I was told his bladder was so badly tender and inflamed, they were worried the stitches would not hold. We had to wait.
That evening I took my best friend his favourite toy and a t-shirt of mine I had been wearing, just to try and give him a little comfort.
The following day after a scan it was found there were still stones (cystine stones are very difficult to pick up on x rays). They said they could go in again and this time they could perform a scrotal urethrostomy, where the uretha is redirected, from the penis to a small incision, so the dog would urinate as a bitch would. The operation would be hugely expensive (not covered by insurance), but they was not a consideration in any way shape or form. The surgeon told me there would be a less than 30% chance of it being successful. I was left with that decision that good dog owners dread, my brother and best friend passed away, I later took up some of his other toys, so they could be cremated together.
For those who have had the patience to read this article, there is a point.Before the final prognosis, I spent many hours researching the condition, which built on my knowledge from the previous year. There are many conflicting ideas, little is known about the condition in this country. Believe it or not, many dogs with this condition, go on to live between 1 to 2 years longer than dogs of a similar breed.
There are two drugs that can control this condition, they are expensive, but I even spent a few hours phoning the States and finding how, legally, through a vet you can import at about 20% of the cost.
If I can help one dog in this country, then Henry's death will not have been in vain.
I intend to start a web page and support group for dogs with bladder stones, particularly with the cystine version. If you are interested, please contact me.
Thank you for reading.
We had him since he was a puppy, one year ago he started to strain to urinate, so I took him to the vets. Turned out he had a blockage in the urinary tract, to cut a long story short, he had a two and a half hour operation, thank God he came through it and within 48 hours was back to normal. I did a lot of reading up on cystine bladder stones, they represent less than 1% of the types of bladder stones in dogs.
A couple of weeks ago, Henry started to spend more time urinating, but I kept a close eye on him and although there were times when urine was not flowing, there were still large pools of urine during the course of the day. At home he was normal, eating normally, drinking normally, sleeping and playing normally, I decided to continue to keep a close eye on him. A few days later, I saw him squatting and trying to urinate in the house, something he has never done before, even as a puppy. I took him straight away for a walk, but there he was, running playing normally, full of life, even though he was taking longer to urinate. On the evening I caught him trying to urinate in the house again, this time in the middle of the small pool of urine was a very small stone, it looked just like a cystine stone. The following day everything was back to normal, I was overjoyed and relieved.
Last Thursday morning, I sensed there was something wrong, but there was nothing I could actually point to. At home, a few hours later, I saw Henry trying to urinate in the house again. I rang the vets, but they could only see him the following day. I took Henry (who was still acting normally in every other way) for a walk, this time I saw no evidence of any urine flowing at all. I took him straight to the vets, who referred who straight to the animal hospital. After a scan they confirm there were a great deal of stones, Henry underwent a three and a half hour operation, after the operation I was told his bladder was so badly tender and inflamed, they were worried the stitches would not hold. We had to wait.
That evening I took my best friend his favourite toy and a t-shirt of mine I had been wearing, just to try and give him a little comfort.
The following day after a scan it was found there were still stones (cystine stones are very difficult to pick up on x rays). They said they could go in again and this time they could perform a scrotal urethrostomy, where the uretha is redirected, from the penis to a small incision, so the dog would urinate as a bitch would. The operation would be hugely expensive (not covered by insurance), but they was not a consideration in any way shape or form. The surgeon told me there would be a less than 30% chance of it being successful. I was left with that decision that good dog owners dread, my brother and best friend passed away, I later took up some of his other toys, so they could be cremated together.
For those who have had the patience to read this article, there is a point.Before the final prognosis, I spent many hours researching the condition, which built on my knowledge from the previous year. There are many conflicting ideas, little is known about the condition in this country. Believe it or not, many dogs with this condition, go on to live between 1 to 2 years longer than dogs of a similar breed.
There are two drugs that can control this condition, they are expensive, but I even spent a few hours phoning the States and finding how, legally, through a vet you can import at about 20% of the cost.
If I can help one dog in this country, then Henry's death will not have been in vain.
I intend to start a web page and support group for dogs with bladder stones, particularly with the cystine version. If you are interested, please contact me.
Thank you for reading.
