{"id":854,"date":"2017-06-01T11:59:09","date_gmt":"2017-06-01T15:59:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/?p=854"},"modified":"2022-07-08T15:39:58","modified_gmt":"2022-07-08T19:39:58","slug":"can-surgery-help-dogs-repeated-bladder-infections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/can-surgery-help-dogs-repeated-bladder-infections\/","title":{"rendered":"How can surgery help dogs with repeated bladder infections?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bella, a 4 year old female Labrador, kept having bladder infections despite several\u00a0rounds of antibiotics.<\/p>\n

Her family vet at www.brodheadsvillevet.com<\/a> eventually diagnosed her with a redundant vulvar fold. This means that a simple exam of her back end revealed a little surprise: an extra fold of skin covering her vulva. This common condition is also called vulvar fold dermatitis or recessed vulva. My impression is that many dogs have this problem but haven\u2019t been diagnosed yet.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

How on earth can an extra skin fold cause bladder infections?<\/p>\n

The excess skin forms a pocket where urine gets trapped. The moist, warm and dark environment creates ideal breeding grounds for bacteria. This can cause a foul odor in addition to ongoing infections.<\/p>\n

In addition, Bella became very reactive & even aggressive toward the other pets in the household.<\/p>\n

Signs of bladder infections may include licking of the vulva, scooting of the back end, bloody urine, urinary incontinence and \u201caccidents\u201d in the house. Other conditions may cause similar signs, so your family vet should eliminate other problems, such as bladder stones and even bladder cancer.<\/p>\n

So what is the treatment of this bizarre condition?<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. The Band-Aid approach is the \u201cmedical\u201d treatment. We treat the symptoms by cleaning the area and giving antibiotics. But we are not treating the cause, so it can be rather frustrating every time the infection comes back.<\/li>\n
  2. The best treatment is surgery. Yes, we can do cosmetic surgery on a dog\u2019s vulva. Call it nip and tuck! Surgery allows removing the excess skin in order to provide better ventilation to the area.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The reconstructive surgery is called a vulvoplasty or episioplasty. The main challenge of the surgery is to remove just the right amount of skin: not too much and not too little.<\/p>\n

    \"Vulvoplasty\"<\/p>\n

    Recovery generally takes 2-3 weeks. I don\u2019t place skin sutures, so there are no stitches to remove in this sensitive area\u2026 All stitches are internal and eventually dissolve. An E collar (plastic cone) is critical for the full 2-3 weeks to prevent licking and to protect the incision.<\/p>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    Overall, this is a common yet frustrating condition. Fortunately, surgery is typically successful and pet owners are usually very happy with the end result\u2026 as well as their dogs!<\/p>\n

    \"Bella\"<\/p>\n

    Bella\u2019s owner wrote: \u201cI am ecstatic to say\u2026 Bella has not had a bladder infection since surgery!!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Bella, a 4 year old female Labrador, kept having bladder infections despite several\u00a0rounds of antibiotics. Her family vet at www.brodheadsvillevet.com eventually diagnosed her with a redundant vulvar fold. This means that a simple exam of her back end revealed a little surprise: an extra fold of skin covering her vulva. This common condition is also […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-854","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nHow can surgery help dogs with repeated bladder infections? | Dr Phil Zeltzman\u2019s Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Bella, a 4 year old female Labrador, kept having bladder infections despite several\u00a0rounds of antibiotics.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.drphilzeltzman.com\/blog\/can-surgery-help-dogs-repeated-bladder-infections\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How can surgery help dogs with repeated bladder infections? 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