Surgeries should keep dog’s condition at bay

I recently had my 7-monthold Bernese mountain dog spayed by my veterinarian. I opted for the vet to do a stomach tack down to prevent bloat since apparently large breed dogs are more at risk for this problem. My dog is doing well and is back to her old self. My dog always had a funny belly button in which the skin sort of curled back on itself. My vet told me that when he made the incision for the procedures, he found something that is not too common, a connection from that area to the bladder that was filled with urine. He said it developed that way when the pup was born and that some dogs with the condition could have weird urinary leaking and be prone to infections. Luckily, that was not the case with my dog, and he fixed the problem. Do I need to be concerned?

Having your dog spayed and adding the procedure called a gastropexy is more commonly done in large and giant breed dogs that, as you write, prevents the possibility of bloat, also known as gastric dilation and volvulus, or GDV. Choosing to do so is a discussion that should be had by a dog owner and a veterinarian and is a good preventative measure. Bloat is an emergency condition that occurs when the stomach flips on itself and is often fatal unless addressed within a few hours. It sounds as if your dog had a congenital condition known as a persistent urachus or urachal remnant. This can come in various forms, from a patent urachus that actually can leak urine from the umbilicus, to a remnant that closed off, to a diverticulum that can fill with urine that might not be properly eliminated. During development prior to birth, the urachus serves as a conduit of urine out of the puppy. Your veterinarian gave you sound advice to remove what was found to prevent the possibility of future urinary infections. There should not be any further complications or issues, and I am not aware of any breed predispositions, though there may be some.