# hermaphrodite dog



## itzukimmie (Jan 18, 2010)

I recently found out my dog is a hermaphrodite. The vet told me she (or as we fondly refer to her as "Pat") will end up with problems down the road. Infections. I talked to a vet tech friend and was told that as long as "Pat" gets fixed, she shouldn't have any problems. And heresay from someone else was that these dogs end up with brittle bones and will be proned to broken bones and behavioral issues. Any one have any answers for me? I found nothing. We found out she is a hermaphrodite as a result of a broken leg she got while she was simply playing around with another dog. She's only 6 months old. I am beginning to wonder. Anyone have any info as to problems these dogs may or may not be prone to? What about behavioral issues as a result of the her sexuality????


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## dane (Jan 19, 2010)

Unfortunately i have found the same problem with my young girl today. Alas she has a penis inside her womans bits. 
Im also trying to find as much information & differing opinions,before making a decision on what to do. 
Like all walks of life,all vets will not be of the same opinion & i don't want to rush into something i will regret later.
Other than that,she is as healthy as could be,but so so full on...........


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

this article says NOTHING about bone problems - 
Hermaphrodite and Pseudohermaphrodite in Dogs

i also saw nothing here about any health problems, just sugg desex - 
hermaphrodite dogs - Google Search


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## kt12000uk (May 9, 2011)

Hi, 
I was just wondering how you got on with your hermaphrodite dogs. I have a three month old who, although appears to be a girl, has a small hidden willy and 2 balls!
The vet said the willy will stay but may grow and the balls will have to be removed when she is older. But she did say she had never seen a case like it!
So I just wondered how you had got on and if you had any advice.
Thank you!


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## sconant93 (May 9, 2012)

hermaphrodites are born that way. it is not the result of an injury


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## swarthy (Apr 24, 2010)

sconant93 said:


> hermaphrodites are born that way. it is not the result of an injury


I could be way off the mark, but I didn't read anything that suggested it was caused by an injury - it just so happened to be discovered when the bitch broke her leg, as it is likely, she would have been subject to greater veterinary scutiny/

I am not even going to claim to know the remotest thing on the subject - although neutering does seem to be suggested.

Hopefully, you can get your girl sortef with no ill effects.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

considering that this is an exceedingly rare event, i think most of these posts are send-ups.


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## Bullys for me (May 11, 2012)

I am disappointed that anyone would think this thread is in anyway ficititious. I have a little staffie that is hermaphrodite. We have had her 2 1/2 years and got her from a rescue centre at 6 months old. She had a small penis protruding from her vulva. When we went to have her spayed there was no womb but she had 2 testicles inside where her womb should of been. The penis could not be removed as the urethra was part of both sets of genitalia. Confused!?! We were, as were a lot of other dogs to begin with. It took approx 6 months for her 'male' hormones to settle down and she is no longer getting attacked by ever dog in sight. We have had no complications until now, which is how I found this thread. She is going to the vets this afternoon as she appears to have a very nasty infection and has yellow discharge coming from the vulva. I will keep you posted to how we get on and will try and add some pics of her. It is I believe very rare but dont' be put off having one as its not their fault that they are transgender. I would say she has become more aggressive, she is actually more feisty than our male staffie. I've always had rescue staff's they get a lot of bad press and actually they don't ALL deserve it. Good luck with your little dogs to all you he/she owners  x


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

Bullys for me said:


> I am disappointed that anyone would think this thread is in anyway [fictitious - sic].


why? 
Lord knows, PF-uk gets plenty of fake posts, pretend drama ['my dog attacked a child!...' - 
and it's a photo of a kid lying on the ground, with a squirming pup licking her/his face as the kid 
giggles madly], & so on. Why should this topic be somehow sacred?

i'm not sure of the ratio of hermaphrodite pups, but i do know it's exceedingly rare; 
APOs who join dog-forums are also not the most-common pet-owners; What are the odds that BOTH:
4 hermaphrodite pups AND 4 forum-joining APOs - are present on PF-uk, in just 27-months' time?

pretty doggone unlikely, IMO. ::shrug::


Bullys for me said:


> ...she had *2 testicles [in her abdomen*, undescended].
> [SNIP]
> ...It took approx 6 months for her 'male' hormones to settle down...


do i gather correctly that the testicles were LEFT there?!

did the vet *fail to inform U* that all intra-abdominal testes are extremely prone to cancer 
at an early age? --- That's another very-rare thing, as most vets immediately informed the owners 
that i've known who had 'normal' males with un-descended testis / testes that they needed to remove 
it or them, ASAP. :skep:

if the testes are still in situ, get them out - as soon as U can. Ur dog's lifespan can otherwise 
be significantly shortened, for an easily-avoidable cause.

Biology & mammalian development: 
for those who aren't familiar with secondary sex-characters & hormonal triggers, 
a penis is only a clitoris with delusions of grandeur - the tissue that becomes a penis in mammals 
is based upon the clitoris that it would have been, had the male mammal not been androgenized 
in utero, triggering further elaboration into a penis. The sensory structures & nerves are the same - 
the structure is just tweaked, so intromission to deliver sperm is possible, & in some species, 
eversion to allow urine to flow out & away from the body is possible. [Ex: equines]


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## Sled dog hotel (Aug 11, 2010)

I have only heard of the problem once. A friend of a friend had a siberian Husky they thought initially was a little girl and turned out to be Hermaphrodite. I dont know the exact details, but I do know that he was spayed/neutered (obviously not the usual straightforward spay or neuter).
Once this was carried out she lead a completely normal life as far as I can remember and lived to quite an old age.


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## parry95 (May 8, 2015)

I have a staffy who is six months old, we found out she is hermaphrodite which doesn't always mean the worst. Tex ( her name) is the happiest pup I've ever met... Unfortunately we cant afford the operation to remove the penis and at the moment we wouldn't want to... It causes her no pain or annoys her in anyway it makes Tex herself and i wouldn't want her any other way. 

She's had no problems with her health other than puppy fits which have stopped she's a beautiful dog. 
When the vet told me I was heartbroken my partner brought her for me after I miscarried she is my best friend but also my baby I thought it was going to be constant problem's but we haven't had one yet.


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## jaycee05 (Sep 24, 2012)

I dont know why anyone would think these posts are a hoax, i know someone with a Hermaphrodite cat, she was operated on to remove the male genitals and as far as i know has had no problems whatsoever


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## Bengo (Feb 27, 2015)

I think it's sad that people are jumping to conclusions and thinking the posts are fake. If you have a problem with your dog you usually look on a pet forum for an answer, whether you are a new member or have been a member for years.


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## IncaThePup (May 30, 2011)

I'm curious... several of you have referred to your dogs as 'her' or 'she' even when they had a penis and in one case no uterus....so if the dog had a penis, male hormones and no uterus why don't you refer to the dog as a male? 

just curious as to me if I had a dog that had a penis and its testicles inside and no uterus I would consider it male?


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## EmCHammer (Dec 28, 2009)

One of bosons sisters had male bits of some form when they spayed her

Maybe people refer to dogs as she as that's what they look like from the outside and so always called them she and gave a girls name when they got them with no idea there was something a little different inside until perhaps spayed at 6 months plus.


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## Blitz (Feb 12, 2009)

I wonder if it comes about from sharing a placenta with a male. Twin female calves where the other twin is a male are usually infertile and often missing a uterus or other sexual anomaly.


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## Armstrongkitty (Apr 16, 2016)

Hi I also have a dog with the same problem, she's a chocolate Cockapoo called boo and is almost two. We found out she was different a year ago because we noticed a pinky red willy pocking out her girly parts... The vet didn't know what to think of it at first but then diagnosed her as a hermaphrodite. The reason we refer to boo as a girl is because we bought her thinking she was a girl and she has all the nipples and the girly parts in the right places apart from having one ball sack and a small willy pocking out.. She was in a litter of 5 and the 2 boys were blonde and 3 chocolate which were girls, this leading us to believe boi was more girl (just conclusions, we know the colour of dog doesn't define its gender!). anyway boo has been happy ever since and it hasent caused her any other problems! She is also really sociable and other dogs no matter what gender get along with her and they probally don't know what to make of her.... So yeh she's a great happy family dog who's healthy and loved! and for her being both we thought we wouldn't have the hassle of seasons but today she had one? Not sure what this means but it's very late for her first season?! Any one else dog had this...


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## Sled dog hotel (Aug 11, 2010)

Armstrongkitty said:


> Hi I also have a dog with the same problem, she's a chocolate Cockapoo called boo and is almost two. We found out she was different a year ago because we noticed a pinky red willy pocking out her girly parts... The vet didn't know what to think of it at first but then diagnosed her as a hermaphrodite. The reason we refer to boo as a girl is because we bought her thinking she was a girl and she has all the nipples and the girly parts in the right places apart from having one ball sack and a small willy pocking out.. She was in a litter of 5 and the 2 boys were blonde and 3 chocolate which were girls, this leading us to believe boi was more girl (just conclusions, we know the colour of dog doesn't define its gender!). anyway boo has been happy ever since and it hasent caused her any other problems! She is also really sociable and other dogs no matter what gender get along with her and they probally don't know what to make of her.... So yeh she's a great happy family dog who's healthy and loved! and for her being both we thought we wouldn't have the hassle of seasons but today she had one? Not sure what this means but it's very late for her first season?! Any one else dog had this...


It would seem you can get true hermaphrodites, which have female ovarian tissue and also Male testicular tissue, but you can also get somethings called psuedohermaphrodites that have sex organs of one sex, but also at the same time seem to have organs that look like in part like the opposite sex.

*Presenting Signs


Intersex can be divided into two main types: true hermaphrodites and psuedohermaphrodites. In true hermaphrodite dogs both ovarian (female) and testicular (male) tissues are present while psuedohermaphrodite dogs have sex organs from one sex and also display partial or entire features from the opposite sex. Female hermaphrodite dogs normally display swelling or enlarging of the clitoris but otherwise may appear normal except for some increase in abdominal size. Pseudohermaphrodites often display a combination of genitals such a fleshy mass protruding from the vulva. Upon operation the ovaries appear to have testicular growth associated with them and are known as ovotestes. Diagnosis is straight forward, although differences between intersex and related disorders are minimal. Intersex dogs are usually infertile and are susceptible to problems such as cancers and infections of the reproductive organs.
From this information and description that is from the University of Sydney faculty of veterinary science so probably safe to assume accurate, it does say that they are usually infertile but as they can be susceptible to infections of the reproductive organs could what you are seeing in fact be an infection of some sort. Normal bitches can get infections called pyometra which is an infection of the uterus, and one form you do get draining of the infection which can look anything from normal season like to thickened and odd coloured, so bearing the above in mind I would be inclined to get her checked out for infection,

http://sydney.edu.au/vetscience/lida/dogs/search/disorder/150/Hermaphroditism*


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## LoopyL (Jun 16, 2015)

I had a hermaphrodite rabbit 50+ yrs ago & she/he had a normal(ish) happy life with no related health problems at all


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## MyStaffyLola (Apr 17, 2016)

Came across this thread while looking for info on the hermaphrodite dog. I have a 5 month old American Staffordshire Terrier and in the past week I have noticed some odd changes to her private area. I am taking her to the vet as soon as I can get an appointment but looking for info, specifically any pictures of what it looks like. For her, he vagina seems to be moving forward and getting smaller, kind of retracting and something is beginning to push out in the are below her tail, maybe testicles? Anyway, this is just starting to happen. Thanks to anyone who feels they can respond


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## Polly G (Apr 30, 2013)

I note that for five of these posters is it their first post ......... Is that a rat I smell?


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## MyStaffyLola (Apr 17, 2016)

Polly G why on earth would anyone even joke about such a thing? I am concerned for my pup and there is very little info out there.This forum popped up in my search. I can't speak for anyone else on here but my post is legitimate. First time posted because I only just found this forum!


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## Rafa (Jun 18, 2012)

MyStaffyLola said:


> Came across this thread while looking for info on the hermaphrodite dog. I have a 5 month old American Staffordshire Terrier and in the past week I have noticed some odd changes to her private area. I am taking her to the vet as soon as I can get an appointment but looking for info, specifically any pictures of what it looks like. For her, he vagina seems to be moving forward and getting smaller, kind of retracting and something is beginning to push out in the are below her tail, maybe testicles? Anyway, this is just starting to happen. Thanks to anyone who feels they can respond


Testicles would not be underneath her tail.

She may have impacted anal glands - either way, your Vet is the best person to advise you.


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## MyStaffyLola (Apr 17, 2016)

It's not just the swelling that worries me, it is the changes in the position of the vagina, like it is retracting. I am trying to upload pictures but having an issue, will keep trying


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## MyStaffyLola (Apr 17, 2016)

I find people on this forum to be extremely rude and unhelpful!!!!!!! Good bye!


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

.
.
If ANY dog or pup, normal-M or hemi-, has just ONE descended testis, _*both*_ should be removed ASAP. The testicle in the abdomen is at massively-increased risk of cancerous changes.
Besides which, the condition is highly heritable - having 1 normal testis in the scrotum doesn't preclude breeding.
.
.
.


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## MyStaffyLola (Apr 17, 2016)

So you think it is testicles that I am seeing then? This has all happened in the past 10 days. She was looking like a *normal* female dog. I first noticed the bulging then everything else started changing rapidly. She was born Nov 8 2015 so is just over 5 months old. She also started peeing in the house again.She has been fully trained since she was 9 weeks old, NO accidents in the house at all.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

QUOTE, MyStaffyLola:

So you think it's [a testis / testes] that I'm seeing ... ?

...
/QUOTE
.
.
*Whoa, NELLIE!...*
a] I'm not a vet.
b] I haven't examined the dog in Q, & even if i HAD, see [a].
c] I wasn't talking of YOUR dog - but *any* M or hemi- dog, with ONE testis in the scrotum.
Immediate neutering is strongly recommended as a general precaution.
.
.
Please see a vet / DVM as soon as poss, to get a proper Dx & treatment. For all i know,
Ur dog has a hernia, impacted / abscessed anal glands, boils, piles, or who-knows-what.
.
.
.


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## MyStaffyLola (Apr 17, 2016)

I am making an appointment as soon as the clinic opens in the morning. She is not in any pain or discomfort at all.


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## melisa (Apr 26, 2016)

parry95 said:


> I have a staffy who is six months old, we found out she is hermaphrodite which doesn't always mean the worst. Tex ( her name) is the happiest pup I've ever met... Unfortunately we cant afford the operation to remove the penis and at the moment we wouldn't want to... It causes her no pain or annoys her in anyway it makes Tex herself and i wouldn't want her any other way.
> 
> She's had no problems with her health other than puppy fits which have stopped she's a beautiful dog.
> When the vet told me I was heartbroken my partner brought her for me after I miscarried she is my best friend but also my baby I thought it was going to be constant problem's but we haven't had one yet.


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## melisa (Apr 26, 2016)

parry95 said:


> I have a staffy who is six months old, we found out she is hermaphrodite which doesn't always mean the worst. Tex ( her name) is the happiest pup I've ever met... Unfortunately we cant afford the operation to remove the penis and at the moment we wouldn't want to... It causes her no pain or annoys her in anyway it makes Tex herself and i wouldn't want her any other way.
> 
> She's had no problems with her health other than puppy fits which have stopped she's a beautiful dog.
> When the vet told me I was heartbroken my partner brought her for me after I miscarried she is my best friend but also my baby I thought it was going to be constant problem's but we haven't had one yet.


HI we have just found out that our 12 month old female pit bull is a hermaphrodite. Her girl bits look very much like the picture you have posted. Just wondering how things are going with Tex. We are overwhelmed with it all at the moment & just wanting to find out as much as i can before we decide what to do.


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## leashedForLife (Nov 1, 2009)

.
.
has anyone else noticed, none of these deeply-concerned owners posted an update?...
Or if they have, it's not on this thread, which would seem the logical place to put it, doncha think?...
.
.
.


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## Bullys for me (May 11, 2012)

parry95 said:


> I have a staffy who is six months old, we found out she is hermaphrodite which doesn't always mean the worst. Tex ( her name) is the happiest pup I've ever met... Unfortunately we cant afford the operation to remove the penis and at the moment we wouldn't want to... It causes her no pain or annoys her in anyway it makes Tex herself and i wouldn't want her any other way.
> 
> She's had no problems with her health other than puppy fits which have stopped she's a beautiful dog.
> When the vet told me I was heartbroken my partner brought her for me after I miscarried she is my best friend but also my baby I thought it was going to be constant problem's but we haven't had one yet.


My staffie has the same presentation


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## Bullys for me (May 11, 2012)

IncaThePup said:


> I'm curious... several of you have referred to your dogs as 'her' or 'she' even when they had a penis and in one case no uterus....so if the dog had a penis, male hormones and no uterus why don't you refer to the dog as a male?
> 
> just curious as to me if I had a dog that had a penis and its testicles inside and no uterus I would consider it male?


My girl Sasha has a micro penis in her vulva, she has a vulva so I call her a she but she cocks her leg like a male but the pee comes out like a bitch would, she is weird and has a girly bark very pretty. I posted on this thread in 2012 and its now 2016. I only just did a seach as one of my friends dogs looks like mine and was trying to find a photo. We have had a lot of problems with her with infections she has a vulva/vagina with a micro penis in the vulva. But no uterus when we went to spey her she had testicles inside.


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## Amelia66 (Feb 15, 2011)

this post is origionally from 2010.


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## Missy lisa (Mar 24, 2017)

I found out recently my rescue staffie missy is hermaphrodite. She as been spayed n ad ovaries and testicles removed. These was sent off for testing and it came back she ad ovotestis. Vet advised to get testicles removed as they can cause more trouble with them being inside. She still as her Penis coming through her vulva. She as ad a few infections. Vet advised to leave Penis but if it grows anymore then it will need to be removed. It is specialised surgery n expensive too. My missy is 9mths now n a little bugger at times n very stubborn. Can anyone offer advice regarding future health n behaviour issues etc. She's my life n I'll do my everything for her


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## Missy lisa (Mar 24, 2017)

MyStaffyLola said:


> I find people on this forum to be extremely rude and unhelpful!!!!!!! Good bye!


My rescue staffie is also hermaphrodite she is 9mths old now. I'm trying to find advice n others with same situation


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## Missy lisa (Mar 24, 2017)

Missy lisa said:


> My rescue staffie is also hermaphrodite she is 9mths old now. I'm trying to find advice n others with same situation


Me too, maybe we could communicate instead n help each other


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## Rafa (Jun 18, 2012)

Missy lisa said:


> Me too, maybe we could communicate instead n help each other


You are quoting and replying to yourself.


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