Penis Trouble & Solutions

Willy Wonka has gone out of his way so far to make my weekend one of my most challenging ones health-wise since I've been involved with gliders!!

I noticed Friday night that his penis was "hanging out"...not for active reasons, just because it wouldn't GO BACK! He was doing a lot of licking, so I figured it would "take care of itself"...WRONG! Saturday morning I went to feed mealies & saw it was WORSE if anything: not bleeding, just still OUT. I bought some K-Y mist & tried massaging it to encourage it to GO AWAY...it wouldn't, so I ended up at the vet's office to get assistance. His urinalysis showed some ALARMING numbers in the pH department, high proteins, and a trace amount of blood. The vet had to knock him out to put everything back in place. He used a single stitch to make sure things stayed there & told me to take the stitch out later in the day...fine. I put an e-collar on him & brought him home to spend the day in the "hospital cage". Antibiotics and "Tritops" ointment came home with me.

At 6pm (per his instructions), I pulled out the stitch; nothing fell RIGHT OUT so I thought maybe we had the problem solved. But an hour later, I checked on Willy & sure enough: the problem was BACK!!! It wasn't as swollen as earlier in the day, BUT more K-Y mist didn't make it retract any better. So I ended up calling the vet again (at 8:30pm, mind you) & we met at his office to knock Willy out AGAIN and put ANOTHER stitch back in...this time it wasn't nearly as difficult to put things back (good thing I'd been in the surgical room earlier, so I knew what to do when it was just him & me) and he put another stitch in. This time, we were going to leave it in place for 24 hours (not the best idea in the world, but it was NECESSARY for this problem).

Today, I'm happy to report that things are looking MUCH better: his cloaca isn't nearly as swollen as yesterday, he managed to pull his stitch out during the night BUT nothing is "hanging out". Now I'm not going to be silly enough to think that all is well & he can do WITHOUT the restraints...oh no! He'll be spending a week in the "hospital cage" on antibiotics and Tritops ointment being administered twice daily to KEEP things from getting out of control.

But if I had NOT listened to the alarms in my head, poor Willy might have ended up with a penis as short as his tail...one short body part on him is bad enough!!

You sure are lucky to have been right on top of things with that little guy! Good Job!!!! I'm sorry that your dealing with this, and hopefully in a few days things will be back to normal. Big (((( hugs )))) and keeping that little tyke in my thoughts and prayers.

So sorry your and your little man are going thru this. Keep listening to the alarm in your head, it seems to be a good one.

NO NO NO-
NEVER, EVER, EVER STITCH A GLIDER'S CLOACA!!!!

It does NOT solve the problem and will make any infection worse-I can't figure WHY some vet's can't get that through their heads, when even common sense says it's NOT a good idea-it makes as much sense as stitching a human's butt closed. PLEASE have it taken out ASAP if it's still in there. He can also cause himself permanent damage taking it out himself.

Pain meds, antibiotics will solve the problem if infection is the issue, ecollars are designed to keep them away from it withOUT trapping bacteria and waste inside their body and making it hard for them to eliminate and possibly causing even more problems (and I've seen it happen in EVERY glider that has ever had this done.

Please keep us updated, and I'm glad the meds are helping, but NO STITCH. When the penis is out it's out for a reason. Keep KY on it. Use a collar if needed (frequently not if pain meds do their job). When the underlying issue is fixed it will go back. I cannot stress enough, though, what a bad idea that is, and how many gliders have suffered from it in the past.

Ouch! Putting a stitch in the cloaca would be ADDING pain, soreness and possibly causing serious infection or worse. The cloaca serves ALL bodily functions for a glider down there, peeing, pooping, mating. How did the vet expect him to pee or poo? Sometimes, it can take a bit for the penis to retract when out for various reasons, KY will help keep it lubricated until a vet can check for infection or other possible problems.

If not possible to get urine for testing immediately (as was in our case years ago) our vet simply started our glider on antibiotics and pain meds and an e-collar.

Is the vet you took him to experienced with gliders? This is a serious NO NO for a vet to even consider!

I'm so glad your baby is doing better, please keep us posted!!

Yes, I hear the alarm in your posts! Trust me, the voice in my head was SCREAMING when he did it...but a penectomy (??) sent my alarms screaming even WORSE.

But everyone can relax now. The stitch is OUT now. (It was out by Sunday afternoon) Willy is still on antibiotics (Clavamox since his pH was at 8-ish on Sat.; tried to get an updated UA this morning...he wasn't willing to cooperate) AND antibiotic cream 2x/day on his cloaca directly. His penis has decided to STAY inside, but the cloaca is still a little swollen; his appetite is GREAT; he's very active this morning---the vet looked at him before I came to work & says to keep up the antibiotics. He's now had 5 doses since noon on Sat., so now it's a waiting game.

Jen...just for my own knowledge, what other "paybacks" should I keep an eye open for? He HAS been able to urinate...I'm just waiting for his bowel to kick in. Since he's had nothing but liquids since Sat. morning (started solids last night), I'd imagine we'll see something tonight.

Little prayers for Willy are welcomed.

That frequently goes with a high crystal count...did the vet mention whether he saw any? It could be part of why he was out (felt like sand in there)...as the meds kill the infection and restore normal pH if those are there the count should drop down to normal. Some of the more common ones seen with a UTI with high PH (alkaline) are calcium phosphate or triple phosphate crystals-and they develop due to the alkaline environment caused by the infection.


Listen to that voice. It could very well have caused a fatal systemic infection or impaction if it hadn't kept coming out-aside from the UTI. That's what I've seen happen before...I wasn't trying to yell at you...just scared for your boy.

If he's not pooping that is a major concern-feel his abdomen. Is it hard or bloated feeling? You can give vegetable oil (NEVER Mineral Oil) by syringe and see if it will help, and GENTLY massage his tummy-he needs to poop. (Sending PM with how much) For now, I'd feed watery fruits and liquids until things start coming through. Enemas don't work on gliders, so don't even go there-all it does is damage their insides. Every glider I know of that's had one hasn't survived it. It's more of a concern because normally the meds will cause loose stools, not the other way around. Pain meds can constipate-but the antibiotics don't.

Edit-with foods meaning stay away from meats, grains (ie pellets), bugs, and veggies that will slow down digestion and absorb water...until poops start up. Watermelon, canteloupe, papaya, guava, mango, fruit nectar, gliderade are good choices.

At long last, I can breathe a HUGE sigh of relief and report that WE HAVE POO!! It took 2 days to finally get something, and I had to resort to being a little sneaky to get what I did tonight: Willy HATES getting his toenails clipped, so I pretended that I was going to perform "that dreaded task". As soon as I wrapped him up in a strip of fleece and flipped him on his back, he IMMEDIATELY let go of a good-sized sample!!

I thank all of you for your input & assistance during this trying time period. I do believe we're pretty much out of the woods, since his cloaca looks like nothing had happened. I'll be keeping him on the antibiotics for a few more days just to make SURE we have this problem cleared up.

(To answer your questions, Jen, about the presence of crystals during the UA: Actually, we used the Spectrum 8 litmus strip to test the pH level & protein, ketones, etc etc. So I can't answer if there were crystals present in his urine or not.)

glad to hear that you have obtained a sample! Thanks for updating us..glad to hear that things are looking up! Do keep us posted of any changes.

That wouldn't tell on crystals, no. I'm SO glad..now just watch he keeps producing samples. And tell him he's not supposed to scare his Mom like that!
Thank you for the update-I've been offline a few days and was worried about him.