Kenny was attentively examined by the Primary Vet who promptly diagnosed him with Urethral Prolapse. In simple words, the tube that carries the urine out from the bladder through the penis had partially come out!! Did you just say ouch??
This is a rare condition, which is more commonly observed in French and English Bulldogs, so to find it occurring for a Mastiff was not exactly expected.
This condition is painful, causing bleeding with discomfort while passing urine and could potentially cause an obstruction with consequent kidney failure.
In some cases, the urethra can be replaced under anaesthetic and kept in place with different techniques, however as Kenny’s vet was concerned about the appearance of the prolapse, also the time lapsed from the initial symptoms and the difficulty this condition can present.
Kenny was swiftly referred to us to see Luciano, our Soft Tissue and Orthopaedics certificate holder.
When he arrived for his assessment appointment, Luciano examined Kenny and having dealt with few of these urethral prolapses, it was clear to him that an operation was required.
Most of the time the cause of the prolapse is a trauma, like when humping things (naughty boys!), but in some cases it could be due to stones that formed in the bladder and were trying passing through.
Kenny was attentively examined by the Primary Vet who promptly diagnosed him with Urethral Prolapse. In simple words, the tube that carries the urine out from the bladder through the penis had partially come out!! Did you just say ouch??
This is a rare condition, which is more commonly observed in French and English Bulldogs, so to find it occurring for a Mastiff was not exactly expected.
This condition is painful, causing bleeding with discomfort while passing urine and could potentially cause an obstruction with consequent kidney failure.
In some cases, the urethra can be replaced under anaesthetic and kept in place with different techniques, however as Kenny’s vet was concerned about the appearance of the prolapse, also the time lapsed from the initial symptoms and the difficulty this condition can present.
Kenny was swiftly referred to us to see Luciano, our Soft Tissue and Orthopaedics certificate holder.
When he arrived for his assessment appointment, Luciano examined Kenny and having dealt with few of these urethral prolapses, it was clear to him that an operation was required.
Most of the time the cause of the prolapse is a trauma, like when humping things (naughty boys!), but in some cases it could be due to stones that formed in the bladder and were trying passing through.
To rule out stones, the practice performed some X-rays and urine tests. Fortunately, there were no stones, however we found some crystals! Specifically, Struvites, these can form in the urine if the diet is not agreeing with the particular pet and the acidity of urine is not low enough.
So now Kenny had two problems! One simple to deal with, by switching him to a prescription diet to dissolve the crystals.
And one more complicated that needed surgery. Our practice has a daily schedule that allows emergency clinical/surgical time slots! Perfect for this kind of situations! This allowed Kenny to receive the urgent surgery on the same day!
The photographs may not be the most pleasant to look at, but they do give you an idea of how tricky the surgery was and how brutal it looks.
Without going into too much detail, Luciano held the healthy urethra to the penis body with 2 fine needles, then gradually cut away the prolapsed part and sutured the healthy part to the end of the penis. This created a new fresh opening of the urethra!
The surgery was a good relief for Kenny, the team involved and his Owner!
Kenny was sent home the same evening with some medications and post-op instructions.
The primary vet was pleased with Kenny’s progress during the post-op checks and 6 weeks down the line, we are pleased to hear that Kenny is back to his usual, playful, clumsy self.
It was such a great joy for us to look after this growing gentle giant and we would like to take the opportunity to thank all the surrounding vets that refer complex cases to us. We are honoured to serve our local community and to help whenever we can.
