Canine urinary calculi, or urinary stones, are a very common urinary tract disease in dogs, referring to the formation of particles or lump-like aggregates in the urinary system as a result of concentrated precipitation of urine. Urinary stones tend to occur in older, middle-aged and older dogs. Dogs suffering from urinary calculi are in great pain because they will have difficulty urinating, painful urination, blood in the urine, and in severe cases can even endanger the dog’s life and health …… Therefore, early self-examination and screening is very important. Etiology Canine urolithiasis is a type of disease with a variety of pathological changes, its etiology and formation process is extremely complex, involving the dog’s diet, nutritional status, metabolic abnormalities, disease, medication, urinary foreign bodies and urinary changes and other reasons. The final manifestation is the over-saturation of solute components in the urine, which do not dissolve and precipitate to form crystals, which accumulate over time and precipitate into stones, deposited in a part of the urinary tract to form urinary stones. Symptoms observing the state of the dog can make a prediction of urinary stones: 1. Frequency of urination: increased frequency of urination (or often hovering near the toilet), but little or even no urination. 2. Urination state: body tension during urination, long time, showing pain. 3. Other manifestations: urinating anywhere, licking the genital area, temperament becomes indifferent, does not like to be touched on the abdomen (caused by pain). 4. Urine state : There is blood in the urine with a foul odor. Diagnosis To determine if your dog has urinary stones, you need to go to the hospital for professional examination: 1. Urinalysis: to detect elevated protein, urea nitrogen, urine pH, etc. in the urine. For diagnosis, urinalysis is important to determine the type of stone. 2. X-ray examination: Most of the bladder is seen to be enlarged with accumulation of urine, bladder shadow with increased optical density and obvious stone shadow, sometimes only less obvious stone shadow is seen. 3. Blood test: Total white blood cell count is generally elevated and lymphocytes are generally decreased. Prevention 1. Ensure adequate water intake: Insufficient water intake will lead to concentration of urine, leaving the urine supersaturated with stone crystals, which are more likely to form crystalline precipitation and can further increase the chance of stone formation. 2. Dietary control: Consume less chicken liver, pork liver or beef, lean pork and foods containing high animal protein diets, which leads to an increase in the phosphorus to calcium ratio in the feed, causing an increase in serum and urinary phosphorus levels and an increase in the incidence of urinary stones. The incidence of urinary calculi will increase. 3. Metabolic abnormalities cannot be controlled with diet, and auxiliary drugs are needed to control the development of stones. Note that when the dog is found to have frequent urination, painful urination, cloudy urine, hematuria and other symptoms, the dog needs to be sent to the veterinary hospital for examination as soon as possible to avoid delaying the dog’s treatment and aggravating the condition.
