The Latest News from PRAH

Case: Sadie is a 3 year old Cocker Spaniel

Sadie is a 3 year old Cocker Spaniel.  She is currently owned by Halfway Hounds, a dog rescue organization.  Park Ridge Animal Hospital is the veterinary hospital for all of Halfway Hound’s dogs.  Sadie was rescued from a situation where she did not receive any attention or medical care.  When she came to us, she was very badly matted and in need of medical care.

Sadie before her grooming

Upon examination and palpation of her abdomen, we could feel she had bladder stones- a lot of them!  She also had a few other issues and an underlying bladder infection which caused the stones.  We recently performed surgery to remove her bladder stones, as well as spay her and clean her teeth.  As you can see, she had a lot of stones in her bladder.  Typically, bladder stones are caused by an infection or diet.  Symptoms of bladder stones include frequent urination, urinary accidents in the house, blood in the urine or straining to urinate.  Prevention depends on the type of stone.  Struvite stones, the type Sadie has, are managed by monitoring her urine for infections as well as diet.  Calcium Oxalate stones, another common type, are harder to control, and sometimes require medication and special diets.  Sometimes, in spite of all preventative actions, these stones recur.  

Happily for Sadie, she is currently in a foster-to-adopt home with a wonderful family who loves her already! 

Sadie during her stay at PRAH

Sadie’s x-ray showing her bladder with over 100 stones of various sizes and shapes

Sadie’s x-ray showing her bladder after surgery.

This shows the 104 bladder stones of various shapes and sizes that were removed from Sadie.

K9 Veteran’s Day of Observance

K9 Veteran’s Day of Observance is  a holiday held on March 13 each year.  This year, an event was held at the Law and Public Safety Institute in Mahwah, NJ. The event was organized by Linda Blick of Tails of Hope Foundation and its working dog program, Finding One Another. Service dogs of all types were present at the event including police and military dogs, search and rescue dogs, therapy dogs and others. Dr. Manderino received an award for her support of working dogs.

PRAH supports our military working dogs!

This year at the holidays, the Staff of PRAH decided to support our military working dogs. Instead of exchanging gifts, all the staff donated money to buy specialized vests for military working dogs in Afghanistan. These vests keep the dogs warm in the cold winters and cool in the hot desert summers. In addition, we donated medical supplies like eye and ear wash and pad tough spray for their feet in the hot sand and snow. We also donated chews, toys and treats for the dogs.