Phimosis in Dogs

Hey, guys. Dr. Lara and Tater here. The main reason for the video today is going to be covering a topic called paraphimosis, phimosis, and priapism. These all have to do with the penis and having some issues with the penis sometimes. Even though our content is educational, YouTube sometimes will give us a hard time. No pun intended. So just wanted to give you guys a heads up. There will be no graphic content on this particular video. Surprise. So if you guys are a subscriber of ours, you'll probably notice that I'm not wearing a mask. And so what we're trying to do is we're trying to get back to some normalcy with, you know, the work and the flow and the environment and that kind of stuff. Now, so that you're aware, we are taking appropriate precautions. It is just myself and Abraham in the room. We are going to go ahead and spray the room down afterwards. And we do wear masks at the office during the day. So just so that you're aware. Now, in regards to the reason that Tater is here, the reason Tater is here is because Tater came in because dad was noticing. He called it a red crayon, and some people call it a red rocket or lipstick. And so these are all different ways that people will refer to when their dog's penis is coming out. Now, when the dog's penis comes out, that can come out for a couple of different reasons, and when that can be tied to either, you know, excitement, urination, straining to urinate, you know, performing, you know, some sort of reproductive motions, behaviors, those kinds of things, if they're trying to copulate, whether it's with an inanimate object, like a toy, or with an actual dog or animal. And so what dad was describing was more that the penis would come out and wouldn't go back in. And when we talked to him about going ahead and trying to help Tater get his penis back in, dad was not really thrilled about the idea. That being said, when I came into the office today to take a look at Tater, his penis was back in his sheath. And so typically, what we would say that would be is most likely priapism. And priapism is just that there's an erection that's happening. It's not necessarily tied to copulation or any sort of effort like that. And so it is something that, you know, a lot of times what we might do is we would look to see if there's any sort of foreign material around the penis. So I went ahead and I took the penis out of the sheath and to see if there's any evidence of tumors on there. Because tumors can cause what we call paraphromosis. Paraphimosis is where the penis does not go back into the sheath. And so that can also happen for some reasons. If he has a hair wrapped around the penis, sometimes that can cause it if the prepuce rolls back on itself. And so then what ends up happening is the penis will not slide back in as easily as it should, and it could potentially get caught outside. And so if it gets caught outside, what can end up happening is we will have maybe what we call a decrease in venous return. So essentially what ends up happening is the blood cannot leave the penis once it gets swollen. And so that could potentially lead. Lead to a very swollen tissue, can lead to some necrotic tissue. So that means that the tissue is potentially dying and that kind of stuff. And so, you know, normally what we want to try and do is we want to try and get the penis back in and get blood flowing again as normal. Sometimes. This could potentially happen as a result of trauma. And when I talk about this, I mean, paraphernosis, it could potentially happen with parasites. Is something else that could cause. Something else that could potentially cause would be if he's straining to defecate. So if you notice that your dog is either straining to urinate or straining to poop, those would be some potential causes for why you might see the penis coming out and maybe not going back in, as well as the fact that if you have a dog that has something that's going on that is very nerve wracking. Now, Tater, miss here. Tater's actually somewhat calm now because before Taylor was panting when, when he was here earlier, and now he's calming down somewhat. If you have a dog that is a dog that tends to get nervous, increased anxiety is something that could potentially cause them to go ahead and have the penis come out. And then you could have some other things that could potentially cause that to not go back in. Now, phimosis is where the penis does not come out. And so that can happen for a couple of different reasons. One of the most common reasons would be if the opening in the prepuce or the sheath where the penis sits is very, very small. And so that would be one of the reasons you might notice that they might be straining to urinate. They might have some discharge from the penis or bloody urine. And so those would be some different things that you might notice. Now if your dog is having some issues, they can't get the penis to stay in place. What will happen sometimes is they might go ahead and do a little surgery where they anchor the penis into the sheath. And so obviously, you know, the big thing with and keeping the penis in the sheath is it also keeps the penis moist. That tissue is something that's kind of like our gums. So it is something that does have to be kept contained around other mucous membranes because it is made to be at a certain moisture level. If not, you could have some issues with the tissue. In a worst case scenario in dogs that they have paraphernalosis where the penis does not go back in. If it is not resolved in 24 hours, you may even have to do a penile amputation. And so obviously we want to try and avoid surgery as much as possible. So that being the case, what we want you to do is sometimes, sometimes what we might do is we might have people put some lubricant on it and put it back into the sheath. Other times what we may end up doing is we may end up going ahead and getting like a sugar water or like simple syrup, something like that, to go ahead and get some of the swelling off the penis so that the penis can go back in. If you have concern that this has been going on for a prolonged period of time, then it is recommended that you get your dog to the vet as quickly as possible so that they can go ahead and make sure that we prevent this from becoming a potential surgical issue. Otherwise, just take care of it as quickly as possible and make sure that it is something that you don't really putz around on. If you guys have any questions about this particular video, please leave it in the comment box. 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