Roscoe, a 6 year old male Shih Tzu X, was brought to the team at Reservoir Veterinary Clinic after his owner noticed he wasn’t toileting properly. Roscoe was continually straining to urinate but couldn’t pass anything. Dr Wayne Fitzgerald examined Roscoe and found he had an extremely full bladder. Roscoe had a history of urinary problems so Wayne decided to admit Roscoe into the hospital for a workup including a urinalysis and X-rays.

Roscoe was placed on intravenous fluids to support his blood pressure and then given a general anaesthetic. Dr Wayne inserted a urinary catheter into Roscoe’s urethra to see if a blockage was the problem. The catheter passed into his bladder but did meet some resistance. Radiographs were then taken of Roscoe’s abdomen and these demonstrated a large number of stones of various sizes in his bladder. Some of the smaller stones were causing Roscoe pain and distress as they passed down his urethra from the bladder. The larger stones were too big to be passed in this way.

Surgery was required to remove these bladder stones before a complete obstruction occurred. Dr Fitzgerald performed the cystotomy as this procedure is called. A large number of dark green stones were removed. These were then sent to the laboratory for analysis. After the surgery Roscoe started to urinate freely and was given analgesics for any post-surgical discomfort or pain.

The lab diagnosed the stones as being Ammonium urate which is quite an unusually type. Roscoe was placedAmmonium urate stones removed from Roscoe's bladder on a prescription diet which reduces further formation of these stones by controlling his urine pH and the amount of ammonium salts in his diet. Roscoe will need to stay on this prescription food for the rest of his life and have urinalysis checks every 3-6 months to monitor his condition.

Since his surgery Roscoe has made a full recovery with no further urinary problems thanks to his new prescription diet.