Topography
It is small and bilobed and covers the dorsal and lateral surfaces of the urethra without fully encircling it ventrally. Unlike the dog's, it is separated from the bladder neck by a long preprostatic urethra and lies further caudally, near the pelvic inlet. The deferent ducts open here. Dorsally it is related to the rectum.
Accessory glands
- Prostate: as described above.
- Bulbourethral glands: a pair of pea-sized glands, dorsolateral to the urethra at the level of the ischial arch, next to the root of the penis. They are the surgical landmark for perineal urethrostomy, which is extended up to them because the urethra is wider there.
- The cat has no vesicular glands.
Clinical relevance
- Prostatic disease: rare in the cat (hyperplasia, prostatitis and carcinoma are exceptional), unlike in the dog.
- Urethral obstruction: the important clinical problem of the male genitourinary tract; plugs and stones lodge in the narrow penile urethra, distal to the bulbourethral glands.
- Castration: besides reducing urine marking, it makes the androgen-dependent penile spines disappear.
3D model
Schematic shape (illustrative fidelity), placed from landmarks on the skeleton and the scanned organs. It shows topography, not fine morphology.