Dog Owner's Home Veterinary Handbook.pdf - Mr. Walnuts

A bitch with endometritis appears to be in good health, has a normal heat
period, and mates successfully, yet fails to become pregnant or is found to be
pregnant but does not deliver puppies. The diagnosis should be considered
whenever a bitch is bred at the right time but fails to conceive on two or more
heat cycles.
Endometritis is difficult to diagnose. Abdominal palpation or ultrasonography
during diestrus or anestrus may reveal a uterus that is somewhat larger or
thicker than normal. Uterine biopsy confirms the diagnosis, but requires
laparoscopic abdominal surgery.
Treatment: There is no effective treatment for endometritis. Hysterectomy
is recommended for bitches who are not intended for breeding. This eliminates
the risk of pyometra.
If future breeding is desired, consider using oral antibiotics and/or topical
antibiotics infused into the uterus. Antibiotics are selected based on cultures
taken from the cervix. There may be benefit in starting an antibiotic seven
days before breeding and continuing it until the bitch develops the behavioral
signs of heat.
Diseases of the Male Genital Tract
SEX AND REPRODUCTION • 463
There are several diseases of the male genital tract. All of them discomfort the
dog, and many can lead to mating problems and, in some cases, infertility.
Among them are orchitis, balanoposthitis, phimosis, paraphimosis, undescended
testicles, testicular degeneration, testicular tumors, and prostatitis.
(Prostatitis is discussed on page 419 and testicular tumors are discussed on
page 540.)
BALANOPOSTHITIS (INFECTION OF THE PREPUCE AND HEAD OF THE PENIS)
The prepuce is a sheath of skin that folds over the head of the penis (see
Anatomy of the Male Genitourinary System, page 411). A small amount of yellow-green
discharge from the opening of the prepuce is normal. A copious discharge
indicates infection, called balanoposthitis.
Awns, dirt, or pieces of straw can get caught beneath the foreskin and cause
irritation, followed by infection and abscess within the sheath. Herpesvirus
produces a chronic sheath infection that can be transmitted to the female during
breeding. A strictured foreskin may cause a sheath infection. Transmissible
venereal tumors may produce growths on the penis, and this type of cancer is
contagious.
Signs of sheath infection are excessive licking at the penis and a foulsmelling
discharge from the prepuce.