Pennridge Animal Hospital

💩 P**p there it is!!! 💩

As you are all recovering from your holiday celebrations....here is a reminder to BRING US YOUR P**P!!

All month long you'll receive 10% off with any f***l sample (or panel that includes a f***l) - PLUS you are entered into a raffle to win a cooler and camping supplies OR $150 gift certificate!

AND, you will be screening your pet for pesky parasites that are very common in our area and can cause diarrhea, vomiting, weight loss, and more....truly a win-win situation!

So what are you waiting for...scoop up that p**p and bring it in, and let's make sure our pets are healthy!! 💩

- Let's talk about a common bladder problem - bladder stones!!

Meet our friend Shadow - this beautiful girl came to us back in March in a crisis - she was struggling to urinate, and was in a lot of pain. That first picture is her xray when she came in - her poor bladder was so full with both urine and stones, it was taking up over half of her abdomen! Thankfully, we were able to admit her, and perform an emergency cystotomy to remove all these pesky stones!

Bladder stones are tricky - they can present like a urinary tract infection, or can even sit silent with no obvious clinical signs for months, or even years! There have been many patients where we have found them after seeing recurrent urinary tract infection signs, and crystals in the urine - which can be a big clue that there are stones lurking. It is thankfully not that common that they end up having an obstruction or a crisis, like poor Shadow, but that is the worse case scenario with stones.

Bladder stones can come in a few different varieties, but the 2 most common are struvite and calcium oxalate stones! They each form in either acidic or basic urine (so pH matters!) - and can be linked to infection, or just form due to genetics. It is a common misconception that they are 'caused' by what our dogs eat (like in people!) - but it is honestly more of a genetic cause in dogs! Though food plays a HUGE roll in managing stones and preventing stones, and there are prescription diet foods meant to assist with that, regular dog food is not the cause of stones!

For miss Shadow - she had struvite stones (see the second picture with one of the stones after surgery!) - which can be linked to infections! So for Shadow, her post-op management plan includes recheck cultures/screening for infections, as well as eating a urinary food longterm that will help control her pH so we can prevent the crystals that then lead to stones! Follow up moving foward will be super important to keep her healthy longterm, but so far Shadow is doing great!!