Could you describe a normal recovery of this operation on a dog?

What did the vet say when you told him about the dog barely urinating/? That would seem to be a serious cause for alarm, particularly after four days.

This seems an issue of great urgency.

Since your vet is a neighbor, I would call him now and tell him what you are telling us.

Dog bladder problems

the dog moving slow and not wanting to jump is normal, due to the mussels that had to be cut. The tiny urination is not normal and reason for concern. your vet needs to check her.

Make that “muscles”

@DrBill He did check her. He came over here and said she’s fine and knew she was just having little drops of urine and needs more time according to him.

I think something is not right. I would get the opinion of a second vet. This does not sound like normal recuperation behaviour.

Did you take her temp? I would do that, it is always a good indicator of a problem, check the color of her gums and the whites of her eyes. You can find instructions of temp taking by googling.

At only 6 years of age, I would expect a more rapid recovery.

@rooeytoo Her gums are nice and pink; not white. She just did one drop in the yard. We will definitely take her to the vet Monday. Something is clogged up and I am SO worried I turned to fluther and other sites.

“she can barely urinate and her stomach is distended”

You need to get her to an emergency clinic ASAP. She may have a uroabdomen, which is a life threatening situation.

Let us know how this turns out @Aster. Good luck with the dog.

I would listen to @syz and @rooeytoo – they know dogs.

Thanks everyone. The first surgery failed; the stitches in the bladder re-opened after he removed 2 huge bladder stones. She almost died I think a couple weeks afterwards . We took her back in to have the bladder resewn but this time they kept her for four days in a cage! She has been home two days and appears to be doing great. But the vet said if it doesn’t work this time she can be euthanized. I think that’s strange for a vet to suggest that. I cannot envision a more hyper, staring, thrilled and squealing dog than when we put her in the car to take home to her “husband.” I almost needed earplugs. It was a very happy day.

YOu mean if the stitches pop out she should be put to sleep?? Wow, sounds extreme to me, but see what @syz says.

In any case, it is good that she is getting better and if there is danger that the stitches are not going to hold, I would try to keep her as quiet as possible while she heals. Perhaps keeping her in a small crate?

When the sutures failed, urine produced by the kidneys leaked into the abdominal cavity, and if the bladder reconstruction fails, the same will happen again. The vet said that euthanasia may be necessary because she cannot survive without a bladder.

I would recommend that you follow the post-op discharge instructions closely.

@syz – is that a common problem? Why would the sutures fail? It’s a young dog.

Too many variables to say – poor surgeon skills, some underlying medical issue that creates poor healing, too much physical activity after surgery, just bad luck.

Thanks @syz.

@Aster, good luck, keep us posted and all paws crossed here.