415. Conflicting veterinary advices - bladder stone
"It is best that you do not advocate surgery," I advised my ex-nurse. "Your boss might infer that you are drumming up business for me. He is a really nice gentle giant and would not say so."
This 3-year-old femal eminiature Schnauzer had been passing blood in the urine for some months. Jenny had felt a hard "stone" in the bladder. This woman with over 20 years of dog experience instantly diagnosed bladder stone.
She scheduled a surgery after getting quotations from me and probably elsewhere. She is one of those rare employees who cares about the need to minimise expenses for her boss.
I suggested X-ray of the bladder to confirm it. It could be a bladder tumour. The dog belonged to her boss.
Since I do not have the X-ray machine, I asked her to get it done at another practice.
The other vet recommended a home-based diet to get the bladder stone "dissolved." So, I did not hear from Jenny for some time.
Now, the bladder stone was as big as a quail egg. Hard as a rock. "Like a figure of 8" Jenny said when she palpated the bladder. "How could such large stones dissolve when home-cooked food is fed?" Another month had passed. Reddish blood, bright and red stained the backside of the Miniature Schnauzer every day.
Jenny's boss accepted this advice. But the female dog kept passing blood in the urine. Jenny decided finally to operate. So, I told her that she had a conflict of interest in the sense that she was my ex-nurse and now the other vet had given a separate opinion to the owner who was her boss.
"How in the world can such a large bladder stone disappear?" Jenny was sceptical. "The dog is still passing blood in the urine everyday."
The conflicting veterinary advices had postponed the operation by more than one month. What to do? The dog kept passing blood in the urine. It was not a normal situation.
Ultimately, it is up to the owner or the care-giver to decide. If this was my dog, I would opt for surgery. An infected bladder over time would lead to infections of the kidneys or death. That would not be good for this dog.
This 3-year-old femal eminiature Schnauzer had been passing blood in the urine for some months. Jenny had felt a hard "stone" in the bladder. This woman with over 20 years of dog experience instantly diagnosed bladder stone.
She scheduled a surgery after getting quotations from me and probably elsewhere. She is one of those rare employees who cares about the need to minimise expenses for her boss.
I suggested X-ray of the bladder to confirm it. It could be a bladder tumour. The dog belonged to her boss.
Since I do not have the X-ray machine, I asked her to get it done at another practice.
The other vet recommended a home-based diet to get the bladder stone "dissolved." So, I did not hear from Jenny for some time.
Now, the bladder stone was as big as a quail egg. Hard as a rock. "Like a figure of 8" Jenny said when she palpated the bladder. "How could such large stones dissolve when home-cooked food is fed?" Another month had passed. Reddish blood, bright and red stained the backside of the Miniature Schnauzer every day.
Jenny's boss accepted this advice. But the female dog kept passing blood in the urine. Jenny decided finally to operate. So, I told her that she had a conflict of interest in the sense that she was my ex-nurse and now the other vet had given a separate opinion to the owner who was her boss.
"How in the world can such a large bladder stone disappear?" Jenny was sceptical. "The dog is still passing blood in the urine everyday."
The conflicting veterinary advices had postponed the operation by more than one month. What to do? The dog kept passing blood in the urine. It was not a normal situation.
Ultimately, it is up to the owner or the care-giver to decide. If this was my dog, I would opt for surgery. An infected bladder over time would lead to infections of the kidneys or death. That would not be good for this dog.
posted by Photography by Sing Kong Yuen | 6:26 PM
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