Bladder Stones In Dogs X Ray

X ray of bladder stones in a dog.

Bladder stones in dogs x ray.

Most stones are radiopaque meaning they show up on the radiographic film as obvious white objects within the urinary bladder. A small percentage of bladder stones such as urate stones or any stone that is tiny do not reflect x rays well and show up best on an ultrasound. Occurrence in other species including tortoises has been reported as well. X ray of a struvite bladder stone in a cat.

This isn t unreasonable considering the dog often has accidents in the house or needs to go outside on an hourly basis. If your veterinarian suspects bladder stones one or both of these procedures will be recommended. For example if x rays show that there are one or more stones present in the bladder and the results of the urinalysis show the presence of alkaline urine along with numerous struvite crystals your veterinarian may make a presumptive diagnosis of struvite bladder stones and recommend treatment accordingly. A few are radiolucent and they do not show up on x rays.

Bladder stones or uroliths are a common occurrence in animals especially in domestic animals such as dogs and cats. Until they see the x rays many of these folks are a little annoyed at their dog. They should be performed on dogs that show unusual pain when the bladder is palpated dogs that have recurrent haematuria and dysuria or dogs that have. Some of the most dramatic x rays i show clients are those that reveal the presence of large stones in their dog s bladder.

Your veterinarian may also suspect that your dog has or is at risk for stones based on the presence of crystals struvite or calcium oxalate for example in a fresh sample of urine.