From:
"Mr Einstin"
Date: 2011-03-15 12:55:29 UTC
Subject: [ferrethealth] Re: Diego - See images in case files folder named Diego
To: ferrethealth@yahoogroups.com
I picked Diego up late yesterday afternoon. The vet drew blood for a couple of panels and also for another urinalysis and also took 2 full body x-ray views. The x-rays did not show any abnormalities or enlarged organs internally at all except for a small growth on the upward curved tip portion of the penile bone itself. Apparently there is enough inflammation of the prepuce from this growth irritating it that it is preventing the penis from extending to its normal position for urination. While Diego was under anesthesia the vet tried to get the penis to extend so he could try to get a look at the tip and was unable to because of the swollen prepuce without causing further irritation and possible damage. We have started him on an anti-inflammatory in addition to the antibiotic until his blood sample results come back so we can schedule a surgery to remove the growth. Obviously we won't know what the growth is until it is removed and sent off for analysis.
[Many, many years ago on the FML
(Ferret Mailing List) there was someone
whose ferret had the penis extend beyond
the sheath when standing next to cage wire
and the penis wrapped the wire like a hook,
becoming injured when the distressed ferret
moved. That was long enough ago that it might
even have been before the FML Archives
began so may not be in there to read.
This would be a vanishingly small risk; that
was the only ferret I ever heard about with
that source of injury in 30 years, but does
the vet think that the growth may be related
to injury repair, or instead a form a tumor,
or a response to infection, or is it simply
way too early to know?
I think the wire used on that cage was thin
if I recall right, not typical ferret cage wire.
According to a past FML member who looked
at many bacula (the penile bone is the baculum)
breaks were not unusual and typically without
problems. Those posts should be present in the
FML Archives from Bob Church since he began
posting well after the archives began:
http://listserv.ferretmailinglist.org/archives/ferret-search.html
and this is due to a new injury to the baculum
might be reassuring. It's been long ago that
I largely forget them but the archives there
are easily enough searched.
A quick look a the 10 years of FHL Archives
finds 17 posts for the word
baculum
Okay, what you vet may be noticing there might
just be normal morphology:
http://ferrethealth.org/archive/YG2571
low down in the discussion a paragraph begins
QUOTE
One of the better methods of ageing males is the morphology of the Os
penis. Most male mammals have a small bone within the penis which
partially surrounds and supports the urethra (contrary to urban legend,
it does NOT support the erection, but instead maintains the opening of
the urethra, preventing the tube from becoming kinked which ensures the
delivery of sperm). In the ferret, the distal tip of this bone, commonly
called the baculum or penis bone, has a strongly deflected tip, forming
a hook. There is a groove on the baculum that goes down the length of
the shaft, which supports the urethra. The base of the baculum attaches
to a thick ligament, which is attached at the other end to the base of
the pubic bones forming the Os coxae (pelvis). Bone increases in size as
a result of stress, so over time the base of the baculum gets larger,
and will continue to do so until the death of the individual. This is a
constant growth, so if one baculum has a larger base than another, the
individual is generally older.
END QUOTE
--Moderator]
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