Minimally Invasive Treatment of Bladder and Urethral Stones in Dogs and Cats

This chapter focuses on four procedures: voiding urohydropropulsion (VUH), cystoscopic-guided stone basket-retrieval, cystoscopic-guided intracorporeal laser lithotripsy, and a percutaneous cystolithotomy (PCCL) procedure for minimally invasive treatment of urinary bladder and urethral stones in dogs and cats. Each of these procedures has different indications based on species, sex, stone size and stone number. All of these minimally invasive procedures carry a risk of bladder rupture or perforation, so conversion to a cystotomy should always be possible. Cystoscopes are typically used for all of the minimally invasive stone removal procedures aside from VUH in male dogs. Using the cystoscope to fill the bladder/urethra in female dogs during VUH expedites the procedure. The prognosis for complete urolith removal is excellent if the proper size stone(s) and patient are chosen for each procedure.