Dog Bladder Stones

In some circumstances like disruptions in urine pH, crystals in the urine adhere together. When bonded, these crystals become insoluble and when more crystals link up together, they form dog bladder stones. The presence of stones in the kidney or the bladder is called urolithiasis. Cystitis stimulated by bladder stones may contribute to the formation of further stones in the bladder.

The basic elements of dog bladder stones are the minerals that form crystals. These are normally comprised of only one sort of crystal. In rare cases crystals made by different minerals can mix to build the same stone. The relevance of understanding the types of bladder stones lies in the fact that each type is affected by the consumption of nutrients and particular diets.

Almost half the cases of dog bladder stones are diagnosed as struvite stones. These are discovered more in female dogs than in male ones. Struvite stones are also called magnesium-ammonium-phosphate or triple phosphate. Urinary tract infection in dogs that is caused by particular bacteria produce an enzyme called urease that sets a chemical reaction in motion. In this reaction urea is changed into carbon dioxide and ammonia. This ultimately leads to an surplus of ammonia and the formation of crystals. Cases where the bladder cannot be emptied completely due to canine urinary incontinence,l also leads to the precipitation of struvite crystals out of alkaline urine to form bladder stones.

Calcium oxalate stones are the second most common bladder stones in dogs. These types of stones tend to form in acidic urine. There is a substantial genetic association with the formation of oxalate stones in dogs just as it is in humans. Nephrocalcin in urine restricts the formation of calcium oxalate stones. The production of defective nephrocalcin or its absence is associated with genetic causes. This suggests that recurrent UTI in puppies should be looked into further to rule out the possibility of bladder stones. Calcium oxalate stones are occasionally found to occur along with other uroliths such as calcium phosphate and ammonia urate stones.

Struvite and calcium oxalate stones are radiopaque and easily show up on in an X-ray. Some stones such as urate stones are radiolucent and do not show in radiographs. The best technique to discover stones is an ultrasound examination. Sometimes air or dye or both are injected in the bladder to outline suspected stones. The pH of urine generally gives an indication of the constitution and type of stones.

Apart from genetics, stone formation in the bladder is also dependent on oxygen reuptake and the enzymes produced for digestion. Minerals incline to form crystal when they are not fully picked up by the digestive system.

Regular exercise and suitable diet can limit the formation of bladder stones. In some cases an operation may be the only choice of treatment. Homeopathy, on the other hand, has some effective remedies for dissolving some types of urinary stones.