the stones

She began to lose more energy, and soon had a small crash – really lethargic, cold, diarrhea, no interest in food. I called Dr. M, and she said to give her pred regularly – 10 mg immediately, then 5 a day while she’s low and more as needed. I know now that being sick with the stones and then the infection is Stress and needed regular pred. Lesson learned. probably because she wasn’t eating and still being given the antibiotic (along with her levels being off), her stomach was pretty upset and vomited about every other day. I started putting a little baking soda and sugar in her ice and water dish, and this seemed to help a little – about an hour after drinking it, she’d eat a little something, usually a biscuit. She also had some saltines one day, then a little kibble – whatever it took to help her keep down her pills.

We scheduled the procedure for early January – hyropulsion, where they put a catheter up into her bladder, fill it with water, and squish her bladder to flush out the stones. To squish her bladder, they have to stand her up while she’s anethsetized, to make the stones get down to her urethra. 110 pounds of sleeping pup weight – I felt sorry for them, I have to say. If pup doesn’t want to go somewhere, she “llamas” – just lays down and flops onto her side, smart little girl, and she is heavy. I hoped they had some football players doing workstudy to help out. along with this, they were also prepared to do a lithotripsy – a new study being done on dogs, and would be free if used, where they zap the stones with a laser and flush out the pulverized pieces.

The day finally came, and she was in pretty good shape, with 2 days of almost normal eating. She got 20mg pred the day of the procedure, and in at 7am. Dr. E was in charge of the procedure, so he called once they were through – the stones were indeed calcium oxylate, and some were attached to her bladder wall! They are shaped like little ninja-stars, and I can only imagine how painful that must have been, attached to her bladder wall! Yes, Attached To Her Bladder Wall. Poor sweet puppy!

She had one more week on the antibiotic, and her appetite was returning to normal. She was on pred for a few days after the procedure, then didn’t need the daily dose. She did seem more sensitive to stress, and I became proactive with her pred needs.

She started the Urinary SO Waltham diet to prevent further stones. Since the ultrasounds last year didn’t show any stones, they formed this last year. The stones were probably from the big doses of pred in the first phase of Addison’s, which causes calcium to shed. She’ll be on the diet for the rest of her life, since sometimes Addison's can cause pups to "click over" and shed calcium. it's just not worth the risk, and dr. m sez that since the diet is nutritionally sound, it's better than taking the chance, having her form stones again, and go through the procedure again. it's prescription, it's expensive, but not as expensive as another procedure (plus the cost to her health), that's for sure.

She’s on a twice a week dose of DES, and all the water she wants, and the incontinence has become rare.

She’s regained the real sparkle in her eyes, she defends our territory furiously from the evil bunnies and squirrels, and barks most of the day like a great pyr should. She has a beautiful bounce in her trot, and romps with gusto. My baby is doing really well.

Cautious optimism.