SUBMITTED BY

PARVEZ AHMED
MVSC 1ST YEAR
2018-19
 Introduction
 Urolithiasis is common as a subclinical disorder
among ruminants
 It considered primarily a nutritional disease
 When ration is composed primarily of grain
 Mortality is high in case of urethral obstruction
 As a result, prevention is important to limit loses from
urolithiasis
 Urolithiasis
 Urolithiasis is the formation of stones (uroliths) in the
urinary tract.
 It is most commonly seen in castrated male
common sites -
1. Cattle:- distal aspect of the sigmoid flexure
2. sheep and goats:- the sigmoid flexure and urethral
process
 Diameter of urethral lumen at the sites of distal sigmoid
flexure and urethral process are the narrowest, thus
calculi could easily be trapped at these sites
 Common
site
of stone
formation

Fig:- common site of stone formation in Bull

Sigmoid flexure

Urethral
process

Fig:- common site of stone formation in Buck

 Etiology

 Urine is highly saturated Solution of minerals

 Urinary calculi form when inorganic and organic
urinary solutes precipitate out of solution.
 Calculi form by a gradual accumulation of precipitate
around “nidus” (an organic matrix of dead cell) and
stone grow in size.
Factors contribute to urolithiasis
 Those favor the development of nidus
 Those that facilitate precipitation of solute
 Those that favor concretion by cementing precipitated
salt
 Increased urinary salt concentration
 Decreases in urinary protective colloids,
 Urinary tract inflammation
 Hypovitaminosis A
 Hypervitaminosis D
 Decreased water intake
 Increased insensible water losses
 Sulphonamide precipitation in urine
 Changes in urine pH
 Castration of bulls
 Absence of inhibitors of crystallization e.g. organic
acids, magnesium, nephrocalcin mucoproteins,
glycosaminoglycans , urea and mucopolysacchride
,citrates, zinc and pyrophosphates
 Nidus formation
 Local infection in urinary tract
 Vitamin A deficiency
 Estrogen administration
 all these causes excessive epithelial
desquamation
 Precipitation of solutes

Excessive intake of minerals:-

Diet containing high concentrate
Animal drinking less water- concentrated
urine
pH of urine-
phosphate & carbonate calculi- alkaline
urine.
 Factor favoring concretion
 Mucoprotein – mucopolysaccharides
fraction
 It act as a cementing agent and favor the
formation of calculi when precipitates are
present
 The mucoprotein content is increased by
heavy concentrate low roughage ration
Types of uroliths
Phosphatic calculi: -
 Ruminants consuming ration high in
phosphorus (grain-based rations) typically
develop –
 Struvite- magnesium ammonium
phosphate hexahydrate
 Apatite – calcium phosphate
 Pelleting of ration as been associated with
an increase in Phosphatic calculi
 Calcium based calculi
 Calcium carbonate-
 Calcium oxalate-
 common in small ruminant grazing lush, rapidly
 growing clover pasture or being fed alfalfa hay
 Ingestion of plants high in oxalic acid content can be
risk factor for formation of calcium carbonate calculi
 These forages are rich in calcium and low in P &Mg
and have a high oxalate content.
Calcium carbonate calculi

Calcium oxalate
 Silica uroliths
 whereas ruminants grazing on silicarich soil are
predisposed to form silica uroliths.
 Risk factor for obstructive urolithiasis
 Size of individual calculi- often the obstruction is
caused by one stone
 Amount of calculus material- aggregation of many
small calculi also can cause obstruction\
 Diameter of urethra- small diameter of urethra in
castrated animal
 The castration affects the normal development of
urethra due to lack of testosterone which also
decreases the hydrophilic colloids in the urine thus
predisposing the animal to calculus formation
 Pathogenesis
 Calculi may be present in kidneys, ureters, bladder,
and urethra
 Major clinical manifestation is urethral obstruction
 Rupture of urethra or bladder occur within 2-3 days if
the obstruction is not relieved and the animal dies of
uremia or secondary bacterial infection
 Smooth, spherical calculus- rupture of bladder
 Irregularly shaped stone- rupture of urethra
 Clinical finding
 Stranguria - passage only few drops of blood stain
urine
 Abdominal pain with kicking at the belly
 Treading with the hind feet
 Swishing of tail
 vocalization (especially goats)
 palpable bladder distention
 abdominal palpation in small ruminants
 rectal palpation in large ruminants
A heavy precipitate
of crystal is often
visible on preputial
hair
 Sequelae to untreated obstruction
 Diffuse swelling of subcutaneous tissue of ventral body
wall
 Diagnostic procedures
 Diagnosis based on history
 Clinical signs
 Urinalysis(urine may be light to dark yellow and pale
pink in colour in bovine )
 Urine culture
 Radiography
 Ultrasonography
 Laboratory findings
 Increase in hemoglobin, haematocrit, total leucocytes
and neutrophils occurs in bullocks suffering from
urine retention due to urolithiasis

 Significant increase in white blood cell count and

blood fibrinogen levels occur in cases of ruptured
bladder because of extensive tissue necrosis and
inflammation
 Increase in blood urea nitrogen and creatinine occurs
in cases of obstructive urolithiasis
 The range of specific gravity of urine in normal cattle
is 1.025-1.045 with an average of 1.035 and in
obstructive urolithiasis it may be, 1.008 to 1.025
 Diagnostic imaging
 Radiography-Most of the uroliths larger than 3mm
could be detected by survey abdominal radiography or
ultrasonography
 For smaller uroliths double contrast cystography or
urethrography is used
 Ultrasonography-detecting the urolith location
(penis,bladder, ureter and kidney), rupture of the
urogenital tract, and the presence of the
uroperitoneum and hydronephrosis
 Urethral endoscopy-useful in evaluating urethral
patency, examining urethral mucosa
 Peritoneal fluid analysis-examined for colour,
turbidity, RBC count, total nucleated cell count
(TNCC), differential cell percentages, and total protein
and albumin concentrations
 A ratio of peritoneal fluid to serum creatinine
concentration that is >2:1 usually is seen with leakage
of urine into the abdominal cavity
Medical (Therapeutic)Management
 Use of tranquilizers
 Antispasmodics
 Anti -inflammatory drugs
 Acidification of urine with ammonium chloride,
 Increasing salt content of the diet
 Using vitamin C which helps in dissolving the calculi
 Homeopathetic therapy-Cystone , Calcuri ,
Chandraprabha bati ,
 Surgical Management
 Urethrotomy
 Perineal urethrostomy
 Indwelling urethral catheterization
 Penis amputation (Penectomy)
 Cystotomy and cystorraphy
 Laparoscopic cystotomy
 Tube cystostomy
 Percutaneous tube cystostomy
 Bladder marsupialization
Amputation of the urethral process
Perineal urethrostomy
 Prevention
 Adequate balance of Ca and P (2:1)
 Increase water intake
 Nacl supplementation helps to prevent urolithiasis.
 Feeding of ammonium chloride @ 45g to cattle and 10g
to sheep,goat/day)
 Vit –A