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My dog's penis has chronic foul discharge and swelling. What to do?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | Catahoula Leopard Dog | Male | neutered | 1 year and 1 month old | 80 lbs

Our 1 year old Catahoula has been experiencing excessive discharge from his penile sheath since he was about 6 months old. It is fowl smelling and yellowish in color. The lining of his penis is also sometimes very swollen/inflamed and dark red looking. He has tried three different antibiotics along with prednisone for inflammation. Nothing seems to work and it always comes back. It has been flushed, cultured and examined. No one seems to know what the cause is or how to fix it.

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

Linda G,  MS, DVM

Answered By Linda G, MS, DVM

Veterinarian

Published on January 21st, 2019

Hello. With the chronic nature & non responsiveness to medications of this condition, I would be suspicious of a foreign object high up in the fornix of the sheath. It can be something as tiny as a piece of plant material like a grass awn or cedar chip or a tiny piece of stick. It is generally pretty easy to do the exam under anesthesia, but sometime it requires the use of a rhinoscope or bronchoscope to really get a 360 degree view of things all the way back. Please discuss this with your veterinarian & thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.
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