Prepuce and partial penile amputation for treatment of preputial gland neoplasia in two ferrets

Abstract

Preputial tumours in ferrets are frequently malignant and therefore warrant prompt investigation. As many cases do not respond favourably to surgery, even in combination with radiation therapy, wide surgical resection has been recommended. Such a procedure may necessitate partial or total penile resection but outcomes have thus far not been well described. The current case series describes two ferrets in which surgical resection, including penile amputation, was performed using 10 and 5 mm margins, respectively. In the first case, no recurrence of preputial gland adenocarcinoma was noted for 32 months postsurgery, whereas multiple attempts at surgery and radiation therapy were unsuccessful in the second. These cases suggest that margins of at least 1 cm may help achieve a better outcome. Penile amputation for the treatment of preputial tumours appears to be well tolerated by ferrets, as demonstrated by these cases.

Perineal urethrostomy in a ferret (Mustela putorius furo) to treat iatrogenic urethral stricture after orchiectomy

“…16,18 In the smaller hob, with a dog-cat combined anatomic orientation of the external genitalia, the prescrotal, scrotal and perineal regions somewhat overlap, and the term 'perineal' urethrostomy has been universally used. 1,4,[6][7][8][9] In this report, urethrostomy was performed in the most proximal site of the perineal area due to iatrogenic damage of the urethra at this level of the scrotum during orchiectomy.…”

“…In ferrets, aetiology of obstruction can be either extraluminal or intraluminal. Extraluminal urethral obstruction can be due to prostatic disease (hypertrophic or cystic prostate), paraurethral cysts or preputial neoplasia 3–6 . Prostatic disease is usually attributed to adrenal‐dependent endocrinopathy in ferrets 7 .…”

“…When distal intraluminal urethral obstruction cannot be relieved, urethrotomy can be performed or alternatively urinary diversion via a urethrostomy can be indicated 4,9 . Perineal urethrostomy in ferrets has also been proposed in the absence of urinary obstruction, but alongside penile amputation to resect preputial neoplasia 6 or correct congenital penile deviation 12 …”

“…Extraluminal urethral obstruction can be due to prostatic disease (hypertrophic or cystic prostate), paraurethral cysts or preputial neoplasia. [3][4][5][6] Prostatic disease is usually attributed to adrenal-dependent endocrinopathy in ferrets. 7 Causes of intraluminal obstruction include urethrolithiasis and stricture.…”

“…11 When distal intraluminal urethral obstruction cannot be relieved, urethrotomy can be performed or alternatively urinary diversion via a urethrostomy can be indicated. 4,9 Perineal urethrostomy in ferrets has also been proposed in the absence of urinary obstruction, but alongside penile amputation to resect preputial neoplasia 6 or correct congenital penile deviation. 12 A literature search was performed on 1 March 2022 using the database Medline (Pubmed) and Google Scholar using the keywords 'ferret' , 'urinary disease/disorder' , 'urethrostomy' , 'urethral obstruction' , 'urolithiasis' and 'urethral stenosis/stricture' .…”