# Bichon Bladder Stones - Surgery vs. No Surgery??



## vnd907 (Feb 1, 2012)

Hey everyone, my 11 year old Bichon, Lexie has been feeling under the weather for a few days. She started by having diarrhea, then the next day ate a little of her food, then threw it up.. drank water.. next day, didn't eat at all, continued to throw up yellow bile and foam.. Following day we brought her to the vet (She had thrown up again that day) and the vet said:

-high count of white blood cells
- 2 huge bladder stones pressing against her bladder but not in danger of obstructing anything, just applying pressure
- fever 103.9

She gave her fluids and shots for anti nausea.

She suggested an anti nausea pill and feeding her boiled chicken and white rice for the next few days.. 

Lexie is still kinda lethargic but has had increased energy since the first day.. She's walking around a little bit but still very weak.

The vet is still thinking it could be a Urinary tract infection (we weren't able to give a sample until yesterday since she hadn't been drinking much).

Anyone have a clue if the bladder stones are related to her virus? 

Does anyone have experience with NOT removing the bladder stones? The surgery cost around $2000 and is a one day procedure and the stitches will be removed 2 weeks later. Or does anyone know of other options? Having surgery done for cheaper anywhere?

My family does not have the extra money right now for a $2000 surgery.. The vet said it is not an immediate concern but it does apply pressure to her bladder (Which explains frequent accidents in the house in the past couple months).


What to do?! Please help! Attached is a picture of her X-Ray.








Picture of Xray, Her sitting Up was taken a few weeks ago, and picture laying down with blanket is 2 days ago.


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## Thracian (Dec 24, 2008)

I would talk to another vet. The $2K price tag seems extremely high. My dog had a giant bladder stone removed in 2009 for $300. I know that the cost will vary by location, but still seems like a huge discrepancy.


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## vnd907 (Feb 1, 2012)

Thracian said:


> I would talk to another vet. The $2K price tag seems extremely high. My dog had a giant bladder stone removed in 2009 for $300. I know that the cost will vary by location, but still seems like a huge discrepancy.


Yeah definitely. We live in Northern NJ.. Where are you from? And also, did your vet tell you any cons about not having the surgery... Just for her visit to the vet the other day, xray, exam, fluids, anti nausea shot, was $600... so you could imagine something more serious


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## sassafras (Jun 22, 2010)

The quote seems high to me, too, but prices vary so much by region that it's hard to compare.

One big con of not having surgery is that those suckers probably hurt like an SOB.


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## Thracian (Dec 24, 2008)

I live in Utah, which I suspect has a lower cost of living. Still, I would check around as I bet you could find a better price.



> Did your vet tell you any cons about not having the surgery


Now there's a story. Less than a week after I brought home Cupid, my first dog EVER, from the humane society, I took him into the vet for a free wellness check. The hs said that they thought Cupid had a bladder infection and had given me some medicine for it. When he went into the vet, they could tell just by seeing his urine that there was a bigger problem because the medicine should have cleared it up.

The X-ray revealed a stone that was 2/3 the size of his bladder. Once I saw it, there was no question about not doing the surgery. (Cupid was two at the time.) I had seen him strain to urinate in the short time I had him. He would go outside so many times a day but would only be able to get a little out at a time. The urine was obviously dark and cloudy, even to me as a first-time dog owner. He was clearly in pain so I didn't even question it.

I'm very surprised that your vet said they were not an immediate concern. Those stones look quite big to me, put together they could be about the size of Cupid's large stone.


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## Ladyump3 (Feb 1, 2012)

My dog had bladder stones two years ago. She had the surgery and has been doing great. They found several big stones and hundreds of little stone. They actually gave us a couple. I agree with the others. $2,000 sounds very high. Ours didn't cost but about $700. I would have the surgery all over again if I had to.


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## vnd907 (Feb 1, 2012)

I definitely agree with all of you about finding a better price which I'm determined to do.

I also can't see how two big rocks don't hurt her.. All the vet said is it's a little uncomfortable for her to have them pressing against her bladder. 

How would I go about getting other estimates? Just call other vets and ask how much it would be to remove 2 bladder stones? 

Also, has anyone ever used or heard of petassure? It claims to give you a discount of 25% on medical services ...

Thank you all for your help


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## vnd907 (Feb 1, 2012)

So I have called about 20 vets in the area.. I got prices ranging from 500-1400.. STILL they were all cheaper than my vet! I am literally so happy to have found better prices for my family. 

Has anyone ever used Pet Assure? One of the vets I called is shown on their website as being a participating vet but the receptionist told me she's never heard of it before. I'm going to call Pet Assure directly and ask what the deal is.. They say that they cover 25% of everything.. surgery, office visits, dental, etc. just not food, medicine.

My normal (expensive) vet told me that we need to start feeding Lexie prescription food.. Anyone have experience with that? Right now she's still on her boiled chicken and white rice diet while she is taking the antibiotics for the UTI.


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## Thracian (Dec 24, 2008)

I haven't used Pet Assure. I would make sure that preexisting conditions are included. Since Lexie has been diagnosed already, you want to make sure of that.

Cupid is on prescription food, but he didn't get switched to that until they found out what kind of bladder stones he had. So that's another thing I would question.

Glad you found some less expensive options. Let us know how it goes.


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## vnd907 (Feb 1, 2012)

Thanks for the info.. Yeah that's what I had been researching as well.. That depending on what type of stone.. that should dictate the diet. How was Cupid feeling after the bladder stones were removed? 

We were also debating on having her teeth cleaned/pulled while she is having the surgery, since she will already be under anesthesia.. Is that a bad idea/too much?
She has a few teeth that have already fallen out, and a lot of her teeth are pretty bad. I'm thinking these will only cause her to get sick again after the bladder stones are taken care of.


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## agility collie mom (Jan 26, 2008)

Getting teeth cleaned while having surgery would be a good idea. The most expensive part is the anesthetic. I would have the stones sent out for analysis because diet can affect the formation of stones. Here is a link with great information: http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=662
Hope you're girl feels better soon. Let us know how she does.


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## Bramwejo (Apr 23, 2012)

vnd907 said:


> So I have called about 20 vets in the area.. I got prices ranging from 500-1400.. STILL they were all cheaper than my vet! I am literally so happy to have found better prices for my family.
> 
> Has anyone ever used Pet Assure? One of the vets I called is shown on their website as being a participating vet but the receptionist told me she's never heard of it before. I'm going to call Pet Assure directly and ask what the deal is.. They say that they cover 25% of everything.. surgery, office visits, dental, etc. just not food, medicine.
> 
> My normal (expensive) vet told me that we need to start feeding Lexie prescription food.. Anyone have experience with that? Right now she's still on her boiled chicken and white rice diet while she is taking the antibiotics for the UTI.


Hi, I saw you were from North Jersey? I am from North Jersey and we had to take my boyfriend's 14 year-old (but in very good shape) doxie to the caldwell emergency vet. She has about 20 jagged bladder stones that need to be removed ASAP. The emergency vet said they charge 2500 which is high and they actually recommended we go somewhere else. Did you have the procedure done? We have called around and so far the most reasonable was 1900. Most vets won't even do the procedure. Is there anyway you can private message me with names of vet you have called that do the procedure in the area, or where you had it done if you recommend them? Thank-you!


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