Urolithiasis:
Urinary Bladder Calculi, Bladder Stones
Affected Animals:
Dogs and cats of any age, sex, or breed can develop bladder stones. Struvite or triple phosphate, the most common stone types, are found among younger adult animals in urine that is most often alkaline. Calcium oxalate stones occur most often in acidic urine.
Information and Overview:
Bladder stones are rock-hard collections of minerals, clinically known as uroliths, which can rub and irritate the bladder wall, causing it to bleed. As a result of the irritation, the animal may feel like it needs to urinate frequently, seen by the owner as a lot of urination. In fact, there is actually only a small amount of urine to release. Bladder stones can obstruct urinary flow, causing pain or straining while urination occurs. This may be seen as shaking, straining, or vocalizing upon urination. Stones are composed of mineral, usually with one mineral predominating. Animals can get each of the different stone types for different reasons. The various stones are named based on their mineral components: struvite, calcium oxalate, urate, calcium phosphate, xanthine, and cystine. In cats and dogs, struvite is the most frequently encountered stone. Calcium oxalate, seen in about 20 percent of bladder stone cases, is the second most common type of stone. Bladder stones generally remain in the bladder, but sometimes smaller stones pose the greatest health risk because they have the ability to obstruct a cat's ability to urinate. Small stones sometimes can escape from the bladder into the exiting canal called the urethra, only to get stuck as the urethra becomes narrower. As a stone becomes wedged, it will block the flow of urine partially or completely, making it difficult or impossible for the cat to urinate. This is the most serious problem associated with bladder stones, because an obstruction of the bladder, if untreated, can lead to irreversible damage to the kidneys, and in turn, death. The method of treatment and prevention of bladder stones is based on the stone type. A stone usually is collected from the cat and analyzed for its mineral content in order to determine what method should be followed.
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