gender reassignment surgery for animals

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The Protojournalist

The 'sex change' operation for cats.

Linton Weeks

Like a circus parade, the cutting-edge pet stories just keep coming.

Plastic surgery for dogs. Designer kitties — poodle cats and jungle hybrids . Medicinal marijuana for ailing pets.

Can gender reassignment for pets be far behind? Actually, some veterinarians, like Christie Cornelius of Houston, do talk about "sex change" operations for cats.

The surgery, says Cornelius, of Last Wishes , is not a true "sex reassignment" because "it is not performed for the purpose of changing a cat's sex."

Ann Staub, a former vet and now keeper of the Pawsitively Pets blog, explains: The procedure — conducted on a male cat suffering from persistent urinary problems — is technically called a "perineal urethrostomy," but in her office and in other veterinary clinics, it's often referred to as a "sex change."

Because, Staub says, "it's easier to say and remember. Sometimes we have to humor ourselves at work, too."

Without getting too graphic, the operation involves removal of a tom's cathood, a shortening of the urethra and the creation of a new opening that is similar to a female cat's. "I don't know for sure," Staub says, "but this doesn't seem to have any effect on a cat's personality, as most of them are already neutered anyways."

Do owners ever decide to change their pets' gender for other reasons? Staub says she "can't imagine a veterinarian actually doing a 'sex change' surgery to an animal for cosmetic purposes, but I'm sure there's someone out there who's willing to make a buck."

After all, she adds, she has heard about people "using Botox on wrinkly dogs like Shar-Peis for medical reasons. I don't have any experience with that personally, though."

Cat’s life saved by ‘gender reassignment’ surgery

A cat that was going to be put to sleep because of a bladder problem has made a miraculous recovery after undergoing radical ‘gender reassignment’ surgery.

Six-year-old Piglet was saved thanks to the skill of vet Sarah Bruce at Charter Vets in Congleton, Cheshire, who carried out a rare procedure to remove part of his genitals which allows him to urinate ‘like a female’.

The surgery was performed after a bladder stone was preventing Piglet from being able to pass water.

His owner Zoe Philpott said: ‘I noticed that Piglet’s bladder was really distended and he was trying his hardest to wee on his litter tray but nothing was happening.

‘At first, I took him to a different vets who thought he had cystitis and put a catheter in.

‘They thought bladder crystals were causing a blockage and that they had dislodged them, but 25 minutes after we got home, Piglet was struggling again.’

After his condition deteriorated, Zoe, who lives in Sandbach, Cheshire, took Piglet to Charter Vets where she learned that vet Sarah had come across the problem before.

The 48-year-old mum-of-three said: ‘Sarah said a stone was causing a blockage and they couldn’t remove it.

‘His penis was so swollen and Sarah asked me to consider whether to go ahead with a radical operation to remove it all together.’

Zoe agreed for Piglet to have the procedure.

Sarah, who has been a vet since 2011, said: ‘When Piglet came in, he had a bladder stone lodged at the end of his penis (the urethra).

‘We could either put him to sleep or perform radical surgery to remove part of the penis, where the stone was trapped, because we couldn’t flush it out.

‘The surgery involved making his anatomy more like a female, so now he wees like a girl.’

She added: ‘I think it’s worth raising awareness about the problems with passing stones because it’s quite common in male cats.

‘I’d urge owners to get them seen to straight away if they are having trouble urinating, as Mrs Philpott did in this case, because it can lead to more serious problems.’

Zoe, who hand-reared Piglet – given his name because of his likeness to the farm animal when he was a kitten – said: ‘Piglet has recovered so well from the surgery.

‘He’s regained all his weight and he’s back to his normal self, which is amazing.’

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Hermaphrodite dog fully recovered after sex-change surgery

Vets operated on Jack Russell puppy Molly because she had testicles in place of ovaries and male and female external genitalia.

By Russell Hope, News Reporter

Tuesday 25 April 2017 18:37, UK

An "intersex" dog born with male and female genitals has made a full recovery after having rare gender reassignment surgery.

Molly, a Jack Russell puppy, was taken to a vet when her owners, Mary and Frank Finlay, noticed she would get excited before going to the toilet and squat to pee in their home, but lift her leg outside.

Vet Ross Allan discovered that, despite appearing to be completely female, she was a male pseudo hermaphrodite or "intersex" as it is more commonly known, with elements of both male and female external genitalia.

"Her particular anatomy meant that whilst Molly appeared to be a female, closer examination revealed elements of both male and female external genitalia, and unfortunately this was leading to significant genital discomfort," he said.

During "complex" surgery at the Pets'n'Vets Family's Roundhouse Hospital in Glasgow last June, Mr Allan found Molly had male internal sexual organs, with testicles in the place of ovaries within her abdomen.

He removed her pseudo male sexual organs and formed a functional urethral opening where the female genitalia would normally be found.

Mr Allan said Molly's condition is rare. He said: "She is certainly unique to me.

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"She was four months old when Mary and Frank first brought her in after they noticed her displaying quite masculine behaviour...rubbing herself against furniture, causing discomfort and abrasions to her skin.

"If left untreated, this risked her developing a long-term and debilitating condition.

"We decided that the very best solution for Molly was to proceed with definitive surgery to create an anatomical situation which would avoid ongoing issues or discomfort.

"The surgery was a great success and Molly is much more comfortable and happier as a result."

Mrs Finlay told BBC Scotland's Kaye Adams programme: "We've seen no change in her behaviour. She's still the same wee Molly and we wouldn't be without her, she's too precious."

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Intersex pet dog undergoes gender reassignment surgery

Jack russell molly's owners became concerned when they say she started to behave like a male , subscribe to independent premium to bookmark this article.

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An intersex dog born with both male and female genitals has successfully recovered from a rare gender reassignment surgery.

Molly, a Jack Russell terrier puppy, was taken to the vet when her owners Frank and Mary Finlay noticed she was behaving strangely when going to the toilet, sometimes lifting her leg and other times squatting to pee.

The couple bought Molly in 2015 believing she was a female but became concerned about what they felt was increasingly male behaviour.

Upon examination by Glasgow vet Ross Allan, it appeared Molly had both female genitalia and male testicles - which had not descended - and a poorly-formed “vestigial” penis, BBC Scotland reports.

Mr Allan told the couple Molly’s hermaphrodite nature explained her genital discomfort.

Mr Allan told BBC Scotland's Kaye Adams Programme Molly’s condition was “extremely rare” and that neither him nor his colleagues had come across it before.

“In the literature there have been about 15 cases published in total. In 15 years of doing this job I have seen this in Molly and in no other dog at all," he said.

The vet operated on Molly, when she was six months old. He removed her male genitals and formed a functional urethral opening where the female genitalia would normally be found.

"She actually had the female external genitalia, as it were, but in the male formation,” said Mr Allan.

The vet said that without the operation, Molly’s problems would have exacerbated over time and could have developed into a debilitating condition.

Nearly a year on from the operation, he said Molly had made a full recovery and was happy in her home.

“Molly is Molly and she is happy and fit and healthy, that is the main thing,” said Mr Allan.

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• Review Article
• Published: 24 September 2021

Vaginoplasty in Male to Female transgenders: single center experience and a narrative review

• Luca Ongaro   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-5649-4095 1 ,
• Giulio Garaffa   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-9834-5098 2 ,
• Francesca Migliozzi 1 ,
• Michele Rizzo 1 ,
• Fabio Traunero 1 ,
• Marco Falcone 3 ,
• Stefano Bucci 1 ,
• Tommaso Cai   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-7234-3526 4 ,
• Alessandro Palmieri 5 ,
• Carlo Trombetta 1 &
• Giovanni Liguori   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-2431-5296 1  

International Journal of Impotence Research volume  33 ,  pages 726–732 ( 2021 ) Cite this article

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• Quality of life
• Translational research

Vaginoplasty in Male to Female (M to F) transgenders is a challenging procedure, often accompanied by numerous complications. Nowadays the most commonly used technique involves inverted penile and scrotal flaps. In this paper the data of 47 M to F patients who have undergone sex affirmation surgery at the Department of Urology of the University of Trieste, Italy since 2014, using our modified vaginoplasty technique with the “Y” shaped urethral flap, have been retrospectively reviewed. Moreover, a non structured review of the literature with regards to short and long-term complications of vaginoplasty has been provided. All patients followed a standardized neo-vaginal dilation protocol. At follow up 2 patients were lost. At 12 months 88.9% of patients (40/45) were able to reach climax, 75.6% (34/45) were having neo-vaginal intercourses and median neo-vaginal depth was 11 cm (IQR 9–13.25): no statistically significant decrease in depth was found at follow up. Only one patient was dissatisfied with aesthetic appearance at 12 months. Our technique provided excellent cosmetic and functional results without severe complications (Clavien–Dindo ≥ 3). The review of the literature has highlighted the need to standardize a postoperative follow up protocol with particular regard to postoperative dilatation regimen. Further, larger randomized clinical trials are pending to draw definitive conclusions.

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Department of Urology, University of Trieste, Cattinara Hospital – ASUGI, Trieste, Italy

Luca Ongaro, Francesca Migliozzi, Michele Rizzo, Fabio Traunero, Stefano Bucci, Carlo Trombetta & Giovanni Liguori

Department of Urology, University College London Hospitals, London, UK

Giulio Garaffa

Department of Urology, Molinette Hospital, A.O.U. Città della Salute e della Scienza di Torino, Turin, Italy

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Department of Urology, Santa Chiara Hospital, Trento, Italy

Tommaso Cai

Urology Unit, Department of Neurosciences, Reproductive Sciences, Odontostomatology, University of Naples “Federico II”, Naples, Italy

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LO: project design, data acquisition and interpretation, manuscript drafting, final approval. GG: data acquisition and interpretation, manuscript revising, final approval. FM: data acquisition, manuscript revising, final approval. MR: data acquisition and interpretation, manuscript revising, final approval. FT: data acquisition, manuscript revising, final approval. MF: manuscript revising, final approval. SB: manuscript revising, final approval. TC: manuscript revising, final approval. AP: manuscript revising, final approval. CT: manuscript revising, supervision, final approval. GL: project design, data acquisition and interpretation, manuscript revising, supervision, final approval

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Ongaro, L., Garaffa, G., Migliozzi, F. et al. Vaginoplasty in Male to Female transgenders: single center experience and a narrative review. Int J Impot Res 33 , 726–732 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41443-021-00470-3

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Received : 10 April 2021

Revised : 27 August 2021

Accepted : 10 September 2021

Published : 24 September 2021

Issue Date : November 2021

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1038/s41443-021-00470-3

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