Bladder Stones
Shelties do get bladder infections, sometimes. But if your Sheltie gets one right after another, you need to worry about Bladder Stones. These are stones that develop INSIDE the bladder. The pain is horrible, and will often rattle around inside the bladder just tearing it up.
The symptoms of Bladder Stones may be the same as a urinary tract infection. You will often notice blood when your Sheltie urinates. Your Sheltie may *strain to go* quite often and not produce much. Your Sheltie may also "leak" urine when they are lying down. This is a very serious situation and need prompt attention!!
Take your dog to the Vet ASAP and have them take an X-ray of the bladder. Most of the time, stones will show up on X-ray. If they are large stones they will, but if they are still very small, they won't. But usually once you start to notice trouble, (usually) they are big enough to detect on X-ray.
Besides being VERY painful, a stone can easily block the passage-way of urine and the dog will die, a very painful horrible death.
Bladder Stones are removed by surgery, in which the stones are removed and the bladder is flush out. Healing time is about 3 weeks. Dogs make a full recovery,
Dogs that have had Bladder Stones are at risk for developing them again, so you will need to watch for stones for the rest of the dogs life. Talk to your Vet about prescription food you can buy that will help prevent Bladder Stones in the future.
