Name
Treatment and long term follow-up of prostatomegaly causing acute urethral obstruction in a ferret
Speakers
Description
Urethral obstruction in ferrets occurs predominantly in males and is most commonly secondary to adrenal-associated endocrinopathy. Androgenic stimulation leads to prostatic enlargement, resulting in urethral compression. A 6-year-old male castrated domestic ferret was presented at [redacted] for chronic dysuria that had transiently improved following treatment with a gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonist, but subsequently progressed to complete urinary obstruction. Emergency urinary catheterization was performed under sedation with an indwelling catheter sutured to the prepuce. Diagnostic imaging confirmed marked prostatomegaly with concurrent bilateral adrenal gland enlargement, and cytologic evaluation of the prostate was consistent with squamous metaplasia and septic neutrophilic inflammation. A ferret adrenal panel revealed elevated androstenedione (1.8 nmol/L, normal: <1.5 nmol/L). Medical management included systemic antibiotics for prostatitis, prazosin, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory therapy, and placement of a deslorelin acetate implant to address the underlying hormonal disease. Oral finasteride (1 mg/day), a 5-alfa reductase inhibitor, was started to reduce prostate size. The urinary catheter was maintained for 9 days. Following its removal, normal micturition resumed. During long-term follow-up, the ferret has remained clinically stable on daily finasteride and deslorelin every 6 months, with no recurrence of urethral obstruction, despite persistently enlarged but stable prostatic dimensions on serial ultrasonography. This case highlights that long-term medical management with deslorelin and finasteride can be an effective non-surgical treatment option for benign prostatic hyperplasia secondary to adrenal disease in ferrets.
Session Type
Lecture (25 Min)