From:
Bruce Williams, DVM
Date: 2001-11-11 21:32:00 UTC
Subject: Re: Engorged penis in neutered male
--- In Ferret-Health-list@y..., "Lynn Siegel" <gypsi@a...> wrote:
> This morning when I went to bring in one group of males from their
outside
> play area, one of them who was a hob until he was about 10 months
old & is
> now 3 & a half years old, had another neutered boy, same age but
Marshall
> Farms, by the neck & was holding him down. This ferret was
straddling the
> other. I put a finger in his mouth to get him to release & when he
let go,
> gave him a push just hard enough to get him far enough away from
the other
> to give me time to grab it & get him away. The one went over on
his back &
> much to my surprise I saw his penis was engorged, still in the
sheath, but
> engorged never the less. I took the one into the house & when I
went back
> to get the other I looked at him & he was back to normal.
>
> Is there a medical condition I need to be worried about? This is
the second
> time in as many days as he has done this outside. I didn't notice
it
> yesterday because the one male never went on his back. He had the
other
> pinned by the neck & was straddling him. He has not done it at any
time
> that I have seen while inside. They only go out for about an hour
each day,
> so are more in than out.
>
> I have talked to 3 vets about prostate problems in adrenal males,
(I do have
> one that is about 4 or 5 that is showing signs of adrenal problems)
& have
> been told each time that having an adrenal problem doesn't cause a
prostate
> problem because the prostate is so far away from the adrenal
glands. I have
> gone to Mike J's web site to look up adrenal/prostate problems but
I really
> couldn't find enough info to go back to a vet & argue with them
about it.
> It doesn't say why a adrenal problem would cause a prostate problem.
>
> This ferret that had the one pinned is showing no signs of a
adrenal problem
> & is otherwise as healthy as can be. Can something else cause him
to show
> signs of mating? Is that what he is trying to do? If it is a
medical
> problem how soon should he be looked at & what do I say to the vet?
Dear Lynn:
While the penis is probably in good working condition, this behavior
is suggestive of adrenal disease - neutered males returning to intact
behavior is a strong sign of adrenal disease.
Regarding cystic prostatic disease - what you were told about the
adrenal gland not being close enough to the prostate to cause
problems is nonsense. The mechansim behind prostatic disease in
adrenal males has to do with a change in the prostatic epithelium
when exposed to high levels of circulating estrogens. It becomes
flattened and starts producing keratin (the appropriate term is
squamous metaplasia, and this causes the formation of large cysts
within the prostate gland, and inflammation (the body doesn't really
like keratin anywhere except the hair and nails, and responds with a
whopping inflammatory response.) The cysts eventually impinge on the
urethra, and the ferret is unable to urinate voluntarily.
This phenomenon has been written up in the literature a number of
times - you can find it in Fox's book, Karen Purcell's book, Hillyer
and Quesenberry's book, and the initial report was in the journal
Veterinary Pathology - here's the reference:
Coleman GD, Chavez MA, Williams BH.
Cystic prostatic disease associated with adrenocortical lesions in
the ferret (Mustela putorius furo).
Vet Pathol. 1998 Nov;35(6):547-9.
That should give you enough info to argue with.
With kindest regards,
Bruce Williams, dVM