Bladder stones surgery quandary!

[Pigglemama]

Hi all. I went to see the exotic specialist today and he was amazing. Really put my mind at rest about Muffins surgery. He has a lot of experience and has done a lot of bladders stone surgery. He can operate on Muffin in 10 days time and has said the bladder stone is currently in the bladder and not the ureter or kidney. I could have a different surgeon and have him operated on in 2 days. He has the same qualifications but hasn’t had as much experience. I am so confused with what to do! What would you do? X

 

[Wiebke]

Hi all. I went to see the exotic specialist today and he was amazing. Really put my mind at rest about Muffins surgery. He has a lot of experience and has done a lot of bladders stone surgery. He can operate on Muffin in 10 days time and has said the bladder stone is currently in the bladder and not the ureter or kidney. I could have a different surgeon and have him operated on in 2 days. He has the same qualifications but hasn’t had as much experience. I am so confused with what to do! What would you do? X

Hi

Unfortunately, you have to weigh up whether you can wait 10 days for an operation with a more experienced vet or whether you would prefer to get the operation over with more quickly but with a vet who is not yet as experienced. Bladder stone ops have generally a good recovery rate. Experience is something that comes only by doing it. However, these are trends that may not apply to an individual case.
It also depends on just how much pain your boy is in and whether you want to risk the stone moving into the urethra the longer you wait and how confident your more experienced vet is about the longer wait.

What we cannot do is make the decision for you. Only you as the owner can make that.

All the best!

 

[Free Ranger]

It's tricky but I'd say go with your gut unless your boy is in a lot of pain. When George had his stone out we actually went with the young vet who was working towards a surgical qualification - she'd been wielding the scalpel solidly for weeks to get her hours in and she did a great job, very deft. But I also had the security of knowing the more experienced vets were around that day to back her up in case she had to call one in.

Flora's spay will actually be done by a more experienced vet who is comfortable using just a gas anaesthetic which reassured me a bit more. I've lost them to GA before. George was just gas too - it comes with its own risks but once withdrawn they apparently come round very quickly. But the deciding factor here was actually the date. The choice was Monday (the 5th) or the previous Thursday (1st) and I went with Monday. Last weekend my vet stopped weekend opening and emergency cover, so if she has anything done on Thurs and there's a problem after 5pm on Friday the drive will be 50 miles to the unknown covering vet and the cost will be huge even before anything is done. Hopefully everything will be fine though!