Daisy is a 7 year old domestic short haired cat, who was brought to the clinic after her owner noticed that Daisy had been having difficulty urinating and seemed to be in extreme pain. During the consultation, Dr Zoe could palpate a thickening in the region of Daisy's bladder. A urinalysis of Daisy's urine was performed and it was noted on the result that Daisy had blood through her urine. An ultrasound was recommended to further diagnose what could be the cause of Daisy's painful urination.
Daisy was booked in to have the ultrasound performed at the clinic. The ultrasound works by producing sound waves which are created by the vibration of special crystals that are located in the probe or transducer. This is known as the Piezo-electic effect. When the transducer is placed upon the patient's skin, the sound waves are passed through the soft tissue as pressure waves. As these waves meet with organs, some of the sound waves are absorbed, whilst others are reflected back to the transducer. These returning sound waves cause the vibration of crystals within the probe which is converted into an electrical pulse that is returned to the computer and converted into an image that appears on the screen. The image that is shown can vary in brightness depending on the strength of the returning sound waves and the location within the body that they are returning from.
Daisy's ultrasound revealed at least two bladder stones about 5mm in diameter in her bladder. As a cat's urethra is extremely small, Daisy would not have been able to pass these stones through on her own, therefore she needed a cystotomy to remove the stones from her bladder.
The bladder stones were removed from Daisy's bladder and she recovered extremely well from the surgery. We are happy to report that Daisy is doing well at home and can comfortably go to the toilet again.
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