The lower urinary tract is formed by two anatomic structures: the bladder and the urethra. The urethra is a tube that connects the bladder to the urethral orifice. The urethral orifice is the external opening of the urethra from which the urine exits the body during normal urination.

 

Common pathologies of the lower urinary tract are inflammations and occlusions. 

 

 

Clinical Signs 

 

Clinical signs of patients affected by low tract urinary inflammation or occlusions are:

 

• Pollakiuria: frequent urination; dripping of urine from the penis “overflow”;

• Hematuria: the presence of blood within the urine;

• Dysuria: difficulty urinating.

 

Behaviour changing may also be noted: spending a long time in a squat position in the litter tray, urinating in unusual places or over grooming the genital area.

 

A strong odour of the urine may also be present.

 

Common causes of low tract urine inflammation or occlusion:

 

• Bacterial infections are more common in dogs rather than in cats;

• Urinary stone, crystals or very little stones. These cause irritation/inflammation or in some cases blocks of the urethra “block bladder”;

• Neoplasia: bladder tumours;

• Urethral Strictures.

 

In the case of a complete occlusion of the urethra, emergency treatment of the patient would be required to unblock the urethra and restore the electrolyte imbalance.

 

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Urethrostomy

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Urethrostomy is the creation of a permanent opening into the urethra. The indications for urethrostomy are recurrent or persistent urethral obstruction, irreversible urethral trauma (stricture) or severe penile trauma.

 

In male dogs, the urethrostomy is performed just back to the penis because of a relatively superficial position of the urethra. The surgery should be performed in a neutered patient and will not require a penis amputation.

 

In cats, a penis amputation would be required and urethrostomy would be performed few centimetres behind the anus.  

 

Early postoperative complications are swelling and haemorrhage. Swelling resolves within a few days, haemorrhage (especially associates with urination) resolves in 5-7 days; however, blood within the urine may be present for a few weeks.

 

Stricture secondary to scar tissue formation could occur; these will need a review surgery.

 

Long-term complications would be recurrent urinary tract infection due to a migration of bacteria into the bladder because of a short urethra (30 % of the cases).

 

Overall the outcome of the surgery is good, with owners reporting positive long terms results in the majority of the cases (90%).