Cash - appropriate

Turns out Cash might be the perfect name for our little puppy. Because of his congenital birth defect, we made an appt to have him checked out by a vet before we finalized the adoption. The foster home had addressed the issue as minor - not a problem now, but might need a skin graft later in life if it starts causing problems.

That's an understatement (and misleading).

He has a couple issues. First - there's a 'skin attachment' that prevents his penis from moving in and out of the sheeth (she used a fancier word) properly. The result is part of his penis is always exposed - and his flow points towards the back. Possible fix - snip the piece of skin and hope if functions properly. Not too bad.

#2 - His penis isn't where it's supposed to be. It's between his back legs and not attached to the skin so it points straight down. Plus the proportions are kinda wrong. She said there's a bone that's in the wrong location. The result - he pretty much sits on it - plus the eliminating issue. Possible solution - attach it to his body so he's not sitting on it the way it should be - and hope it still functions properly. (but it's still in a bad place)

Or she mentioned possibly getting rid of the penis and making him pee like a girl so he'll have no more problems with it - WHAT!

Last but not least. Neutering. Hmmm -- where are his testicles? Internal. He's just all out of whack down there. Not really a problem. But way more expensive surgery. Yikes!

So before we leave she takes him to show another Vet in the office since his situation is pretty unusual. This is where it gets interesting. She comes back into the room and says 'He just added a whole new theory' - 'He might be a she'. Apparently they've seen two other cases where a female was born with some remnants of a penis. Very interesting. And again 'sounds expensive'. My next question - 'how do we tell?' Ovaries? Testicles?

She's consulting with other Vets and hopefully we'll get more information on Monday. Hopefully one of the docs over at the Vet School will find this all very interesting - and do all the procedures for free! The foster home claims he could raise some funding from grants since Cash is a rescue dog - but I'm not holding my breath or counting on that. I'm afraid if funding isn't available in some way or another we might not be able to keep him. I know a con of two dogs is more expense - but I wasn't counting on that being to the tune of hundreds (maybe thousands) of dollars. Especially not right off the bat. I feel really bad for Cash - he such a sweatheart. I want to see all his issues resolved and be a loving home for him!

As you can see the boys are bonding :)