Sheath Problems

Question
Hello, I have had my gelding for about three weeks and he is doing great. However,I noticed yesterday that his sheath look tight and firm as opposed to the usual loose folds. When I inquired about this on another site, they said the sheath need to be cleaned, and it was swollen becuase urine had leaked into it. I gave the sheath a proper clean with baby oil etc, and found teh 'bean'. What I am wondering though, will teh urine dissapear by itself, or do i need a vet to come?

Thank you very much,

Cassie

Answer
Hi Cassie,

Unless your gelding has a physical problem - that is a hole in his penis, I'd be very doubtful that urine had leaked into the sheath. If your gelding did have this problem, you'd certainly know about it as he'd be one very very sick horse!

To me it sounds like your gelding's swollen sheath is caused by an infection in either the sheath directly or the penis.

What does he do when he urinates?  Does he look uncomfortable? Grunt or groan?  Does he seem to stretch himself out more than usual or hump his back and seem to squat?  Does he hang his penis when he is relaxed?  Is he doing this more than usual or not at all?  Does his sheath feel hot to the touch?

An infected sheath could show any of the above symptoms or none of them.

I suggest very strongly that you have a vet have a look at him as he may need antibiotics.  A swollen sheath as you have described is NOT normal and regardless of the cause needs veterinary attention!

Also, do not use baby oil to clean the sheath as this only adds to the problem.  Dirt and dust will stick to the oil causing more problems and possibly more infections.

Warm water alone and a soft sponge is sufficient to clean the sheath.  If there is a build up of dirt a very mild salt solution can be used (1 - 2 tablespoons of salt to a big bucket of warm water).

Good luck!