129. Follow up: The female Schnauzer peed out 5 urinary stones

HISTORY
The female Miniature Schnauzer peed blood in the urine. Urine test showed struvite crystals. X-ray showed several bladder stones. The owners wanted spay and urinary stone removal at the same time. I did not agree to this as the anaesthetic and surgical risk would be higher. So nothing was done.  When I was in Hong Kong on May 25, 2012, I received a phone call from the husband. The dog had difficulty peeing and was lethargic. I referred him to another vet who took an X-ray and was willing to do spay and urinary stone removal at the same time. Since it was Saturday, the fees would be higher. On Sunday, the owners took the dog back. No news from them. Around June 11, 2012, the owner asked me to spay the dog first. The following is a follow-up on the spay.
E-MAIL TO DR SING DATED Jun 13, 2012

Hi Dr. Sing,

Attached is a picture of the bladder stones passed out together with the urine by XXX.
The stones started to show up 2 days after putting her on the *S/D diet prescribed by you.
The largest of the five stones came out on 24 May 2012 (Thursday). That was the day before she had difficulty to urinate and we sent her to your referred vet.

Thanks.


*2 cans of S/D diet were purchased by the owner although a 30-days' supply was advised. They felt that the dog might not eat the diet.

E-MAIL FROM DR SING DATED JUN 14, 2012
Hi

Thank you for your email and pictures.
How is XXX recovering from the spay? When she starts eating normally?

E-MAIL TO DR SING DATED Jun 16, 2012
Hi Dr. Sing
Thank you for your concern. XXX is recovering well as if nothing had happened and she is eating well, except that I noticed a red patch (about 2cm in dia) forming on her skin close to the incision point.

I am quite curious to see mytwo male dogs are getting very excited and trying persistently to climb on her these few days but she doesn't seem to be on heat. Any idea why they are behaving this way ?


E-MAIL FROM DR SING DATED JUN 16, 2012
Thank you for your email.The red patch may be due to the dog licking. Did your dog wear an e-collar? As for the male dogs being interested in her, she appeared to be on heat based on my observation of enlarged ovaries during the spay. You said her last heat was 4 months ago butit could be 5-6 months ago and so the dog came onto heat. So the male dogs would still be interested as spaying does not immediately stop the female dog from being attractive to male dogs.

You got 6 cans of S/D diet for her. Please note that the recommendation is to give S/D diet daily for 1-3 months if you wish to dissolve the struvite stones. The remaining 3 bigger stones may not dissolve even on S/D diet is given as recommended and surgical removal may be the option if there is persistent blood in the urine.

Best wishes.