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#2273019 MaliMark View Profile	Bladder Stone Surgery Our 8 yr old uromastyx geyri is going for bladder stone surgery today. She has had issues for the last two years when its that special ovulation time of year (march!) b/c of the lack of space in her abdomen from follicles and a huge bladder stone. Basically, she stops all activity including eating and going to the bathroom fir a month, before the eggs get reabsorbed and then theres more room... So we figured that we’d have the procedure done now while she’s in good health! Wish us luck, we’re worried :/
07/12/12  07:23am
#2273042 MaliMark View Profile	Message To: MaliMark   In reference to Message Id: 2273019  Bladder Stone Surgery Just heard back from the vet. Surgery’s over, and Mimi is waking up from anesthesia just fine... But during the surgery, 50 grams of yellow fluid leaked out of the abdominal cavity, which made it hard for the doc to do her job. She thinks the origin of the fluid could either be lymph fluids that were not draining properly due to blockage from 8 gram bladder stone, or that it could be from eggs that were still resorbing... Not out of the woods yet, but should find out later. What is clear is that Mimi was probably suffering a great deal from this situation - keep her in your prayers for us! Mark
07/12/12  01:22pm
#2273043 MaliMark View Profile	Message To: MaliMark   In reference to Message Id: 2273042  Bladder Stone Surgery Anyone out there ever dealt with this sort of condition, or post-surgical care of a Uro?
07/12/12  01:31pm
#2273049 Vers View Profile	Message To: MaliMark   In reference to Message Id: 2273043  Bladder Stone Surgery Sorry, Mark, no experience with surgery here. It is good to hear that you opted for this route, which most people wouldn’t even consider in the first place. I wish her a full recovery.
07/12/12  02:47pm
#2273061 MaliMark View Profile	Message To: Vers   In reference to Message Id: 2273049  Bladder Stone Surgery It was costly, but this has been our Uro for 7 yrs. just hope that she recovers. Its clear from what the doc said that the stone was obviously causing damage to the bladder and some suffering. Hope that we were not too late :/
07/12/12  04:23pm
#2273195 MaliMark View Profile	Message To: MaliMark   In reference to Message Id: 2273061  Bladder Stone Surgery We picked Mimi up from the vet today - she is a little lethargic, but has been walking around gingerly and even ate a little. We have to give her antibiotic injections in alternating front legs every 3rd day. The vet showed us the stone - - - it was HUGE. Almost 2 inches long and an inch wide. It weighed close to 10 grams! Anyone ever had to do that before?! Man, I hope she makes it!
07/13/12  06:22pm
#2273197 Vers View Profile	Message To: MaliMark   In reference to Message Id: 2273195  Bladder Stone Surgery Good luck!
07/13/12  06:30pm
#2273264 Racerx1909 View Profile	Message To: Vers   In reference to Message Id: 2273197  Bladder Stone Surgery Mark, While I have a pair of 3 yr old Mali’s, my only experience with bladderstone surgery was with a green iguana who at the age of 5-6 developed one. The vet removed it and she did well to a ripe old age of 17 before she passed. As I recall, there was a similar, larger than usual/expected amount of abdominal fluid. Glad to hear that Mimi is doing well Good Luck !
07/14/12  07:45am
#2273280 MaliMark View Profile	Message To: Racerx1909   In reference to Message Id: 2273264  Bladder Stone Surgery Thanks - good to hear of a success story! What was the recovery like for your ig? Our Uro was really active after the procedure, prob b/c she had pain meds. Those have since worn off, and shes been pretty lethargic. I put her near her food dish, and she did manage to eat most of her food though! Hope that’s a good sign. She gets antibiotic injection #1 tomorrow. Racerx, did your vet have an idea about what the origin of all the abdominal fluid was? Mark
07/14/12  12:53pm
#2273327 Nick(uromastyxman) View Profile	Message To: MaliMark   In reference to Message Id: 2273280  Bladder Stone Surgery i hope she has the best
07/14/12  04:42pm
#2273532 MaliMark View Profile	Message To: Nick(uromastyxman)   In reference to Message Id: 2273327  Bladder Stone Surgery Thanks. She appeared much better yesterday - very active, ate all of her food and pooped (4 days worth!) Hopefully she continues to improve!
07/16/12  08:20am
#2273538 Vers View Profile	Message To: MaliMark   In reference to Message Id: 2273532  Bladder Stone Surgery Out of curiosity, what was/is her diet?
07/16/12  08:33am
#2273562 Racerx1909 View Profile	Message To: MaliMark   In reference to Message Id: 2273532  Bladder Stone Surgery similar recovery...lethargic initially as we would be following open abdominal surgery ! great news that she pooped so quickly ! unclear on what the fluid was....lymph (as your vet suggested) vs increased fluid from the peritoneum (inside layer of the abdominal wall) being irritated by having this large/hard mass in there that wasn’t supposed to be there (as my vet reasoned) glad to hear her bowels have "woken up" sounds like she’s definitely on the mend !
07/16/12  12:20pm
#2273564 MaliMark View Profile	Message To: Racerx1909   In reference to Message Id: 2273562  Bladder Stone Surgery Vers, The diet is 100% vegan - escarole endive dandelion greens everyday with rotationals, blueberry green beans strawberries squash mango. RacerX, I’m concerned that (based on vets reaction of complete shock) that whatever copius fluid that came out might be something beyond a bladder stone related issue. Glad it wasn’t in your ig’s case. Was your ig male or female? Our uro had reproductive related issues, and i’m hoping this wasnt the result of bursting eggs or something like that...last thing our uro needs is more surgery. Mark
07/16/12  01:06pm
#2274134 Racerx1909 View Profile	Message To: MaliMark   In reference to Message Id: 2273564  Bladder Stone Surgery our iguana was a female...given the potential to get eggbound, we had her spayed/neutered (not sure of the correct terminology) at the time of her surgery. the mass was definitely a bladder stone...i was evidently over-supplementing her calcium based on my fear of bmd, i gave her another issue :(
07/21/12  07:39am
#2274145 Vers View Profile	Message To: MaliMark   In reference to Message Id: 2273564  Bladder Stone Surgery Quote: The diet is 100% vegan - escarole endive dandelion greens everyday with rotationals, blueberry green beans strawberries squash mango. Was this the diet you’ve had her on the entire time she has been in your care? I ask because its said that some bladder stones are created due excessive amounts of calcium, oxalate or uric acid, the latter often associated with gout. It’s also said that some are created due to a chronic infection within the bladder and include the presence of magnesium and ammonia and phosphate. Apparently these can grow to be extremely large.
07/21/12  11:26am
#2274295 MaliMark View Profile	Message To: Vers   In reference to Message Id: 2274145  Bladder Stone Surgery Have not had the stone analyzed yet, but the vet is certain the stone was comprised of calcium and urates. The vet believes that our uro was not hydrated enough. I guess this is mere conjecture, but hydration for these animals is anything but a well settled issue. Many uros don’t drink standing water, and even a small amout of water in an enclosure increases humidity which could lead to respiratory problems... We always leave excess water on fresh greens, but that usually evaporates by the time the greens are eaten. Vers, this has been the same diet for 7 years. No idea what it was like for the year or so before she joined our family... She is making a lot of progress in her recovery - voracious appetite is back. Was really active today. Poop is more normal looking and more regular (every other day). The only thing that worries me a bit is her urates, which are looking a bit yellow. I hear that could be from the antibiotics that we have to inject every 3 days. Also hear it could be dehydration, so i’m going to add some romaine to the veggie mix tomorrow am. Anyone ever see yellow urates?!
07/22/12  06:21pm
#2274343 UROKEEPER View Profile	Message To: MaliMark   In reference to Message Id: 2274295  Bladder Stone Surgery yes yellow urates can be one of the signs of dehydration. given this uro is on antibiotics I would follow up with some fluid support by your vet (subcutaneous fluids) until the antibiotics are done. the fact that the uro ate and defecated is a great sign. what type of antibiotics is the uro taking? is it a liquid that is administered orally? I ask because these tend to kill much of the stomach flora as do others. This is used for breaking down food in the gut. if you are having some issues with constipation due to antibiotic treatments I would recommend a good quality reptile pro biotic and subq fluid support by your vet.
07/23/12  12:02pm
#2274345 MaliMark View Profile	Message To: UROKEEPER   In reference to Message Id: 2274343  Bladder Stone Surgery The antibiotics (ceftazidime) are administered by intramuscular injection into alternating front legs, every 3 days. Its been challenging to give our uro the injections b/c she squirms a LOT, but fortunately we only have 2 left to go. There really hasn’t been any constipation. Rather, it appears that she’s been "regular," and if anything the stool has been a little liquidy, which we think is due to the antibiotics, or remnants of anesthesia & pain killers administered during surgery. I know that the antibiotics are metabolized renally, so I hope there isn’t too much of a strain on the kidneys. Maybe fluids are the right idea, to help flush her system! Thank you for the idea.
07/23/12  12:16pm
#2274597 MaliMark View Profile	Message To: MaliMark   In reference to Message Id: 2274345  Bladder Stone Surgery So we upped the level of high water content foods (some romaine, some grapes), and that seemed to help a lot. It’s been 2 weeks since the surgery, and there’s near-normal behavior. We have to administer 1 more dose the antibiotics tomorrow. 3 more weeks until we can take her in to have the stitches removed. Hope there won’t be any issues! I’ll post a photo of before/after surgery. 50 grams is a lot of weight to lose for an animal that was 250 grams before the procedure. Now, she looks very similar to how she appeared when we first got her 7 years ago. If all goes well, I think we’ll have the contents of the bladder stone analyzed so we can try to determine what the cause could have been.
07/26/12  08:16am
#2275103 MaliMark View Profile	Message To: MaliMark   In reference to Message Id: 2274597  Bladder Stone Surgery Here is a photo of Mimi from before surgery (weight was about 250 grams)... and here is one from after surgery, after losing 8 grams of stone and 40 grams of abdominal fluid...
07/31/12  09:32pm
#2275771 MaliMark View Profile	Message To: MaliMark   In reference to Message Id: 2275103  Bladder Stone Surgery Anyone here have any experience with removal of stitches from a uro, or aftercare?
08/06/12  09:04am
#2276998 Pris View Profile	Message To: MaliMark   In reference to Message Id: 2275771  Bladder Stone Surgery I have nothing to add to this conversation othr than to say it is incredibly informative and helpful. It never occurred to me uros could have that kind of problem. Thanks for all the education and best of luck!
08/16/12  03:48pm
#2277155 MaliMark View Profile	Message To: Pris   In reference to Message Id: 2276998  Bladder Stone Surgery Our Uro is now over 5 weeks removed from surgery, and its been over 3 weeks since last dosage of antibiotics. So far, she’s had a return to basically normal behavior. The stitches are scheduled to come out on Monday, and the stone is going to be sent to the lab for analysis.
08/18/12  09:29am

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