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Sox and her significant stones...
by Liz Watkins BVSc MRCVS

Sox is a 4 year old labrador who had been having trouble passing both urine and bowel motions for some time.

Her owner reported that she could spend upwards of 5 minutes squatting in the garden. She passed urine fairly freely, but her motions came out in a ribbon shape, being flat rather than round. The problem had been present for some time. It was originally thought she was constipated, but when I palpated the bladder area, there was an unusual gritty feel to it.

Radiographs with our new digital X-ray machine showed, as expected, stones, properly called calculi, in the bladder. What was unexpected was the size and number of them - there were enough to completely fill the bladder, and they had worn against each other such that they made an almost perfect sphere when fitted together.

So why was she having difficulty passing motions?

When she strained, this pushed her bladder towards the tail end, blocking the passage of motions through the pelvis. Hence those which were passed were squashed into a ribbon shape, and the amount of straining mimicked constipation.

The removal of the bladder stones, while a major operation, was successful. Sox has made a full recovery and is doing very well after her operation.