# Ectopic Ureter---Beating the Odds



## trinityquinn (Mar 6, 2009)

I wanted to share my story of my 13 month old Golden born with ectopic ureters. I hope to provide some information to the next person who searches the forum as I did and didnt find much hope!
Gracie was born with ectopic ureters with symptoms of constant dribbling. Ectopic ureters means that the ureters or tubes that carry urine from the kidney to the bladder are not connecting where they should---so a lot of plumbing problems!!! Ultrasound had diagnosed only one side affected. It would cost several thousand dollars to do the surgery. That was the info we had available when I adopted her. I immediately brought her to Tufts in Grafton, MA, I am fortunate to live close to the wonderful specialists there.....They said it is a hard surgery with only 50/50 chance of restoring continence. 

Surgery scheduled for 2 days after. Brought her in and they did a diagnostic test to find out that it was worse than expected and both sides are involved. 
(MY HEART BREAKS)......Take a deep breath and wait for the next phone call....Surgery was successful but because of the swelling we wouldnt know if it worked......

Now we are 5 weeks after surgery and she is still 100% DRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WE have certainly beat all the odds and expectations. 

Although ectopic ureters are fairly rare, Goldens are a breed that they do occur in much more frequently than other breeds. It is imperative that you find a specialist that sees these cases often.....our local vet office...although fantastic and top notch.....had little/no experience with ectopic ureters because they are so rare....I will always make myself available for questions as when I was doing my research it was so depressing to see that no one knew much about it and that the surgery didnt work....

Dry In Massachusetts , Bridget (and Gracie )


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## Penny & Maggie's Mom (Oct 4, 2007)

Bless you for finding the best of the best for Gracie. And big congrats that surgery was successful and your little girl will have no residual problems. And THANK YOU for reaching out to share your experience so others who may find themselves with a pupper with similar problems can be reassured and walked thru the process. YEA YEA YEA for Gracie.


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## Tahnee GR (Aug 26, 2006)

One of my friends experienced this with a puppy in one of her litters. She took the pup to UW-Madison for her surgery, and she was fine. So yes, it can be done!


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## CarolinaCasey (Jun 1, 2007)

I'm so glad to hear Grace beat the odds. A very hopeful story for others battling the problem.


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## Finn's Fan (Dec 22, 2007)

That's great news that Gracie had a successful surgery. You are lucky to have Tufts close by; I've got CSU an hour up the road and always feel grateful for such good vets nearby. Best wishes for continued DRYNESS!


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## 3SweetGoldens (Feb 28, 2007)

I am so happy to hear that Gracie's surgery was successful!! Such encouragement to others who may have, or know someone with a similar problem. Gracie was so fortunate to have both you, and the wonderful Dr.'s who have changed her life so much for the better. Sending many hugs to you both....I know how difficult this must have been to go through.


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## Rubymom (Mar 14, 2009)

Having had the pleasure of meeting Bridget and Ms.Gracie (we have pups from the same litter) I can say that an amazing pup was lucky enough to find her equalyy amazing owner. Meeting Gracie pre-surgery and than anxiously awaiting to hear if the surgery was successful, we received a postcard last week with Gracie featured announcing that as Bridget says she had "beat the odds". 
Love and kisses from one Beechwood owner and her pup to another (x3)


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Thanks for sharing your wonderful news! May Gracie continue to do well


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## Tahnee GR (Aug 26, 2006)

It takes a special type of person to deal with issues such as Gracie had, but as Bridget has pointed out-well worth it! It is fairly rare, as, counting Gracie, I only know of 3 in total so she is also right that many vets will not have dealt with it.

Go Gracie, and Bridget


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## Willow52 (Aug 14, 2009)

Great news! Gracie is so lucky to have found you to care for her.


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## GoldenJoyx'stwo (Feb 25, 2007)

I'm so happy this worked out so well for all of you! I have a childhood friend who is a Vet in Tolland, CT. She graduated from Tuft's. I hear such amazing things about them. My Vet's vet tech also studied at Tufts.


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## floridakelsie (Sep 18, 2013)

*Kelsie*

Hi there, I was just researching the website and saw your post. I know this is 3 year later, but we have a female golden puppy who is 14 weeks. She has had urine testing for possible ectopic ureters. She has staining and dribbling and is otherwise normal. But, the last urine analysis showed e coli in her urine. She is on antibiotics. We are not near MA., in Florida in fact. How has your golden been since her surgery? Was it done with laser? Was it outrageously expensive? Sorry for all the questions, but this little gal is so wonderful in every way, but we are so worried about doing the surgery and have it not succeed! Thanks for any feedback.


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## Sally's Mom (Sep 20, 2010)

Years ago when we had a traveling vet that did ultrasound, she taught me that E. coli does not always culture and you sometimes,have to treat for six months..
For a UTI


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## Colie CVT (Sep 15, 2013)

The surgeons who I work with use an RF probe to basically push the opening back into the bladder and have had some pretty good success with it.  Depending upon what you consider outrageously expensive, I think ours tend to go out with it being around I want to say 1500, give or take a few hundred for the procedure, the care and medications afterward. It's a same day sort of procedure, the surgeons have gotten much faster at doing it, it's scope assisted.  As long as the issue is only an ectopic ureter, they seem to do well. It's the ones who have sphincter issues that have things become a little more worrisome that I've seen. 

But trying to see if it isn't just a nasty UTI first isn't out of bounds either unless they see a pretty obvious one either.  Hopefully your vet can help you guys figure it out! Easier if it's just a nasty UTI rather than the ureters.


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## floridakelsie (Sep 18, 2013)

*ectopic ureters*

I so appreciate all of the information we are receiving here regarding our 14 week old pup, Kelsie's possible ectopic ureters. We will ask the vet to continue treating for UTI and pray that that is the issue. She has been on 3 different antibiotics and it could be we didn't stay on one long enough. The first 2 urine testings showed white blood cells, the 3rd more intense test showed the e-coli issue. 
The good news is that she is able to stay dry through the night and knows to go to the door when she has to go during the day, though often! We clean her with baby wipes and bathe her rear quarters frequently. She is so golden in every other aspect. We could probably live with her staining problem, but the infection is another item. 
I've been researching the schools within our area, U of F and FSU but not enough information yet. Has anyone heard anything about Tennessee's Vet School? It seems I read somewhere that they did laser surgery.
Thanks again for all of your help.


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## AnnMarie (Nov 14, 2013)

Hi there...
We come from Europe (Bosnia and Herzegovina).... so sorry for my bad english 
We do not have a golden retriver .... but we have a beautiful girl- a mixed dog 4 years old suffering from ectopic uterer whole her life.... we live in a flat so you can imagine how hard it was for us to handle all of that.... constant dribbling.... propalin syrup helped us a bit but nothing special...
the thing was that our vet didn't want to make a surgery-probably not knowing enough on that subject..... 
our town doesn't have such specialists as you have... and we do not have a CT- the only valid examination for that condition....

so she was struggeling for years now since we menaged to find a good surgeon that will do the operation without exactly knowing what was going on.... brave of him.

7 days ago our dog was operated... it really was ectopic uterer.... and one baddddd kidney non-functional, so they took it out.... i'm concerned that the years of dribbling caused that but nevermind now... 

she came home... with maybe a bit worse dribbling- i was telling myself give her time to recover.... and 7th day since surgery she is dry  i'm actually crying today cuz it means soo much to me.... she is a young dog many more years to live as a dry one 
this was the only post that i found on that matter.... so thank you all....
last 7 days i was telling my husband all the time- there are these people with golden retrivers i found it online-their dog Grace is dry now 
Love to you all and your dogs


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## ZeppGold (Aug 9, 2009)

That is such great news! We adopted our Honey after she was given up because of an ectopic ureter. She had the surgery when she was only around 5 months old. She also had to have one kidney removed. She will turn 9 next week and she has not had anymore urine problems. I hope that you have many more wonderful years to enjoy your dog.


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## AnnMarie (Nov 14, 2013)

Sooo happy for your Honey 
wowww at such young age kidney removed... that gives us such hope that our Cura (in our language it means a girl) will be ok.... 
Recovery is a long process.... we are just worried that she was urinating sooo much these last few days... and now (today) nothing at home... when we go out not so much-but there is urine.... so that's good i guess....
Thank you for sharing your story with us....
Many more beautifull years to come with our girls


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