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My daughter has a 7 yo Jack Russell terrier with stones in his bladder and urethra. $500 last night for medicine so more stones don't form. $2000-3200 for surgery to remove stones and they could come back. She's torn because that's a hefty sum knowing they could come back. Even when we had a dog, I never had to make that kind of decision. I think the hard part for me is that they could come back. They also had a boxer they put a lot of money into for surgery and he passed due to cancer anyway so she's leary.

I'd appreciate thoughts. She posted this on FB asking for advice - naturally comments were mixed. Of her 3 dogs, this one is my favorite.

Had a cat once who had continual stones UNTIL I changed his diet. Between the change in diet and medicine to keep him from forming stones, he went the rest of his life without getting any more. I would check around and do some comparison on surgery rates. Seems pretty high to me.

This is a fairly detailed article from Whole Dog Journal. I did quite a bit of research for Andy my little Havanese and saved this article. You don't have to feed the expensive food the vet recommend, you just need to find a food that has the appropriate amounts of certain things. I can't remember exactly what that is but this the ratio of I think potassium to ? I can find out if they want more information. Also I highly recommend a product called D-Mannose that is available online and is now included in some dog food.

http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/issues ... 215-1.html

The link for D-Mannose (this is also very helpful for people with reoccurring bladder issues.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FPZFNBQ/ref ... 1HHRAYT7YG

Like Karen said, diet can be key. Personally, I'd have to do it. But I'd also check with other vets and definitely research the right diet.

She might also see if there is a veterinary college where the surgery could be done. Wonder if humane society could recommend a lower cost vet also.

When I was first married we got a schnauzer puppy who turned out to have a blockage to her stomach which caused a large pouch to form in her esophagus. It was very upsetting, but we ended up putting her down as surgery would have been very difficult and not a full solution. It took a year before we could approach the idea of getting another puppy.

Years ago the LSU vet school was an inexpensive place to take an animal but not any more. I don't know if all of them are that expensive.

I have never had a pet with kidney stones so no help there. I just spent $400 on a cat and got no answers from all the tests and just a round of antibiotics. If I hadn't started forcing him to take water on New Years day I don't think he would have made it. He's doing good now but spoiled rotten. He thinks he should have canned food instead of eating the dry food like everyone else.

Martha

Never had a dog with kidney stones so I can't say if that's too expensive for the surgery, and only your daughter can make the decision to either treat him or not. I have, however, spent tons of $$$$ on two of my Labs for surgeries and chemo for cancer and never regretted my decision to do so. There were no guarantees with treatment that the cancer wouldn't come back and in one case it eventually did. I would do it again in a heartbeat. Would the vet take payments?

Thanks for the replies. She is calling another vet. Too bad she isn't in Kansas where my cousin's 17 yo daughter is apprenticing with the local vet in a small farm town!! When you have big medical bills for a child already, it does add to the mix

chalet05 wrote:Thanks for the replies. She is calling another vet. Too bad she isn't in Kansas where my cousin's 17 yo daughter is apprenticing with the local vet in a small farm town!! When you have big medical bills for a child already, it does add to the mix

I really feel for her - it's a very, very hard decision and only they can make it. I hope another vet at least talks to her and gives her options/hope or makes suggestions as to what is best to help her decide.

Has she checked into CareCredit?

Just got the word - surgery will be happening, but not at original vet. I think her former co-worker who is 'in the know' came through for her.

I once had a cat with bladder stones (apparently this is fairly common in neutered males). Had pills to give him for a while and with a change in diet he lived to be 18 and never had them again.