More commonly found in males because of their longer urethras, tiny bladder stones
are
passed along when they urinate and can get stuck along the thin and narrow urethra
causing a partial or full obstruction. As the bladder is basically a balloon, this
can
be very dangerous as the urine gets trapped within the bladder. Continuous
production of
urine without emptying the bladder can cause tears in the bladder wall, leading to
bladder rupture. Leakage of urine is a medical emergency and sepsis is often fatal.
If
there are ureteral or bladder stones causing obstructions, we surgically remove the
stones via a cystotomy and flush out the stone.
Perineal Urethrostomy (PU) - If the stone is lodged very tightly and cannot be
removed
by flushing, we perform a PU. This involves creating a new urinary opening and
shortening the length of the urethra. Generally, PUs are more commonly performed on
cats
as they are more prone to recurrent obstruction and their urethra is much smaller
compared to dogs.