Buddy the Devil Dog, my pet–er, animal companion–has to go to the vet periodically to have his anal glands “expressed”, i.e., squeezed dry. I’ve watched this process, and it doesn’t appear to cause him any discomfort; and this is not your sweet-natured, long-suffering “Old Shep”-type dog, if you get my drift. So I’m wondering why emptying the butt glands of civets would be such torture? (Not that it’s a good thing to do, but I’m just questioning whether there’s some exaggeration here.) Can the civets be that different anatomically from a Boston terrier? Is the musky stuff that hard to remove? (Surely not, or it wouldn’t come out in urine.) If you can squeeze the gland like a grape, why the need for scraping? Are the handlers just a bunch of sadists? Inquiring minds want to know (well, one of them, anyhow).
The column is now online. Does civet come from tortured cats? Does kopi luwak coffee come from pre-eaten beans?
Years ago, in one of the “believe it or not” or “gross out your parents” type columns I devoured at the time (and why I follow TSD these days), I read that “Old Government Java” coffee was from beans eaten and crapped by bats. Even at that tender age, I thought it was a crock, but who am I to doubt the infallible CA?
From the link in Cecil’s article:
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What I want to know is the difference between “perineal” and “perianal.”
I would guess that a professional veterinarian being paid good money to squeeze the anal glands of a pampered family pet would be considerably more gentle than a civet cat farmer who was only “milking the cash cow”, so to speak.
Jill: “perianal” means “in and around the anus”.
“Perineal” means “in and around the perineum”, which is the sort of blank spot of muscle and tissue between your vagina and anus. The perineum is where they cut an “episiotomy” when they’re delivering a baby.
A quick web search reveals that the civet’s glands are referred to as “perineal” by some sites, and “perianal” (or peri-anal) by others, although most just call them anal glands. Now, perineal glands are perforce perianal, but perianal glands are not necessarily perineal (as they could be lateral to or above the anus).
Just offhand, it seems to me that the glands are most likely to be lateral to the anus, and thus perianal but not perineal. But I’ll have to check some references tomorrow to be sure. (I’m a little rusty on the precise details of the butt-anatomy of the Viverridae.)
I noticed each being used in different sites too, Colibri. I thought the same thing you did. I know generally where the “perianal” area would be located, and I have personal experience with the perineum and childbirth, DDG!
My 13th M-W Collegiate doesn’t show perianal. In which dictionary is it listed?
OK, I looked it up in some references that include detailed diagrams of the viverrid bunghole area (you don’t want to know). The gland in question is in fact located in the perineum, between the genitals and anus, and all technical references call it a perineal (not perianal) gland. In the African civet, the one referred to in the article, the gland is contained in a muscular sac with a slit-like longitudinal opening in which the secretion accumulates.
Confusion arises because many carnivores, including civets, also have anal sacs or glands lateral to the anus which secrete other kinds of scents (most famously in the skunk). I believe these are the ones most properly referred to as “peri-anal” glands (although as I pointed out, the perineal glands are also technically perianal).
From the Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd Ed., a quotation under the entry for civet-cat:
1738 POPE Epil. Sat. II. 183
All your courtly civet-cats can vent,
Perfume to you, to me is excrement.
About the civet used for the coffee beans, is it really meant to have a latin name of paradoxus hermaphrodite? (I think that is correct - my memory not being the best). Is that real or just part of the joke?
A brief check on google reveals that, yes, the scientific name for the palm civet, or toddy cat is, indeed, Paradoxurus hermaphroditus.
I’d heard this particular bit about the coffee beans other places before Cecil brought it up. If it’s a hoax, it’s an exceptionally well executed one, with some unlikely players. At most, I’m willing to believe it’s a concocted story used to sell normal coffee beans at inflated prices, but you would think they would invent something more appetizing in that case.
I leave you with this:
Regarding the scientific name of the Palm Civet Paradoxurus hermaphroditus, it is commented on in this other thread in CCC.
Paradoxurus, as is pointed out there, means “paradoxical tail.” I believe this may refer to the fact that the tail coils somewhat and appears prehensile, even though it is not. Although I haven’t found anything definite about why it is called hermaphroditus, the Palm Civet does have a perineal gland, although not as well developed as that of the African Civet. My guess is that, because of its position, the gland might appear to be a vulva. If the first specimen described was a male, it might have prompted some confusion on the part of the describer.