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Blood dripping from the penis of a German Shepherd dog
Author(s) -
Sontas BH,
Milani C,
Mollo A,
Romagnoli S
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
australian veterinary journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.382
H-Index - 59
eISSN - 1751-0813
pISSN - 0005-0423
DOI - 10.1111/j.1751-0813.2010.00581.x
Subject(s) - veterinary medicine , medicine , obstetrics and gynaecology , german , biology , pregnancy , history , genetics , archaeology
A 5-year-old, intact German Shepherd dog weighing 38 kg waspresented with an 18-month history of blood dripping fromthe tip of the penis. The dog was used as a guard dog, housedindoors, fed a dry dog food and was adequately vaccinated and dewormed.The owner reported that the dog had fallen from a 2- to 3-mhigh wall approximately 6 months previously and the amount ofbleeding had increased since then. The dog had been treated with acombination of antifibrinolytic agents (tranexamic acid) and antibiotics(nitrofurantoin) without improvement in the frequency oramount of urethral bleeding. There was no history of constipation,anuria, stranguria or dysuria.On presentation the dog was bright and alert with no discomfort.Because of its aggressive behaviour, the dog was sedated with intramuscularmedetomidine (Domitor®, Pfizer, Italy) prior to physicalexamination. The dog was mildly pyrexic (40.0°C), but pulse andrespiratory rates were within reference ranges. Mucous membraneswere pink; capillary refill time was less than 2 s. No significant lesionswere detected during inspection and palpation of the penis, althougha drop of blood-tinged fluid was observed. Rectal palpation showed asymmetrically enlarged prostate, but signs of pain or discomfort couldnot be assessed because of the sedation. Haematological examinationshowed mild thrombocytopenia (107 ¥ 109/L; reference range 143–400¥ 109/L) and other haematological parameters were also withinnormal ranges. Serum biochemical tests showed an increase in lactatedehydrogenase (297 IU/L; reference range 45–233 IU/L), creatininekinase (174 IU/L; reference range 30–120 IU/L) and albumin(37.1 g/L; reference range 26–33 g/L).Cystocentesis was performed and urinalysis findings were normalexcept for haematuria. There was no bacterial growth on urine culture.After the examination, medetomidine was antagonised by intramuscularadministration of atipamezole hydrochloride (0.2 mg/kg)(Antisedan®, Pfizer, Italy).The differential diagnoses include traumatic, neoplastic, infectiousand inflammatory diseases of the kidneys, urinary bladder, urethra,prostate and penis.Prostatomegaly suggests prostatic disease, such as benign prostatichyperplasia (BPH), prostatic cysts, prostatitis, prostatic abcessation orprostatic neoplasia