Monitoring Treatment of compound uroliths often necessitates combining several unrelated treatment regimens.

Therefore, it is essential to monitor the efficacy and safety of therapy. Control of urolith-forming risk factors should result in reduction of urine concentration (e.g., specific gravity) and reduction or elimination of crystalluria. We recommend urinalyses be repeated at appropriate intervals to determine if treatment protocols are associated with desired outcomes.

Because diet modification and drug therapy usually do not eliminate all underlying risk factors, it is unrealistic to expect complete control of recurrent urolithiasis. In our experience, appropriate therapy eliminates urolith recurrence in some dogs, and delays urolith recurrence in others. However, the fact that uroliths recur does not always mean that additional therapy is required. To reduce the need for additional surgery, schedule follow-up evaluations to facilitate detection of urocystoliths when they are small enough to pass easily through the urethral lumen. Small urocystoliths can often be easily removed by voiding urohydropropulsion. If patients are re-evaluated only when they develop clinical signs typical of urolith recurrence, the uroliths often have become too large to pass through the urethra. Regularly scheduled re-examinations also help to promote client compliance with preventative therapy.