A sheep gelding is a wether and they're more suseptible to urinary calculi than entire males, especially if they're on grain feed or alfalfa rather than pasture or grass hay. That's because castration can impair the normal growth of the urethra and even tiny stones caused by improper nutrition can be a big problem.

Some symptoms of urinary stones are: painful or straining urination, dribbling urine, abdominal pain, odd stretching postures, kicking at the abdomen, teeth grinding, unusual vocalizations, and crystals on the hairs at the end of the sheath. If they kick, scratch, bite, or rub to ease the pain, the penis can get inflamed.

If that isn't the problem, then a simple injury aggravated by the flies is a reasonable explanation, but that's not very common. The penis is usually tucked inside the abdomen and not injury-prone. I think you gave her good advice for an injury, but he's likely to die if it's stones and she does nothing. If that happens, she has to take a serious look at her feeding practices.

DPallas thanks for the info. Yeah I read some of that doing a google search today, sounds a lot like a condition that male cats get, also brought on by diet. She jsut told me about the dribbling urine today, and I told her that was a bit concerning. I asked her if he appeared to be in pain, pawing,etc...and I also told her she might want to take his temp. As far as feed, they are on a coastal round bale and free grazing, what there is to graze anyway. No grain as far as I know. From what I read it seems that surgery is suggested to open things up.. is there any other options as far as medications that will for lack of a better word 'melt the crystals? Thanks again for all the info..

Linked below is a good primer on urolithiasis(urinary stones) in sheep & goats. It's probably time for your friend to call in the local food animal veterinarian.

This is a common problem - especially in 'pet' wethers, who frequently are not maintained on a proper diet; I remember one case recounted by a veterinarian on the small ruminants discussion list, of a pygmy(goat) wether, who had recurrent bouts of urolithiasis - seems that the 'owner' was a college-age young lady who was convinced that he wouldn't eat anything but pancakes - so when she was home on the weekends/holidays, that's what he ate; when she was gone, Dad would kick the pet out into the pasture with the other goats, but if the daughter was home for any extended period, she set him up for a urinary blockage.

Here is a link that might be useful: Urolithiasis

Ammonium chloride can be added to their salt or mineral as a preventative, and it can also be mixed with water and administered as a drench to attempt to melt the crystals. A vet who knows something about sheep (and not all of them do) would have to decide what might work after seeing him.

The stones can form for various reasons and ammonium chloride might be completely the wrong thing in this case. It's most useful for lambs on high grain rations, and that doesn't seem to be the case. Could be calcium:phosphorus ratio is off, or even insufficient palatable water. He may not have stones at all, but the dribbling and inflammation is a real worry.

I'd hesitate to give her exact instructions on the ammonium chloride because she really should take him to a vet before taking that route. A little snippage of the tip of the penis can work, and muscle relaxants and anti-inflammatories like the dexamethasone you suggested. Neither I nor she is qualified to manage that. I administer dexamethasone myself for minor ailments, but uremia is life-threatening.

Pancakes!! I love it. I found a couple of other sites and sent one to her,I'll send yours as well. These sheep aren't exactly pets per se. They are used for herding, these folks trial border collies, and they have about 40 head, and several of them are really dog broke for beginners, and Curly,the one with the problem, is kind of a favorite LOL. That's an interesting condition. As I said I know male cats have this problem a lot, and I think a lot of it was attributed to the ash content in the feed. A lot of the pet food companys have eliminated or cut back on the ash, and there seems to be less of a problem these days. I'm surprised this doesn't occur in horses LOL, seems like they're prone to every other kind of ailment. I'll talk to my vet buddy, he only treats horses but maybe he'll take a look at Curly. Thanks again. Boop

Boopster,
I know you're about an hour from me, but don't know whether your friends live farther east or perhaps farther into the hill country....I ask because there's a great sheep vet in Fredericksburg, Dr. Laird Laurence at Hill Country Veterinary Clinic. When I got into sheep, I asked around among the local sheep folks and he kept turning up. When he came to do my flock inspection (for scrapie program)I was very happy to find him a font of useful information, and really good about taking time to give advice on all sorts of things concerning nutrition, worming, etc. We also had a sick sheep a while back and he was great about calling back and giving advice over the phone. I think he knows his stuff.

Debra