A once in a lifetime experience

dlrobertsdlroberts
edited May 2009 in Food, Nutrition, & Health
I was at the shelter yesterday and something amazing happened....

It was bout 30 minutes before closing, so I picked the last dog I was going to play with/love on for the day. It happened to be a super sweet female pit bull. I entered her kennel and she immediately climbed into my lap and rubbed her head all over my face and neck. I was in love!

So I took her outside to play, and I noticed something red coming from her vagina. My immediate thought was oh, she's in heat. But when I noticed it again, I realized it was something else. So I took a closer look, and there was something about 1-1.5 cm in diameter sticking out, it was bright red.

Alarmed it may be something serious, I took this poor girl to the animal care specialist. I lifted up her butt so the specialist could get a closer look. She felt around a bit and mumbled something about a prolapse that I couldn't quite understand. Then she said, oh, wait, he's got an un-decended testicle here (as she squeezed an area where the scrotum would be to show a small testicle sized thing. My response was, "you mean *SHE* has a testicle?" The specialist took a look under this poor dog's belly and her face turned white. She said, "Holy CRAP, I think this dog has girl parts and boy parts. It's a shim. A hermaphrodite."

After that, everyone on the staff had to come by to take a look at this poor dog. (S)he was a great sport about it and softly nibbled my hand while everyone poked and prodded her. One of the road officers took her to the vet to make sure it was in fact what we suspected and nothing more serious. I'm still waiting for an email update on her condition, but we already have a rescue interested in her!

I'm pretty sure I'll never see something like that again. :-)

Comments

  • CaliaCalia
    edited November -1
    Wow, that is something quite freaky. I guess s/he can literally be speutered.
  • LeonbergerLeonberger
    edited November -1
    Wow! That's really something you don't see often!
  • BradA1878BradA1878
    edited November -1
    Jeez, that's crazy! If you owned that dog, what would you tell people when they asked her sex. I guess it would make for an interesting conversation each time.

    LMAO @Beth... that's freaking hilarious!

    ----
  • cmmookiecmmookie
    edited November -1
    It's funny that I never really thought about the possibility of that existing. I guess if it can happen in humans, I can't see why it couldn't happen in dogs.

    LOL at Beth's comment.
  • lindsaytlindsayt
    edited November -1
    Never seen it in real life-Holy cow!

    Could it be a male pseudohermaphrodite given there are questionable ovotestes but with enlarged external female genitalia/pseudopenis? Wow, interested to learn of the findings.
  • shimaurashibalover92shimaurashibalover92
    edited November -1
    spuetered. Lol. I love words like that. Like spork or spoontula. That really is a once in a lifetime experience.
  • dlrobertsdlroberts
    edited November -1
    I got an email about her. Turns out we were right. Apparently the red thing protruding from her vagina was actually a malformed penis and she has one testicle and one ovary. Just as Beth suggested, she will need an actual "speuter" surgery. lol. :-)

    I'm both fascinated and completely weirded out!

    She is not in any pain, and she is back at the shelter awaiting a rescue from a local vet who sometimes takes in medical special needs dogs. He will be back in the office tomorrow so hopefully I'll know for sure what happens to her then. If he doesn't take her, I am going to try to get in touch with the University of Georgia veterinary hospital to see if they might take her on as a teaching case.
  • TheWalrusTheWalrus
    edited November -1
    That is nutso!
  • CaliaCalia
    edited November -1
    It is just so interesting to hear about this... s/he is actually half female/half male. I wonder if his/er reproductive organs are working or not, and which one is more dominant (beyond visually) or if it can actually be 50/50
  • dlrobertsdlroberts
    edited November -1
    From what I read last night, the reproductive organs of hermaphrodites do not function. Although, what I read did not say it was medically impossible for them to function, just that they are never found to do so. So who knows? I'm going to try to follow her progress no matter what ends up happening to her. (Yes, I think of her as a she...she was wearing a pink ID tag at the shelter which goes on the females, so that's how I started thinking of her).
  • AraksAraks
    edited November -1
    omg, I had never heard of that in dogs, though, that is still VERYYYYYYYY strange, wow I can't imagine my reaction to this...haha, hilarious
  • KaddyKaddy
    edited November -1
    I find this SUPER interesting! I've watched shows in the past on the subject in humans, including people that are considered chimeras. I just think it's a very unusual thing, and something that grabs my interest! I would also associate the first sex I was told the animal was with that animal - whether or not that's the actual case.
  • obukobuk
    edited November -1
    crazy! and very interesting at the same time... lol
  • brandon_wbrandon_w
    edited November -1
    Weird. Really weird.
  • tsukitsunetsukitsune
    edited November -1
    Weird.... and fascinating. I hope she recovers the speuter and lives a long happy life!
  • KFontaine04KFontaine04
    edited November -1
    Wow, this is really amazing. Hopefully the poor girl/boy will do great!
  • sunyatasunyata
    edited November -1
    Wow. That is truely a once in a lifetime find. I hope that she is well and is adopted by a loving home.

    I wonder if there might be "gender confusion" in dogs like there can be in human hermaphrodites. Or if the animals are just happy to be healthy and alive. Very curious. Hmm.
  • dlrobertsdlroberts
    edited May 2009
    That's a great question Casey. I didn't get to see her interact with other dogs, so I don't even have any anecdotes to describe things one way or the other.

    ETA: I just found out she was accepted by the Homeless Pets Foundation!!!! Sounds like a happy ending for her. :-)
  • lindsaytlindsayt
    edited November -1
    Good news.
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