Horrible experience while dog-sitting

[nern]

I picked up a Pomaranian on Thursday that I doggy-sit sometimes. Her owner was leaving for Tennessee for the holidays so I was keeping the dog here for the next 2wks. From the moment I picked her up I thought she was acting unusual (initially I thought she was just nervous/stressed) and as the night went on I was becoming more convinced that something was not right....
She peed the moment I stepped foot out of her owners house, again when we got out of the car when I got home and then I let my dogs out and she came too and urinated again in the yard. Within 20 mins she was crying and running to the door acting as if she had to go outside again. I started thinking that maybe she had a urinary infection or something since in the past she has not displayed such unusual behavior....she did'nt make it outside and urinated on my rug. About an hour later, same thing...she again did'nt make it outside. I went to bed and when I woke in the morning I took her right outside.....she urinated blood and then squatted in several different areas, each time leaving a small amount of blood and appeared to be in a lot of pain. At this point I was very concerned and could'nt get ahold of her owner as she was on the plane at that time. I phoned the people she was staying with and asked them to have her phone me as soon as possible.
The dog was taken to the vet and now has to stay there until Monday! She has bladder stones which were partially blocking her from being able to pee all the way. She is doing much better today but if they can not get all the stones disolved they will have to operate to remove the rest of them. It was a very scary experience....especially because I felt so responsible since I was caring for the dog at the time all of this happened. The owner was crying and was very worried and I felt just horrible.

Please keep your fingers crossed for this little girl.

[coppersmom]

Poor little thing. I'll be thinking about her...especially with all my dogs' urinary problems.

[Mary_NH]

I went through this with Sadie although I didn't catch onto the stones until her urethea was already fully blocked. She went through the surgery, did just fine.
Make sure the dog's owner knows that if they have to remove stones from the bladder the dog will continue to pee blood for awhile. When the bladder is cut into it takes awhile for it to stop bleeding. Sadie's surgery was done on a Tuesday morning, I brought her home that Friday afternoon and her urine was still very bloody - vet didn't tell me to expect that and I paniced. Actually more like freaked out but a phone call to them put me at easy. Took a couple of weeks for her urine to be clear.
Healing thoughts to the dog - it is a very painful experience for them.

[myshihpoo]

oh my goodness... that is scary and heartbreaking. I can NOTTTT imagine what you were going through... I'm already a nervous wreck about my own dogs, I think I'd be twice as bad when caring for someone elses. Thank God they had you watch her and you knew that something was wrong! Big hugs and prayers!

[lil96]

oh that is so scary!! I am glad they figured out what it was and I hope she has a speedy recovery!

[myshihpoo]

any update??

[nern]

Thanks for your thoughts and comments.
Angel is doing really well now, I was able to pick her up last Monday. The vet is pretty sure the stones will all disolve but will do another x-ray, urine test at her next appointment just to be sure. She is on Hill's s/d temporarily which is causing her to drink more and urinate more... she's had several accidents in my house so I've been taking her out for extra potty breaks which seems to be helping. There is no more blood or straining thankfully.

[Mockingcat]

Hey, I'm glad she was able to come home! I think it's very lucky that you happened to be pet sitting since she'd probably had stones for a while and her owners hadn't noticed her behavior.

[Michelle Albanese]

WOW didn't know dogs could get stones good to know. Glad the pups feeling better.

[Maraya]