Tonight was a night of surprises. To first give some background, Bristow has been having many accidents in our basement over the past several months. We thought that this was just his difficulty adjusting to his new schedule with me staying at home-Never knowing what days I am home all day and others that I will be gone for a bit. We also thought that it could have been attributed to the changes in family dynamics with the addition of Jacob, basically a behavioral problem. Up until about two weeks ago he would have an accident in the basement when we were gone or at night. But two weeks ago, he started to have accidents in the basement while we were at home. This seemed odd and not following the pattern. I began to ask my Mom about the issue (she works at the Vet). She thought it sounded behavioral and gave us some directions on what to do next. Then over the past two days, he moved his accidents from the basement to the main floor. We knew something was wrong and needed to be done. He was already scheduled for his yearly vaccs so we added a urine check to the list of things needing to be done.
I was supposed to collect a urine sample from him, so yesterday I kept chasing after him. It was quite a sight and he was not too pleased. After all the work Tom and I did yesterday, we forgot his sample at home. So the Vet assistants had to try to get a sample themselves. God really does work in the smallest of things, because while they were trying to get the sample they discovered he had bladder stones. Had we brought our sample, the problem may have been overlooked.
They took X-rays of him and determined that he needed surgery tonight. At this point, it was not life or death; but given a little more time even a few days it would have been. Dr. Oliver needed to do the surgery tonight because of his schedule also. So we came into the Vet a little before 7:00 pm and he was beginning the operation by 8:00 pm. They were just finishing by 10:30 pm. The doctor said that it was the most difficult bladder stone removal operation he had ever done. There were between 15-20 stones in his bladder and urethra. They had to make two incisions to collect them all. He did fine throughout the surgery and should be awakened by about 10:45 pm. Doctor said that these had been collecting over the past few months and had to have caused him a lot of pain. The funny thing is that he was acting normal as an be (except the accidents). He must have a very high pain tolerance!
Bristow will be at the Vet tonight and tomorrow. He may come home tomorrow night or stay for one more night. He will be on an IV. The good thing is that Grandma will be there to comfort him and say "Good Morning." It is the best possible situation to have at the Vet. We cannot thank Doctor Oliver, Mo, Sharon and My Mom enough for all that they did tonight for Bristow and us. It was a surprise and very scary, but they and God saw us through this. We are thankful to have caught it early enough to save our dear boy's life. He will have a collar on his neck (shaped like a cone) for the next week and life we not be too easy for him. Stay tuned for details and possibly pictures. Thanks again Trenton Veterinary Hospital Staff. We love you guys!
