Community Animal HospitalsGuided by AAHA standards · St. Petersburg, FL
Community Animal HospitalsGuided by AAHA standards · St. Petersburg, FL
Bladder stone removal for dogs and cats, and perineal urethrostomy for male cats that keep blocking, done in our own surgical suite in St. Petersburg. Before any work begins you receive a written, itemized estimate.
Straining to urinate and producing nothing is an emergency — most often in male cats and male dogs. Come in now during our open hours, or go to a 24-hour emergency hospital if we are closed.
A pet that is straining but still passing urine may not be an emergency. If you are not sure which, treat it as one.
Tell us what your veterinarian has found, or what you have noticed. We’ll get back to you to arrange a time.
Many bladder stones show clearly on an x-ray, which is taken here. Some types of stone can be dissolved with a prescription diet; others have to be removed. The x-rays and a urine test help tell which.
A cystotomy removes the stones through an incision in the bladder. When stones have moved into the urethra, they are flushed back into the bladder first so they can all be removed through that one incision. An x-ray after surgery confirms none are left behind.
Removed stones can be sent to a laboratory to find out what they are made of, which guides the diet and care that help stop them coming back.
A male cat’s urethra is narrow, and crystals, plugs or small stones can block it completely. A blocked cat cannot urinate, and that is an emergency.
For a cat that keeps blocking, a perineal urethrostomy (PU) creates a wider opening so the blockage is far less likely to happen again. It is done at both of our hospitals.
We examine your pet and image what needs imaging, on our own digital x-ray equipment. If your veterinarian has already done this, we work from their records.
For all proposed diagnostics and treatment, before any work begins. Nothing is scheduled until you have seen it and said yes.
Pre-surgical labs are run in-house and reviewed before the day of surgery — never drawn the morning of.
In most cases your pet goes home the same day. Rechecks and suture removal are included.
Before surgery you can speak with the veterinarian doing the procedure — about what they expect to find, what recovery looks like, and anything that worries you. That is routine here, not a special request.
No referral needed. If your veterinarian has already examined your pet or taken x-rays, bring the records, email them to petcare@communityanimalhospitals.com, or tell us on the form who has them and we will request them for you.
The veterinarians across our two hospitals include two former owners of 24-hour primary care and emergency hospitals, and doctors with more than 25 years in practice ownership.
A real patient treated at one of our hospitals. Identifying details have been removed.
Removed through a single incision in the bladder — a cystotomy. The stone measured about 3.3 cm across.
A real patient treated at one of our hospitals. Identifying details have been removed. The stone has been sent to a laboratory for analysis, and we will add the result here when it comes back.
It depends on what is involved — how many stones, where they are, and whether any have moved into the urethra. After the exam and x-rays you receive a written, itemized estimate before any work begins.
You receive a written, itemized estimate for all proposed diagnostics and treatment before any work begins. You will never get a bill you have not approved. If we find something unexpected during surgery, we call you before doing anything about it.
Many of our clients find that financing part or all of the procedure through Cherry works best for them.
According to Cherry, the application takes under 35 seconds from start to finish, and “Cherry performs a soft credit check which does not affect your credit score.”
Check your options with Cherry
We also accept CareCredit and Scratch Pay.
Most people are less worried about the procedure than about the anesthesia. That is a fair worry, and it deserves a straight answer.
Pre-anesthetic bloodwork tells us how your pet’s liver and kidneys will handle the anesthetic drugs. It is also how we catch the problem that changes the plan — before we start, not during.
The catheter means immediate access to a vein if we need it, rather than looking for one in an emergency. Fluids maintain blood pressure, which is what protects the kidneys under anesthesia.
A trained technician is assigned to your pet’s anesthesia and does nothing else for the duration — heart rate and rhythm, blood oxygen, blood pressure, temperature and breathing, continuously, with hands on your pet.
Anesthetised animals lose heat quickly, and a cold patient recovers badly — slower waking, more shivering, more pain. Active warming runs through the procedure and into recovery. It is unglamorous and it matters.
Almost never, and age by itself is not the reason to decline. In the largest study of US primary-care practice — 822 hospitals — the anesthetic death rate was 0.05% in dogs and 0.11% in cats. What moves that number is health status, not age: in sick patients it rises roughly twenty-five fold. Which is why what we do before the procedure matters more than the number on the birthday.
Bloodwork, a physical examination, and a plan built around what we find. If something turns up that changes the risk, we tell you before the day, not after.
AAHA’s 2023 senior care guidelines: “Advanced age alone is not a contraindication to general anesthesia.”
We do not provide overnight care. For most procedures your pet goes home the same day — home is quieter, and you are the person who notices first when something is not right. You will go home with written aftercare instructions and a number to call if anything worries you.
If your pet does need overnight monitoring, we will say so and refer you to a 24-hour facility that can give it. That is a judgment made on the day, about your pet — not a policy.
Most pets go home wearing a cone (an e-collar) so they cannot lick or chew at the incision while it heals.
Recheck visits and suture removal are included in the surgery price.
Questions after you get home go to us — six days a week, 7:30am–6:30pm.
5895 54th Ave N, St. Petersburg, FL 33709
Clients travel as far as 15–20 miles for surgery with us, from St. Petersburg · Gulfport · Pinellas Park · Seminole · Bardmoor · Tyrone Square · South Pasadena · Kenneth City · Lealman and beyond · Open 7:30am–6:30pm, six days a week
It depends on the number and position of the stones. After the exam and x-rays you receive a written, itemized estimate before any work begins.
Some types can, with a prescription diet. Others cannot, and stones that are causing a blockage need to come out. The x-rays and urine test guide the decision.
Come in now, or go to a 24-hour emergency hospital if we are closed. A blocked cat cannot wait.
Kidney stones are a different problem from bladder stones, and are treated differently. If the x-rays show stones in the kidneys, we will explain what that means for your pet and what the options are.
They can. Knowing what the stones were made of, and following the diet and care that go with that, is how you lower the chance.