Vet's Corner: fattening animals that can’t pass urine

Every year, we see a small number of animals that can’t pass urine. This condition affects all species, but is seen most commonly in fattening lambs and bulls.

These blockages are generally caused by urinary stones that get stuck in the urethra, which is the tube that connects the bladder to the tip of the penis.

This condition is normally only seen in males, as the design of the urethra is very different in males and females.

The bull’s urethra has an S-shaped bend which can trap stones easily. We do also see occasional cases where the urethra gets physically damaged. Urethral blockages are seen in dogs too, but most commonly of all in male cats.

Deposits

Urinary stones are made up of mineral deposits that accumulate together to cause stones or calculi.

The most common predisposing reason for these urinary stones are feeding a concentrate diet where the calcium, magnesium and phosphorus content of the total diet combine to cause deposits of minerals in the urine, which then join together to form bigger deposits or stones.

Accumulation

When we see these animals, they tend to have an accumulation of urine under the belly.

At this stage, there is no alternative but to surgically open the urethra above where the blockage has occurred and create a new opening to allow the urine to pass.

If this surgery is performed in time, it is usually quite successful.

Complications are associated with a delay in affected animals being detected, resulting in kidney damage or soft tissue damage under the skin.

Where more than an isolated case is seen, we will review the diet of the affected batch to look for any mineral imbalance.

As mentioned earlier, we will rarely see a problem from physical damage to the urethra and one of the potential reasons is incorrect placement of the burdizzo when castrating either bulls or ram lambs.

Doubts

If you have any doubts about the procedure for castrating animals, you should consult your own vet for advice.

Your own vet will also advise if you are experiencing similar problems or are concerned about the potential for your farm enterprise to be affected.

Donal Lynch owns and runs Donal Lynch Veterinary, Tullamore, Co Offaly. Donal Lynch Veterinary is part of XLVets. XLVets is a group of progressive practices who are working together to achieve a better future for agriculture and veterinary in Ireland. Visit www.xlvets.ie.