From:
Sukie Crandall
Date: 2011-01-03 18:16:41 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Hob with multiple problems urinating in sleep
To: fhl <ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com>
It may be a positioning problem or a muscle
relaxation problem or both. I don't know if
the ferret prostate is shaped like the human
one but in human males there is a medial
portion of the prostate that is pretty much
a lobe and when you look at it spread out
it kind of resembles a maple leaf. In some
men that lobe can enlarge or can even be
large before aging or disease but then made
huge by either. Then it can fall and act like a
flap over the outlet for the urethra. For those
men sometimes a combination of Avodart and
Tamsulosin works, but some need surgery.
Human men with this problem are also helped
by position changes, sit-ups or rowing, and
by not being overweight. I do NOT know whether
those meds, repositioning, weight control, etc.
would help ferrets, just that in a person this
would be considered.
Again, in people, so I don't know if it will apply to
ferrets, there can at times be trouble controlling
the muscles involved in urination, so the urine
can not be passed if the muscles are too tight,
or may leak if too loose (or the urethra may even
drop and prolapse in some human females for several
possible reasons including muscular ones.) I do not
know if the meds for tight urethral muscles can be
used for ferrets.
Because of being quadrapedal with their bladders so
close to the hammock the abdominal muscles make,
them having a bladder fall backward or forward resulting
in a pouch which does not empty well, is quite unlikely
(though it is a problem for us
bipeds), however, a large enough prostate could maybe
create a pouch by pinching off an area, and *if* that can
happen then there is a constant susceptibility to
bladder infection and maybe the tannins from blueberries
or cranberries may come in useful since those prevent
bacteria from sticking to the walls of the bladder.
Infection can also make voiding more difficult, as
can clots to pass, or stones that developed secondary
to infection. (There are multiple types of urinary tract
stones with multiple types of causes.)
Obviously, quite a bit more can happen...
In a young male a bladder diverticulum would also be
considered, BTW.
Sukie (not a vet)
Recommended ferret health links:
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/ferrethealth/
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/
http://www.afip.org/ferrets/index.html
http://www.miamiferret.org/
http://www.ferrethealth.msu.edu/
http://www.ferretcongress.org/
http://www.trifl.org/index.shtml
http://homepage.mac.com/sukie/sukiesferretlinks.html
all ferret topics:
http://listserv.ferretmailinglist.org/archives/ferret-search.html
"All hail the procrastinators for they shall rule the world tomorrow."
(2010, Steve Crandall)
On change for its own sake: "You can go really fast if you just jump
off the cliff."
(2010, Steve Crandall)
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