Ok, if you have read this far, you probably know more about ferret penis
bones than your vet.  So, now lets consider the original remark about the
broken penis bone being peed into the litter box.  Personally, I cannot
fathom how such a thing could happen without some MAJOR medical problems
being present for some time prior to the expulsion of the bone fragment.
Here's why:
1. Ferret penis bones are much larger than the urethra they support and
partially surround.  I'm sorry, but that would be quite a stretch to
imagine a chunk of bacula bone coursing down the urethra like a log in a
flue.
2. Like arm and leg bones, penis bones fracture across their length, not
down it, so fracturing in such a way as to produce a thin sliver of bone
is extremely remote.
3. Penis bones do not "float free," but are attached within the penis
down its length by connective tissue.  The bone would have to be stripped
of this tissue before it could float into the urethra and be passed.
4. For a fragment of penis bone to become stripped of its surrounding
tissues and find a way into the urethra, significant tissue destruction
has to be present to the structure of the penis, as well as the urethra
(not to mention the penis bone, which would be missing a portion).
5. Because the base of the penis bone is connected to the pelvis with a
strong ligament, and the head of the penis bone is embedded deeply into
the head of the penis and neither is going anywhere, the only possible
part of the bone that could be broken free is the upper portion of the
shaft.  This would require TWO fractures some distance from one another,
which is statistically improbable.  In short, for a fragment of a penis
bone to passed from the penis into the urethra and out of the body, it
would have to be broken at both ends, stripped of tissue, somehow get
into the urethra, and then pass through a tube smaller than itself.
Your chances are better with the lottery.
 
However, people do win the lottery, and while the chance of such an event
is extremely unlikely, it is not impossible.  I could imagine that a
fragment of broken penis bone belonging to an early neutered ferret,
eroded perhaps by infection, urine, or both, could dissolve enough so
it would be small enough to pass through the remaining portions of the
urethra.  So, while highly improbable, it is at least theoretically
possible.
 
Now, I don't want ANYONE on the FML to assume I am flaming the person who
suggested this, because I tend to think people tell the truth about their
perceptions.  I think people can be very accurate in reporting what they
perceive, even if the factual aspects are at fault.  So, I generally
accept the report of a ferret urinating and something like a bone is
found in the litter box, even though I hesitate to accept the diagnosis
of penis bone fragment.  So, what else could it be?  The obvious and
simple answer is a plug or stone.  A ferret (or person) can form urinary
stones in the tubules of the kidney, within the pelvis of the kidney,
inside the tubes connecting the kidneys to the urinary bladder (the
ureters), within the urinary bladder, and inside the tube that drains the
urinary bladder allowing urine to be expelled out of the body (the
urethra).  The microscopic structure of each type of stone is subtly
different, so an experienced pathologist can generally tell where the
stone was first formed.  Long, thin stones that might be misidentified as
being a bit of bone are more than likely formed within the urethra.
These stones are more than likely some form of calcium crystal embedded
within a mucous plug, and when dried out, they might look to a ferret
ownerand even a number of vetsas a fragment or sliver of bone.
 
I suppose another possibility is that the penis bone broke and one end
stabbed through the penis in a particularly gruesome fracture.  I suppose
it is possible the ferret might have broken off a portion of the exposed
bone, especially if it caused pain during urination and prompted him to
gnaw on it.  This could have happened in or near the litter box, and
while the fragment didn't actually transit the urethra, it could have
been a portion of the penis bone.  However, this possibility suggests
profound tissue damage that would probably be noted beyond the
description of "swelling." I would also expect a fair amount of bleeding.
 
There was no mention of blood, serum, or pus in the description, some of
which would have certainly been present.  Bone is extremely vascular,
and, surprisingly, so is the penis.  It would be hard to have any injury
within the penis that resulted in the expulsion of a fragment of bone
that was not associated with significant spill of blood, and later of
other fluids.  This is especially true of the situation where a bone
fragment has managed to enter the urethra.  Perhaps the injury occurred
some time before, and never noticed until the bone was expelled.
 
So, is it another ferret myth?  I honestly do not know.  It is clear
someone could have seen a bone-like object and made an erroneous
assumption.  If so, they are probably telling the truth from their
perspective, but not relaying actual facts.  There is the possibility
that such an injury could have occurred, but it had to be one of those
things you will only see once or twice in a lifetime.  It is highly
probable that a long, thin urinary stone was expelled from the urethra,
which could have easily been mistaken for a piece of bone.  Of course,
under the microscope only bone looks like bone, so if the vet actually
sectioned the material and said it was bone, then that is what it was.
If so, this poor little guy proved once again that when it comes to
ferrets, nothing is impossible
 
Bob C  [log in to unmask]
[Posted in FML issue 5125]