What's up with Urinary Stones?

I had a female pug come in to the office last week because she had started urinating some blood.  Many of you have seen the pictures that we posted of the enormous bladder stone that was removed.  But how does that happen?!?!?  Urinary crystals and stones are not uncommon in our dogs and cats.  There are multiple causes from bacterial infections that produce the necessary components for stones to form to differences in pH of the urine.  There are also breed predispostions as well.  If you notice that your pet is urinating more often, straining to urinate, only urinating small amounts at a time but multiple times at once.  Those are all signs that can be associated with bladder stones.  There are other diseases that cause the same signs so diagnostic tests will need to be performed.  I usually start with a urinalysis, abdominal radiographs and some bloodwork to check internal organ function, such as kidney values and glucose.  Although the size of the stone that I removed from the pug last week is rare, smaller stones and urinary tract problems are not.  Last weeks' case was definitely a "wow" case, but shows the importance of routine visits to your veterinarian for a physical exam and to answer any questions about abnormalities that you might have noticed.  Something that may be small to you could turn into a giant bladder stone.  Fortunately for this pug, the stone was removed and the dog is doing very well.