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Patrick, is a 7 year old billy goat who belongs to one our
clients. Ordinarily, we don't treat goats or other farm animals,
however, Patrick is a beloved pet of the owner of the stables where Dr.
Henderson keeps her thoroughbred, Alibi. When Patrick's owner asked her
to take a look at Patrick, she found him dripping bloody urine all over
his stall. On closer inspection, the area around the prepuce was very
bruised and swollen. Patrick had been off his feed for a few days and
the owner had noticed the dripping urine as he labored around.
Breaking out some dusty books regarding farm animals, and doing
research on the internet, we found that Patrick, like many male goats,
had urinary stones stuck in his penis. This is a common ailment in
goats. First because they have a tendency to form stones, but more
importantly, because the end of their penis has a very narrow area
called the urethral process in which the stones get trapped. When the
stones are unable to get out of the penis, urine backs up in the bladder
and ultimately back into the kidneys. The longer the pet remains
obstructed, the worse the prognosis goes. Therefore we opted to try to
help Patrick by performing a surgery know as a scrotal urethrostomy.
In this surgery, we incise the skin near the scrotum (hence "scrotal")
and dissect down to the penis. We open up the urethra and attach it to
the skin. This leaves a much larger opening for the stones to go out
of. We were able to then pass a catheter up into the bladder and get
out the stones.
Frequently, this surgery is attempted under poor conditions, in the
field on hay bales with injectable anesthetic. Under these conditions,
the outcome is not often favorable and many of the goats do not make
it. Fortunately, we were able to perform the surgery under sterile
conditions with all the appropriate equipment and Patrick survived the
surgery and went on to heal normally. He is back to his happy self up
at the barn, keeping an eye on all the horses.
Patrick before surgery dripping blood Patrick being prepped for
surgery.
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