[browningk1]

Hi, I'm new here. My son rescued his Doberman several years ago. Diesel is 7 now. He had been having a weak urine stream so we took him to the vet, where they examined his prostate and took a urine sample, put him on a round of antibiotics. A couple weeks later when he didn't seem any better, they gave him a 2nd round of meds.

One night he seemed in so much pain, and a weak stream again, so took him back where they did an xray and said he had bladder stones and a very enlarged bladder. They said he needed surgery, and since he had not been neutered from his previous owner, that was done too. Long story short, he had stones lodged in his urethra and they could not get them out so they did a urethrostomy, re-routing his urethra to a new opening near where his testicles had been.

He is 8 days post surgery and at first could barely walk, but now he is, with a slightly labored gait. He has no control of his bladder - it just leaks out. They gave him some medicine to help regain bladder function. He also doesn't have control of his bowels. He can start to push it out, but cannot pinch it off. The stool is loose, so when he shakes, it flies everywhere.

We were keeping him confined, but he is so sad. He seems to feel ok, eating and drinking fine. Went today to get some doggie diapers, but those don't deal with the poop issue. So we got adult diapers to try. Such a situation.

Just wondering if anyone else has dealt with this?

 

[alan j.]

That is a lot of work in one area, i do not know if i would have opted for the neutering in this situation. The re-routing of the ureter may be causing some real pain in his kidneys also (spasms), I think when much of the swelling goes down his normal functions wont be a issue.
The positive side of things is that he does have a flow now. I hope time is kind to him now.

 

[Frannn93]

I'm really sorry to hear about that. I'm so sorry I can't offer any help but this may be of some help?

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id...age&q=Urethrostomy dog journal review&f=false


Veterinary Key Points: Scrotal Urethrostomy in Dogs: Good surgical technique makes all the difference.
"Typical postoperative care after scrotal urethrostomy involves prevention of incisional trauma by using an Elizabethan collar on the dog, applying petroleum jelly around the incision to keep it moist and clean, close monitoring of the incision for swelling or bruising, and general supportive care (e.g., analgesics). Light sedation with acepromazine (0.05 mg/kg, SQ or IM) can be helpful to reduce hemorrhage from the incision site which is the most common postoperative complication. Suture removal is not necessary when absorbable suture is used to close the urethrostomy. If persistent hemorrhage occurs (i.e., for several days after surgery), carefully re-assess the incision for areas where the mucosa has not properly healed to the skin. Additional sutures in these areas to close the defect should alleviate the problem.

Postoperative urethral stricture, although a possible complication of urethral surgery, is uncommon in a well-performed scrotal urethrostomy. Stricture may occur due to chronic licking of the incision or poor apposition of the urethral mucosa to skin during closure. Treatment of stricture is to revise the urethrostomy and insure meticulous mucosa to skin closure."

 

[Rosemary]

Another member recently had a dog who had to have his urethra rerouted. It was hard at first, but last the posted, he was improving. (This is their thread. http://www.dobermantalk.com/doberman-health/257058-thakoon-crisis.html) At only 8 days post-op, it's early days yet. The antibiotics can be the cause of the loose stools.

 

[dobebug]

Another member recently had a dog who had to have his urethra rerouted. It was hard at first, but last the posted, he was improving. (This is their thread. http://www.dobermantalk.com/doberman-health/257058-thakoon-crisis.html) At only 8 days post-op, it's early days yet. The antibiotics can be the cause of the loose stools.

I just read your post and thank heavens Rosemary put up that link--I'd have been looking for it forever and my very first thought was that you need to read this and you won't be feeling like it's taking forever for things to get better.

I know more about urethesostomies in cats than in dogs but I can tell you that minimum recuperation period for cats is three to four weeks and during that time they have to be in an e-collar the entire time or the owner risks having them lick and ruin the surgical area--and even after the three to four weeks of healing the surgical area has to be inspected two or three times day just to make sure that everything is still OK.

It really is early days yet--that really was a lot of surgery in one area and he hadn't been feeling his best for sometime prior to the surgery because of the bladder stones.

I can only tell you how sorry I am that Diesel had to go through this and all of his human family has had to deal with it too.

Dobes are generally not stone formers--some breeds are terrible--Miniature Schnauzers and Chihuahuas for just a couple--seem to be more common a problem in small breeds .

We'll keep good thoughts for Diesel and keep hoping for quick healing and no further problems.

 

[Patches Mom]

Old x nurses aide, had a Papillon in diapers for over a year due to old age 14 /2 yrs. I would try female hot pants with a pad inside you just have to look around to get the right size pad for it to work.I used Pro-Line Self Rinse Plus it is a self rinsing cleaner dog show people use it. Would ask the vet since they used the scrotal area for the Urethostomy and the poop will be difficult to keep the two areas cleaned. Good Luck hope the meds kick in for the loose stools don't forget Pumpkin may help, probotics may help too to get the bacteria back in the gut. Rays & Hugs.

 

[Megs]

I'm so sorry to read of another Doberman struggling through the complications from bladder stones. I'm all too familiar and know exactly what you are going through.

My 8 year old male, Thakoon, had the neuter/scrotal ablation/urethrostomy surgical procedure right before Christmas. For 3 days post-op he continued to hemorrhage almost uncontrollably, and required another surgical intervention (and an emergency transfusion) to get him stabilized. Thankfully, he pulled through that...

I kept him on strict crate rest with the cone on the entire time. He ate all his meals in there while I held the bowl for him and sometimes I hand fed him small scoops of kibble with water. I would only get him up and out of the crate to walk directly outside to do his biz.

For the first 2 days, his vet recommended that I keep those trips outside to a maximum of 3 per day; we only went every 8 hours or so, but his bladder wasn't all that unhealthy at this point, because his stones had been removed about 7 weeks prior. I guess the benefit of keeping him very still was greater than the risk of only getting out to urinate 2 or 3 times a day for the first couple of days. He was quite miserable anyways, and it was a huge effort to get him to even stand up and step out of the crate.

Some post-surgical bleeding is considered normal with this surgery. Lots of heavy dripping upon standing up and walking, and then immediately after urinating for the first few days, as well as some bleeding onto the bedding is what I experienced. I would apply pressure to his rear end with a fresh towel immediately after he voided, and also once he was back in his crate, (although I was instructed not to disturb the clots of blood around his new urethral opening).

I hope Diesel will not remain incontinent for too much longer. We didn't have that trouble after the urethrostomy; only after the first surgery to remove the stones from his urethra and bladder. Thakoon has had full control of his bladder since the urethrostomy procedure. We only struggled with the bleeding (which slowed right down about a week after getting that serious hemorrhage under control); there was only minor dripping for another week or two beyond that, and then he had his sutures out.

Hopefully his loose stools clear up too... Diesel has been through a lot; and there has been a great deal of stress on his body. Is he on a new food too?

 

[Gretchen_Red]

I'm so sorry to read of another Doberman struggling through the complications from bladder stones. I'm all too familiar and know exactly what you are going through.

My 8 year old male, Thakoon, had the neuter/scrotal ablation/urethrostomy surgical procedure right before Christmas. For 3 days post-op he continued to hemorrhage almost uncontrollably, and required another surgical intervention (and an emergency transfusion) to get him stabilized. Thankfully, he pulled through that...

I kept him on strict crate rest with the cone on the entire time. He ate all his meals in there while I held the bowl for him and sometimes I hand fed him small scoops of kibble with water. I would only get him up and out of the crate to walk directly outside to do his biz.

For the first 2 days, his vet recommended that I keep those trips outside to a maximum of 3 per day; we only went every 8 hours or so, but his bladder wasn't all that unhealthy at this point, because his stones had been removed about 7 weeks prior. I guess the benefit of keeping him very still was greater than the risk of only getting out to urinate 2 or 3 times a day for the first couple of days. He was quite miserable anyways, and it was a huge effort to get him to even stand up and step out of the crate.

Some post-surgical bleeding is considered normal with this surgery. Lots of heavy dripping upon standing up and walking, and then immediately after urinating for the first few days, as well as some bleeding onto the bedding is what I experienced. I would apply pressure to his rear end with a fresh towel immediately after he voided, and also once he was back in his crate, (although I was instructed not to disturb the clots of blood around his new urethral opening).

I hope Diesel will not remain incontinent for too much longer. We didn't have that trouble after the urethrostomy; only after the first surgery to remove the stones from his urethra and bladder. Thakoon has had full control of his bladder since the urethrostomy procedure. We only struggled with the bleeding (which slowed right down about a week after getting that serious hemorrhage under control); there was only minor dripping for another week or two beyond that, and then he had his sutures out.

Hopefully his loose stools clear up too... Diesel has been through a lot; and there has been a great deal of stress on his body. Is he on a new food too?

Did they say why your dobe was forming stones? Where his kidney and liver functioning normally?

 

[Megs]

Did they say why your dobe was forming stones? Where his kidney and liver functioning normally?

Liver, yes; and kidneys, yes (and no)... His pre-anesthetic bloodwork came back "beautiful," but it was still several hours after that bloodwork before he actually got in to surgery to remove the stones, and he was in terrible distress by that point. The surgery was long (nearly 5 hours), and it just rocked him. He suffered from a lot of complications for weeks afterwards.

Thakoon was diagnosed with the Type III (Androgen dependent) Cystinuria, so he has an underlying defect in kidney function, in that excess cysteine is not filtered back into his body; rather, cysteine is secreted into the urine, where it precipitates out as "Cystine" crystals and eventually forms stones.

It's hard to know whether or not his prostate was inflammed due to the stone formation and complications arising from the urinary tract issues, or if the stone formation was a result of producing an acidic, highly concentrated urine, because of urinary tract issues due to an enlarged prostate. I tend to think it was the latter.

At the time, he was 7 years old and intact. He's obviously neutered now, and even if he does form stones again, they SHOULD pass, because of his new "pee hole" that bypasses the narrow part of the urethra where males tend to block from stones. He is due for a urinalysis, so I will keep you posted with the results.

I've been thinking about Diesel the past couple of days... I was hoping for an update on his condition. Knowing what it was like for Thakoon a few months ago, I'm actually quite worried about him. Hoping for the best...